The Former Clunes Post Office and Telegraph Office

The former Clunes Post and Telegraph Office was constructed in 1879 by Messrs Lewis and Roberts to a design by the Public Works Department. 

Now privately owned as a residence, it is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register for its preserved example (Renaissance Revival style) of the design of the era. It replaced the original post office, a much smaller building, erected in 1861.

The former Clunes Post and Telegraph Office

Footnote:

Please Note:
I am the copyright holder of all photographs that appear on this blog. Please respect my copyright.

© Fred O’Donnell Photography

The Clunes Town Hall and Court House

The Clunes Town Hall and Court House, designed by Percy Oakden, was constructed by William Cowland in 1872-3. It is a distinctive Victorian Free Classical style building.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Footnote:

Please Note:
I am the copyright holder of all photographs that appear on this blog. Please respect my copyright.

© Fred O’Donnell Photography

The Story Behind the Photo

The photo I am featuring in this post is of Southern Cross Station, a major railway station in the city of Melbourne, which is the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia.

Southern Cross Station is the terminus for Victoria’s regional rail services and for interstate trains from Sydney in New South Wales and Adelaide, South Australia.

As I was waiting for my train, I saw that during the arrival and departure times of the trains, a calmness descended on the station.

It was that calmness I tried to capture in this photograph.

Southern Cross Station, situated in Spencer Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The photo was shot using Kodak Tri-X 400 film loaded in a Nikon camera.

This photograph is subject to the copyright laws.

Australian Indigo

Australian Indigo is an excellent habitat plant for wildlife. It is a rich source of pollen and nectar for insects, including bees and wasps, as well as a good food source for butterfly larvae.

Australian Indigo (Indigofera australis),growing in the rainforest section of the Botanic Gardens at Colac in Victoria, Australia

Common and widespread, Australian Indigo grows in a number of different habitats such as open woodlands, eucalypt forest as well as desert. It also is found in the margins of rainforest.

Australian Indigo
Australian Indigo
Australian Indigo

Footnotes:

Please Note:
I am the copyright holder of all photographs that appear on this blog. Please respect my copyright.

© Fred O’Donnell Photography

Acknowledgement:

I respect and acknowledge the Gulidjan people as the First Peoples and Traditional custodians of the land and waterways on which I live.

I acknowledge Elders past, present and emerging.

Bendigo Town Hall

The Bendigo Town Hall is considered one of the finest Victorian-era Second Empire buildings in Australia. It was originally designed by the town clerk, George Avery Fletcher in 1859.

Bendigo Town Hall, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia

1866: Council chamber was added. 

1871-1872: The Corn Exchange (a hall for the trading of grain) was added, also.

1878: Architect William (Wilheim) Vahland was engaged to convert the town hall into something worthy of Bendigo’s leading position of being the “City of Gold”.

Vahland engaged Otto Waschatz  to design the town hall’s interior which featured decorative plaster adorned with 22-carat gold leaf, reflecting the opulence of the “city built on gold”.

1885: The end result, was considered one of Vahland’s most significant works and has been considered the finest “boom style” building of its kind in Victoria.

2003: Extensive works undertaken returned the Bendigo Town Hall to its 19th century splendour.

Bendigo Town Hall, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia

Please Note:
I am the copyright holder of all photographs that appear on this blog. Please respect my copyright.

I respect and acknowledge the Gulidjan people as the First Peoples and Traditional custodians of the land and waterways on which I live.

I acknowledge Elders past, present and future.

Pombo Mart

The Pombo Mart is an iconic building on the Princes Highway at Pomborneit between Colac and Camperdown in Victoria, Australia. The building began life as a Creamery operated by the Camperdown Cheese and Butter Factory in 1892, and was of timber construction.

The Pombo Mart on the Princes Highway at Pomborneit North, Victoria, Australia

In 1908, Bacchus Marsh Concentrated Milk Co. Ltd. purchased the Creamery and produced Lifeguard Milk. The Nestle Anglo Swiss Company acquired the building in 1917 and the company replaced the timber construction with the current iron building.

The Pombo Mart on the Princes Highway at Pomborneit North, Victoria, Australia

In 1936, the building was re-purchased by the Camperdown Cheese and Butter Factory who operated there until its closure in the mid 1950s. 

The Pombo Mart on the Princes Highway at Pomborneit North, Victoria, Australia

The Pombo Mart faces west, and the colour of the setting sun reflected on the buildings.

Footnote:

Please Note:
I am the copyright holder of all photographs that appear on this blog. Please respect my copyright.

© Fred O’Donnell Photography

Acknowledgements

I respect and acknowledge the Gulidjan people as the First Peoples and Traditional custodians of the land and waterways on which I live.

I acknowledge Elders past, present and emerging.

Proudfoots Boathouse

It is described as one of the most recognisable and historic buildings in the Warrnambool region of Victoria, Australia. 

Thomas Proudfoot  had applied for a jetty licence near the mouth of the Hopkins River for the purpose of running a boating business in 1885. However, in 1900, just after the building had been completed he died suddenly. His widow, with two young children, took over the boathouse tearooms and accommodation and ran it for the next 30 years.

The Hopkins River, looking towards the mouth of the river, with Proudfoots Boathouse, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia

Warrnambool, on the Great Ocean Road, situated in south west Victoria, Australia, has a population of about 35,200. It is a popular tourist destination with the Logan Beach Whale Watching Platform on many tourist “to do” list.

Proudfoots Boat House on the Hopkins River, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia
Proudfoots Boat House, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia
Proudfoots Boat House, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia
Hopkins River, looking up stream, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia

Footnote:

Please Note:
I am the copyright holder of all photographs that appear on this blog. Please respect my copyright.

© Fred O’Donnell Photography

Acknowledgements

I respect and acknowledge the Gulidjan people as the First Peoples and Traditional custodians of the land and waterways on which I live.

I acknowledge Elders past, present and emerging.

86 Ryrie Street – Opposite the Post Office

Now home to the real estate office of Ray White, this building, on the corner of Ryrie Street opposite the Post Office was designed by the architectural firm of Alexander Davidson and Co. It was commissioned in 1878 by local grocer, Richard Clarke.

86 Ryrie Street, Geelong, Victoria, Australia

It was built in 1880, on the south-west corner of Ryrie and Gheringhap Streets, which was the former site of Clement Nash’s monumental mason’s yard.

The local newspaper, the Geelong Advertiser, described the premises as an “imposing structure”. 

“The building, which is to be erected after the Byzantine style of architecture, is to be of brick on bluestone foundations, the outside to be cemented, and there will be pressed cement enrichments in the cornices and string cause. The front of the store is to have an ornamental cement parapet, and there will be two mansards in the roof fronting Ryrie-street.”

86 Ryrie Street, Geelong, Victoria, Australia

From here, Richard Clarke, who had arrived in Victoria from England in 1851, conducted his wholesale and retail business. He sold groceries, wines and spirits, not just in Geelong, but in the surrounding country districts. Business began at the new store in early 1879.

Source: Trove: The book of Geelong its people, places, industries and amusements

https://nla.gov.au:443/tarkine/nla.obj-737421252

About Corayo: A Thematic History of Greater Geelong

https/www.geelongaustralia.com.au/common/Public/Documents/8d97c1c5405a0b1-thematic5sep20218lr

Footnote:

Please Note:
I am the copyright holder of all photographs that appear on this blog. Please respect my copyright.

© Fred O’Donnell Photography

Acknowledgements

I respect and acknowledge the Gulidjan people as the First Peoples and Traditional custodians of the land and waterways on which I live.

I acknowledge Elders past, present and emerging.

88 Ryrie Street, Geelong

In 1900, William Leggo, began his association with the store at 88 Ryrie Street, Geelong.

This site had previously been owned by Thomas Barber Hunt whom, it appears, to have established the Australian Produce stores from this location before 1874. In 1911, William Leggo purchased the property from Thomas Hunt’s Estate.

In 1922, in anticipation of admitting his son James to entering a partnership with him, William Leggo engaged Geelong architects Laird and Buchan. They designed a new two storey brick shop with the name of the family business, W. Leggo & Son, Grocers, emblazoned on the building’s parapets.

Ironically, Leggo never operated his grocery from his new building. The business was sold to Robert Dawson and Arthur Skirrow. Leggo retained ownership of the building and it became widely known as Leggo’s Building.

W. Leggo & Son Grocers Building, Ryrie Street, Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Source: About Corayo: A Thematic History of Greater Geelong

https/www.geelongaustralia.com.au/common/Public/Documents/8d97c1c5405a0b1-thematic5sep20218lr

Please Note:
I am the copyright holder of all photographs that appear on this blog. Please respect my copyright.

© Fred O’Donnell Photography

Acknowledgements

I respect and acknowledge the Gulidjan people as the First Peoples and Traditional custodians of the land and waterways on which I live.

I acknowledge Elders past, present and emerging.

Williamstown Gardens

The following photographs were taken yesterday on a short visit to the Williamstown Botanical Gardens. The official start to Spring is still a few days away, however, if one kept out of the chilly breeze, one would think it had started a little early.

Flowers, Botanic Gardens, Williamstown, Victoria, Australia

By chance, the entry I used had me walking towards the sun. A lot of what I saw was backlit; not a bad thing.