Our normal practice of roaming endlessly around a new town or city, camera in hand, blazing away with gay abandon (and then having to spend hours in the 'editing room') did not come to pass in Launceston (although it has taken me over five hours to organise the photos for this presentation).
Liz's affliction had laid her so low (she was even sent off for a chest X-ray at one point) that her normal energetic gallop was reduced to a slow, steady stagger, and she could not even maintain that for too long.
The obvious upshot was that we did not attack Launceston with anything like our usual sight-seeing vigour. In fact we saw only a few parts of this fascinating town, and even that was a piecemeal affair.
Accordingly, that which I am about to share with you is a collation of the sorties we made into various parts of town, but I think I have been able to cobble together enough to provide some idea of what makes Lonnie tick, well at least some of the historical stuff.
Let me begin in an area just south-east of the main CBD, where the beautiful Princes Square is the focal point for a number of quite extraordinary buildings.
Charles and Elizabeth Streets intersect on the square's north-western corner, so I'll start with a couple of street views showing the rows of old two storey buildings which are so typical of much of Lonnie, firstly looking west along Elizabeth,
and then north towards the main part of the Launceston CBD along Charles Street.
Despite our truncated toddle through the streets and thoroughfares of Launceston, I saw sufficient to be struck by its similarity with Hobart in than an obvious effort had gone into the preservation and maintenance of many of the town's original buildings.......a tourist's delight.
Meandering along the paths of Princes Square under the spreading branches of the oaks and sequoia trees
and past beds of hydrangeas and other flowers and shrubs
it was difficult to imagine this as a brick clay pit, but that's exactly what this area first was as Launceston housing transitioned from rough timber cottages to brick construction in the late 1810's. Many of these bricks were used to built the town's first church, St John's Anglican (more shortly) and indeed that was the original name of this square.
As the brick clay began to be sourced elsewhere, the vacant pit was used for several years as a rubbish dump, until 1843 in fact, when it was acquired for use as a military parade ground. From that point on private homes sprang up around the square and it soon became an important public meeting place and recreational area.
Dominating the centre of this delightful park, at the meeting point of all the pathways, is the impressive and oddly named Val d'Osne fountain.
This is a piece of history in itself. It was manufactured by Barbezat and Co., the owners of foundries in the French town of Val d'Osne (hence the name as you may have guessed!). Exhibited first at the Paris Industrial Exhibition in 1855, this cast iron statue was bought by the good burghers of Launceston and installed in Princes Square to mark the completion of the town's first water scheme.....as you do!
And apart from its provenance and beauty, this art work has been the subject of a delightful urban myth which would have us believe that its acquisition by the fathers of Launceston, Tasmania was actually a mistake. The story has it that this statue was originally purchased by the citizens of Launceston, England, but was sent in error to the Antipodes, where, once it had arrived, the cost of shipment back to the Old Dart was prohibitive, so here it stayed. What a pity it isn't true!
But one fact which is true, and it joins the ever expanding list of 'Tasmanian firsts' came to light for me as I wandered over to one corner of the square, where, standing proudly on a set of steps below a back drop of charming colonial apartments, was another statue.
How odd, I thought, and it was with some relief that the mystery of this quaint public art was soon solved when I came across this bronze plaque nearby. Now just who would have imagined that this boon to those on whom significantly painful medial mischief was about to be inflicted was first administered here in good old Lonnie.
I have already made mention of the fact that bricks from the original clay pit here were used to built Launceston's first church. This, for some reason, seems to have started something....Princes Square can happily boast to being the centre of the greatest congregation (yep, intentional!) of churches in the town.
St John's, with its bulk, its sweeping grounds and large vicarage next door, remains the most impressive,
but this now imposing building had much more humble beginnings when it was erected in 1824, as this sketch, courtesy of 'familyquest' so clearly demonstrates.
What we see now, here much more adequately photographed (thanks to 'abcnews'),
and, in another view of this extraordinary architectural jumble (for which I am indebted to 'redbubble'), is the end result of an extensive addition built in 1920.
In what was for me, another fascinating little bit of history, I discovered that the church bell here in the tower of St John's was made by the same company which cast the bells of Big Ben, so the chimes which ring out from this Launceston church can be quite legitimately said to be from a bell of the finest quality in the world.
As I have noted before, the early settlers of Tasmania/Van Diemen's Land were nothing if not a religious lot......those that were not either in convict chains or the pub, that is, and Lonnie's population was no exception, well at least not those who settled around Princes Square it would appear.
Virtually no sooner had the last mortar set in the walls of St John's and the Congregational Chapel rose in the form of Milton Hall in 1841, followed by Chalmers' Presbyterian in 1859 and Christ Church in 1883.
And how things have changed since then. Poor old Chalmer's Church on the corner of Frederick and St Johns Streets seems to have fared worst and is now home to the offices of a design company.
Almost next door, The Gothic bulk of Christ Church and it neighbour, Milton Hall seemed to have fared much better.
What a fascinating pocket of Launceston I had stumbled onto. The only reason I found myself wandering around this area stemmed from the fact that I was marking time whilst Liz fulfilled an appointment with a nearby radiologist. This area does feature on the formal Launceston heritage walking guide, but I doubt if I would have made it here if not for the fall of the die of fate.
So let me move on from Princes Square and its surrounds with one final shot, that of Dorset Terrace, circa 1888, a row of terrace houses, typical of Launceston and but one of many we saw here.
Now, fast forward to a date I cannot remember and the other end of town....the day we did manage a short joint stroll along the banks of the North Esk River and beyond. As it transpired, we actually covered much of what is classified as a major 'historical walk' through Lonnie central, but this was the product of chance not planning.
So here we were, on the banks of the North Esk River, just beyond the bridge which had been the first turning point during our Cataract Gorge cruise from where we could see back over the river front apartments and the hillside homes on the western bank of the Tamar.
So here we were, on the banks of the North Esk River, just beyond the bridge which had been the first turning point during our Cataract Gorge cruise from where we could see back over the river front apartments and the hillside homes on the western bank of the Tamar.
In the opposite direction, the towering chimney of the gas works lauded it over the old pub building in front of it on The Esplanade.
I say 'old pub', because this lovely building on the corner of The Esplanade and Tamar Street had no identifying signs or markings, but it certainly had the appearance of an Inn, so for us that's what it was!
But before we got this far, The Esplanade had a few other significant sights on offer, beginning with columned facade and grand style of the 'new' Launceston Customs House.
In this case 'new' is relative......this building was completed in 1888, and bore testament to the riches coming into Lonnie during the mining boom of the 1870's and 80's (some of which we were to see at first hand later in our travels...the mines that is not the money!).
Mind you, its predecessor, which we found quite by accident on a nearby street, was far from shabby itself,
but as this plaque detailed, it was not the home of the gatherers of taxes and customs for long.....clearly a far more ostentatious exhibition of wealth and power was demanded by the civic fathers.
Just east of the Customs House, these odd looking square rigging masts poking skywards on the southern bank of the river attracted our attention and curiosity.
As has so often been the case, the nearby plaque provided an explanation. In this instance it was just as well....all a bit esoteric was my immediate reaction.
We moved on east along the river bank, where the starkly white and impressively bulky buildings (circa mid 1880's) of the old Carrick Flour Mills store occupied the corner of The Esplanade and George Street.
On the opposite bank, the equally bulky but infinitely more modern building stood in complete contrast....home to the Launceston campus of the University of Tasmania.
On the other side of the George Street junction from the mill stores, the unmistakable vats gave us our first view of Boag's brewery, well the back of it at least. We were to shortly see much more of this very large local enterprise.
But for now we pushed on east on The Esplanade, where we soon came to these charming old buildings. The more ornate was, for many years, the home of the chief engineer of the gas works. The building next to this, on the corner of Willis Street housed the company offices,
the back of which we could see as we turned right off The Esplanade.
There was nothing charming about the gas works plant itself where the red brick retort building with its unique steel bracing straps towered above all else around it. Gas production ceased here in Launceston with the introduction of LPG in the 1970's and work is progressing to convert this precinct into a tourist hub.
From here we walked on into Tamar Street, where this grand old building of the early 1800's we found at the junction with William Street, began life firstly as The Dorset Hotel followed by the Prince Albert Inn. It now bears a much more impressive name......'The Clarion Hotel City Park Grand' no less. With a moniker like this we were surprised to find it was only rated to 4.5 stars!
Ah, William Street....we think it should be renamed Boag's Boulevard.....and as to why, that will come shortly.
For now we boxed on south along Tamar Street and briefly turned left into Cimitere Street where we found the back end of the magnificent Albert Hall which abuts the eastern end of City Park.
I use the word 'magnificent' with good cause. This large and very grand building was built to house the Tasmanian International Exhibition staged between 1891 - 2. At the time it was recognised as the 11th largest public hall in the world! This, and its cost, a staggering sum (for the day) of 14,000 pounds, was a clear demonstration (to me at least) of the wealth and significance of the town of Launceston at the time.
The main entrance actually fronts Cimitere Street
whilst the bulk of the building runs south along Tamar Street behind trees and shrubs.
Not surprisingly, once the exhibition had ended, Albert Hall has been used for all manner of public functions including to farewell troops off to the First World War, as a temporary hospital during the world wide influenza pandemic of 1919, and again in a humanitarian cause when those left homeless in the great Launceston flood of 1929 found shelter under the roof of this mighty hall.
And as the interior shot, courtesy of 'theatrenorth' shows, there was no shortage of room to put folk up.
It was just beyond the southern end of this extraordinary building, opposite Cameron Street, that we came to the entrance of another very well known Lonnie landmark, the entrance to City Park.
A sign at the gate near the lovely grey slate roofed building at the entrance to the park boasted of yet another 'Tassie oldest in Oz' ....this time it was a wisteria, one of my favourite plants.
And here it was in all its green glory. As to the claim...who knows, but it was planted in 1837 and who am I to quibble. We did not go into the old park caretaker's cottage building to find out more.....we were on a mission, well one of us was.
As we moved on into the park Liz began to get excited....."it's just down here if I remember rightly".
She scampered on past one of the park statues at a rate of knots....there was no stopping her. For what?
Believe it or not, monkeys. City Park is home to a large enclosure now housing a troop of Japanese macaques. As I gazed at this sign announcing the exhibit I did wonder what 'urgent enquiries' might be associated with viewing these primates.....or were they clever enough to use the phone???
As you may have gathered this was not Liz's first visit to Launceston and she loves watching monkeys. The macaques which now frolic and swim in this cleverly constructed enclosure are not the first monkeys to have inhabited this area. The last of the original rhesus monkeys died in 1979.
Some years before that, in 1965 in fact, Launceston became a sister city with Ikeda City in Japan. As a sign of the bond between the two cities, the good burghers of Ikeda gifted the macaques to Launceston, and they took up residence in 1980.
Many of these pink faced primates were socialising indoors (and were a touch difficult to photograph)
but a few were out and about checking out the water temperature (these little chaps love to swim)
or settling in for a quick bite to eat.
They blended in perfectly with the rocks of their purpose built home.....as the five in this shot
demonstrated....or was it six? It did take me some time to finally drag Liz away so we could see what else was to be found here.
Whilst the monkey enclosure is the stand out feature of this large and lovely park, it also houses an assortment of statues and bits and bobs, including this ornate cast iron 'Jubilee Fountain',
and the bronze likeness of one Ronald Campbell Gunn, a most unlikely character. Born in South Africa he came to Tasmania in 1829 to take up the position of Superintendent of convicts, but this was just the beginning of an extraordinary life for which he is best remembered for his dedication to botany (hence this statue here in the park). I recommend you Google his story. This was a man of many parts indeed.
And what park worth its salt does not have a rotunda,
a conservatory,
outdoor chess, train rides for the kids,
and a lake? City Park, Launceston, ticked all the boxes, but we had no more time to tarry.
So it was back into Tamar Street
where we continued to make our way south past this delightful row of hydrangeas (you knew I would get some flowers in at some stage!)
until we reached the next junction, and a right turn into Cameron Street.
What a treasure trove of history and old buildings this proved to be, starting with the glowering and somewhat gloomy looking bulk of one of Lonnie's earliest mill buildings (circa 1871)
before we came to another red brick building almost next door, but this time one of infinitely more architectural appeal, the stately Holy Trinity Anglican church.
On the other side of Cameron Street stood two hotels which could not be more different, the modern multi-roomed Grand Chancellor
which, looking back from slightly further down the street, tended to overshadow its next door neighbour, the much older and far more significant Batman Fawkner Inn.
Built in 1824 by John Fawkner and originally named the Cornwall Hotel, this magnificent example of provincial colonial architecture began life as a more modest inn of twenty-three rooms and a bar (of course).
But wait, there is more......it was here, in 1835, that John Batman and a few of is equally adventurous mates took the decision to cross Bass Strait and establish a village on the mainland. So? That village is now the city of Melbourne!
Some twenty years later the interior of the hotel was altered to include what was called the Cornwall Assembly Rooms, a venue designed to allow for theatrical performances which soon became well known as one of the 'hot spots' on the Van Diemens' Land list of the best houses of entertainment. By way of complete contrast, I did struggle a little with the concept when I discovered that it was here too that the Abolitionist movement set up its HQ, a group which eventually saw to the end of transportation to the colony.
Now the Batman Fawkner Hotel continues to trade as a relatively down budget hotel of forty rooms, but what a history it has.
Our ramble on west along Cameron Street took us past the intersection with George Street,
followed by another of those examples of a fascinating old building jammed in between modern neighbours,
and the solid and dependable looking facade of the Launceston AMP building (circa 1849...how appearances can deceive, as we have recently discovered!).
At the end of Cameron Street, where it joins St Johns Street and Civic Square, the Launceston Post Office building dominates the junction (complete with its clock tower which is know affectionately by the Lonnie locals as 'the pepper pot').
Civic Square was in the throes of a major make-over (but some of its delightful little fauna statues were still to be seen)
and the boundary fences did detract a little from the spectacle of Launceston's large and ornate Town Hall immediately adjacent. This was another of the town's beautiful buildings which I found very difficult to capture properly with the camera, and when I trawled the Internet for better examples I found that I was not alone with this difficulty.
Let me here rely on the words of my old friend Geoff Richie and his marvellous 'On the Convict Trail' for a bit of history relating to this most impressive seat of local government:
"By 1861 Launceston's population had grown to more than 10,000 people and in 1864 the Town Council began building new headquarters, the present Town Hall. The Council commissioned architect Mr Peter Mills to design the Victorian Italianate-styled Town Hall in 1864. It cost $6,000 to build [compare that to the 14,000 pounds to built Albert Hall]. The ground floor of the original building contained the Council Chamber and municipal offices, and it had a concert hall and meeting room on the upper floor. The building was first occupied in 1867."
And here is a fine example of what 'Victorian Italianate' means (thanks again Geoff!).
By now we were walking north down St John Street, and from the intersection of Cimitere Street we were presented with a distant view of the Town Hall and the fine colonial building next to it.....typically old Launceston.
Diagonally opposite, the utterly different, much smaller (and almost quaint by comparison) building which was the Johnstone and Wilmot Store and Counting House, built in 1842, is, to quote my trusty tourist guide 'considered architecturally unique in Australia'. That, I have to say, is not something which struck me at first glance!
By now we were almost done, well in Liz's case that should read 'done in'. One more significant street to go....William Street where these buildings of the James Boag brewery were the first of a row which took up the entire street (hence my earlier comment about renaming this Boag's Boulevarde!)
But this battery of brew house buildings did not always belong to the Boag clan.
The faded inscription on the facade of the old brewery oast house told that in 1881 this was established as the Esk Brewery, but that didn't last long.....James Boag and his son snaffled the business in 1883, and Boag beers have been brewed here ever since.
Not content with a complete occupation of the northern side of the street, these charming old buildings opposite housed the Brewery Pub and tasting rooms. Sadly I did not visit (out of respect for my long suffering spouse).
This old stables building built in 1885, stands right next to the pub. It is now given over to private apartments where the occupants were obviously determined that each will maintain a colourful flower box on the widow sills....to their credit and the approbation of the Mobile Marshies. I decided these lovely small homes were dangerously close to the delights of the ale house next door!
And, dear readers, that brought us to the end of William Street (yep, these were still Boag buildings on the corner),
and with one final glance back east along the street to the homes above the Tamar beyond, we brought our town historical ramble to a close.
This certainly came as a relief to my travelling companion, and as I reach the end of this missive, more latterly to me and probably to you as well (this one just grew legs!).
Before we left Rosevears we did take the opportunity to explore nearby Evandale, Woolmer Estate and had an encounter with one of the most unbelievable noises at the Low Head Lighhouse at the mouth of the Tamar.
I might just catch up in six months time....."no, Lizzie, not stubborn....determined"!
