I think he’s a rock star. But he looks a bit suspect up against the board at the old Port Adelaide Police station at the start of a history tour of Port Adelaide. I look worse though – dressed in the gear of the time.
We started our tour at the information centre on Commercial Rd. (the site of the original police station) and the old cells are still out the back. Five old cells, still with the old metal doors and wooden benches to sleep on. Boy they look uncomfortable.
We browsed the art exhibition by De Greer-Yindimincarlie while we waited to start the walk.
We headed out with our guide, Tracey, hoping that the rain would hold off for the walk. She took us around the local vicinity. We started at the workers memorial statue – a memorial to activists who have made a difference to conditions over the years. Names only get added after someone has died, but recognise those still, who have fitted that picture over the years.
Did you know that the water level here used to be much higher? Actually the land level used to be much lower. The land has been built up over the years so that there is no longer a canal at the end of Commercial road like in this old map.
You can see how the idea of a canal into the city would have seemed a natural progression- hence the extra wide Port Road. People used to have to wade across the mud flats from the boats at Port Adelaide to get to land. When you look at some of the old buildings you can see the lower level is half below street level due to the built up level of the roads. Half doors and windows are visible. Pulleys were used to hoist loads to the upper levels of this bond building.
This old building also shows the wooden uprights by the front door to stop the carts from backing up to the stone itself.
There were many artworks around the place, including a very permanent sign showing the way to the information centre! Some of them actually move if you use a certain app!
A number of buildings had large decorative corner stones like the ones below. They reminded me of the stipple quilting you sometimes see on large patches of background on a quilt.
A number of the buildings also have these signs way up on the walls. They are to remind cart and carriage drivers that they need to get off and walk their carriage around the corner to avoid trampling pedestrians.
The lighthouse used to be one of two situated at the end of the river (sea end) and was then used on Neptune Island for many years. It was purchased by the maritime museum and placed to its current position. The lamp floats on mercury.
The old “silent cop” roundabout that originally stood in the middle of Black Diamond corner is now a little further up the road. I loved this photo of the chaos on the corner. It doesn’t look like it worked very well.
Black Diamond corner was called that because the coal carts would rush around here and coal would fall off as they did so. The people who could not afford to buy coal could go there and pick some up if they were lucky. They call this black diamonds.
The paving along the side of the river has some sweet nods to the past if you know where to look. The old rail tracks are echoed in the paving and there are also some silhouettes of people. A lady waving goodbye with her handkerchief is possibly the easiest to see. Can you make these out in the pictures?
There was a very fancy yacht berthed just up a little way. Apparently there is very tight security around who owns it but it is rumoured to be Jay Alix , and American billionaire. It is supposed to be worth $110 million. I would hate to have people standing and staring at my floating home all the time.
The empty space on the wharves still has hoarding up around it advertising that the Rydges hotel will be opening in 2022. I doubt that this will happen as there is no sign of any action at present and it is almost December 2022!
Further down Lipson street we stopped to look at the site that used to be the railway station but is now the new police station. The old water fountain still stands outside it.
Here the first female police officers in the Commonwealth were employed (at wages equal to men’s) including Annie Ross and Kate Cocks. They had to wear their own clothes (no uniforms) and to work 10 hour shifts 7 days a week. A whole female police force was later formed. Kate is the grey haired lady in the front centre of the photo below and was famous for her work with unmarried mothers and their children. The Kate Cocks Babies Home was named in her honour.
We finished our little adventure with a visit to the historic Mayfair bakery for a pie before heading on home again.
This was an interesting little walk , not strenuous at all and we learned a bit too. Thanks to Tracey, our guide, for your time and effort in sharing your knowledge with us.
Luvapuzzle 