The above photos were taken at my local park. The park is a tad lacking in green grass at the moment, but still a wonderful place to spend time. I wonder how many other people enjoy spending time in their local park on a Sunday.
The park has become an issue for the upcoming local government elections because some people want to stick some building or other in it, which would be a shame.
Incidentally, one of the candidates for election has been giving out leaflets promising to get rid of “ugly buildings” in the area. The leaflet featured a photo of one of the “ugly buildings” the candidate thinks needs to be removed. Rather amusingly, the “ugly building” possessed a sign for a political party that wasn’t the party of the particular candidate in its yard.
When I was a little tacker my Nanna had two rooming houses in curtain st nth carlton and that was something special with its moreton bay figs and tan bark ,an old mens hut in the centre and plenty of monkey bars ,slides and swings and those old time may-poles and roundabouts you pushed. Then during the war trenches were dug for air raid shelters. It was a magic place to be for kids and until I was stuck in a boys home I lived in it.
Little tacker is such a great term, zorronsky.
Sounds great and a life of considerable freedom. North Carlton has changed a lot in those years.
Did the old blokes live in the hut or was it just a place for them to congregate?
The building was the junction of all the tracks into the centre of the square. The old men met to play board games ,smoke and tell yarns .A small room at the back was made available to the ladies who supervised the smaller children and housed equipment they could use for sports. The main room had a potbelly stove too for their comfort and to boil the kettle. Pipes were all the rage then so the place reeked of tobacco smoke.
Without wanting to romanticise the past (which was often very difficult), there’s a lot to be said for men and women having a space – together and separately – to meet and play board games and tell yarns. Still see lots of older Italian gents doing that sort of thing in Carlton, but not sure it’s at all a feature these days of the culture of other groups.
Gorgeous pix.
Ummmm… quick question. Anyone got a link for the median annual personal gross income for Australians in 2007 and 2008? I’ve tried the ABS site but I’m not an economist and it’s a bewildering maze.
Thanks, Umm Yasmin.
I’ve just tried the ABS site, but…arrghhh, lost in the maze. This is the best I could come up with:
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6302.0/
Darlene, what great photos! Those trees are magical, aren’t they? I particularly like the first photo; you can imagine mysterious things happening under that canopy.
Darlene *smooch* ta!!!
Thanks Jane
It’s true; magical indeed. The first photo features trees from that part of the park that is the most green and the most shady and has the trees that are the most covered in leaves. It’s beautifully cool and like entering another world (could be quite spooky like those pictures of forests in old fairy tales if you let your mind wander enough). You can just look up and see the most wonderfully green leaves and totally forget you’re (nearly) in the inner city.
Nice trees, Darlene. Have they got possums in them? I was really struck by the possums in Melbourne parks.
They must have possums, but they are nocturnal I think. We’ve had problems with possums in the area. They got into the roof….
Sorry to hear you were struck by possums, Paul. Talkk softly and carry a big stick, is my advice.
Good photos, Dalene. Pity you showed some city buildings: the lads have used triangulation to identify the park…. possums, beware! We’re onto youse.
Good one, Ambigulous.
Possums beware indeed. Triangulation sounds a little frightening.
“some building or other”.
Word up Darlene, they want to relocate the local library branch there. I’m not tossing the idea out without knowing a little more, because it could be terrific thing. Imagine an integration of da books, da peaceful space, and da trees…
I cycle the park daily, and it brings me great joy. However the loss of a small portion for good cause will not bother me in the least.
Next step: let’s see the plans.
Could ruin the vibe having all those library patrons hanging around
Never know what they are going to get up…reading books or something.
I like the mostly non-building aspect of the park. The area could use a better library. The library is tiny as anything.
We’re talking Edinburgh Gardens I assume.
If so, then a Library and Womens’ Health Centre on the site of an existing eyesore is the plan, and I was very disappointed with a Greens’ flyer nimbying up a storm about reduced amenity for local residents, and attracting more people to the park and overusing its facilities.
WTF? It’s huge, and underutilised.
I used to be nocturnal. Very.
It is a huge garden, FDB, but I stil like the fact that there is nothing much on it. But these things are a compromise so it would depend on the size of the new construction and all that. I think the park seems to be well utilised on a sunny weekend. Wonderful to see all the people with their pooches and bloggers with their cameras.
The flyer I saw was a Labor one.
It is an extraordinary cross-section of Fitzroy culture, that’s for sure.
Next time you’re in there with camera in hand, my I propose to you a photograph of the tree directly above the skate ramp? You know how a sandshoe suspended in a tree/on a wire is supposed to indicate a dealer in the neighbourhood? The tree above the ramp is a feast!
You’re right, it was a Labour flier which means they’ve trumped the Greens on NIMBYism sans rationale – wotta revoltin’ development!
Triangulation just uses triangles and their angles darlene – innocuous. Edinburgh Gardens, what a haven! Every suburb should have hectares as good as that. Many do.
Umm Yasmin, your easiest bet if you can’t find your required stat is simply to ring the ABS hotline on 1300 135 070.
Viacollings, I wasn’t aware of that. I will absolutely have a look next time.
It is a haven. I guess any patch of earth can be a haven if allow to be. We are just a bit spoilt here.