Welcome back! We have returned from electronic isolation at last. That old story is indeed true...you don't know what you have until it's gone. In the past five days during which our Internet speed was reduced to the point of being inoperable we have both realised just how much we have come to rely on our 'wireless' umbilical cord for both practical (on line banking etc) and social contact. But the 20th has come and gone, our system has been reset, and we are now back up to speed.
As I type (0600 hours Friday 21 Feb) we are sitting on an elevated site at the Rose Garden caravan park, Albany, looking out over King George Sound (well, probably more accurately put as 'sea glimpses') on a morning which has dawned fine and sunny (an exception here) with a rising north-easterly breeze (not an exception.....this is a windy spot!). We have been here now for just over a week during which time we have been up to all sorts of things, but more of that later....I have one more Perth experience to share before we head south.
Guildford is listed in all the tourist blurb as being, as they say in those wretched TV ads for a new show, a 'must see'. It sits on the banks of the Swan River some 15 kms north-east of the the Perth CBD and was one of the State's earliest settlements. We had previously driven past the general area to reach our Australia Day party venue, but this time we descended on the old town in earnest to discover one of the most imposing schools we have ever encountered, two grand avenues of totally different trees and a goodly dose of early WA history.
But let's start with the important bit.....the pub. The Rose and Crown was originally built in 1841, and as is obvious, has been the subject of several renovations and rebuilds since then beginning with the first in the 1850's. One thing however which has remained consistent throughout this pub's various reincarnations is its licence. The Rose and Crown is said to be the oldest continually operating pub in WA, something we have no grounds to dispute. As is often the case, the pub was originally used as the local meeting place for many groups
until, in 1863, the newly constructed nearby Mechanics Institute provided a more appropriate venue for the sober consideration of weighty local issues. (they had their priorities right in those days....pub first all else later!)
The fact that the Rose and Crown was one of the first completed buildings in Guildford also gave rise to the construction of one of the burgeoning colony's first gaols.
This somewhat unimposing building became a local necessity as a place in which to lodge many patrons of the Rose and Crown who had clearly enjoyed its offerings to excess. And in another historical snippet which attracted my attention, I discovered that the gaol's builder then went on to become the local policeman and gaoler. Whose idea was it that multi-skilling is a new social phenomenon?
From the corner on which the pub stands we then walked past the old Padbury Store buildings, in themselves nothing too remarkable as these old buildings go, but what a story they represent.
Walter Padbury arrived in the brand new colony of Western Australia with his father as a 9 year old in 1830. Within the year his father died and Walter found himself orphaned, alone and unsupported at the ripe old age of 10. Undeterred, or probably more to the point, with no other choice, the redoubtable young Walter found work.....as a shepherd. This must have paid pretty well. Within a few years he had saved enough to buy his first farm. By 1844 he had established a butchers shop in Perth (one wonders how nervous his flock may have become at this stage!) and in 1865 returned to Guildford and built the store at which we were now gazing.
Padbury went on to own a number of stores in Perth and Guildford, considerable farming and pastoral holdings and, just for something completely different, a small fleet of sailing ships. He was elected as Guildford's first Mayor and later, to a seat in the Western Australian parliament. What an extraordinary and determined fellow.
Past the Padbury store and off down Terrace Road we toddled where we found the old 'Bakery/SchoolHouse' building, which is now a private residence. Again, there is nothing particularly remarkable about this building, but it does represent a significant aspect of Guildford's development....as an area which spawned an incredible number of private schools....29 of them between 1836 and 2009. This building, which began life as a bakery, was taken over by Misses Heal and Piesse in 1910 where they conducted classes until 1918.
Many of the older houses on Terrace Road reminded us both very much of the streetscape of parts of North Adelaide where the design of the cottage dwellings appeared very familiar...not surprising I guess...they were being built at about the same time by folk who had a common place of origin.
'Toc H' is an institution little seen these days. I can recall a building bearing this title next to the train line near the Oaklands station, and have stayed at a Toc H camp at Victor Harbor, but had never previously taken much notice other than to briefly ponder on the unusual name.
The discovery of this old Toc H building in Guildford (again now used as a private house) prompted me to remedy this gap in my knowledge of recent history.
Toc H was the WW1 code name given to 'Talbot House', a place established by a battle front Chaplin in Belgium to provide R&R for many of those suffering the horrors of trench warfare on those frightful killing grounds. After the armistice, the ideals of Toc H were transplanted around the world by many of those who had enjoyed the brief respite provided to them on the front. The organisation's motto of 'To conquer hate, to love widely, to think fairly, to build bravely, to witness kindly', still resonates today. The Guildford branch of Toc H provided a meeting place for many of the young men (it was a bit sexist) of the area from 1929 until it closed its doors in the early 1940's when most of those who had build and patronised it went off to struggle and die in their own war.
But to cheerier matters. East of the Toc H building Terrace Road takes a slight bend and from here it becomes a grand avenue of plane trees. The median strip plantings are relatively recent. The much large trees on the footpaths were planted back in the 1930's. These provide a wonderful canopy for those strolling past the expanse of the Guildford Grammar School which is reputed to be WA's finest private school. We took little convincing.
By 1900 things were getting a bit out of hand. The billiard room was too small for purpose and the entire school population moved to the 'Big School Room', a building on the site of the current Guildford Grammar. Ten years later the trustees of the Perth Diocese of the Anglican Church took over, and the rest, as they say is history.
I have included this plan of the current school buildings in an attempt to provide some sense of the scope of this place. It occupies a seriously large patch of Guildford real estate on both sides of Terrace Road and down to the banks of the Swan River.
The very spread of the school buildings made it impossible to provide a comprehensive photo. I've resorted to a few representative shots
in an attempt to convey some feel for this grand old school.
On we walked down Terrace Road past school buildings both old
and more modern until we came to the 'school chapel'.
The Chapel of Saint Mary and Saint George. Some chapel indeed, and, as you may suspect,
a building with its own interesting story to tell. As you might well expect this edifice is heritage listed, but is not quite as old as may be imagined. It owes its existence to the Reverend Percy Umfreville (again, I did not invent this name, but I just love it!) Henn, the school principal between 1910 to 1924. The good reverend was obviously concerned that the religious tenor of the school was not adequately manifested on its grounds and set about remedying that situation. Finding the necessary money presented an obvious problem. A good chapel does not come cheaply, and for Guildford Grammar there was to be no second best.
PU Henn cast the funding net far and wide. Not a local soul was to be caught, but, almost out of the blue, a worthy citizen of far away Inverness (yes, Scotland) popped up with the required cash. Cecil Oliverson was a somewhat retiring chap and insisted that he did not want any public acclaim for his extraordinarily generous donation of over 30,000 pounds.
With funding secured, the London architect Walter Tapper was commissioned to design the building. His Gothic inspired work was built of WA sandstone quarried at Donnybrook. The marble flooring was sourced from both Belgium and Italy whilst the ornate hand carved interior woodwork is of English oak. This marvellous building was consecrated on 25 March 1914 and stands as a real testament to the vision and enterprise of headmaster Henn.
At the rear of the chapel we found a graveyard laid out in the shape of a cross. I was tickled to discovered that a few of those interred here were from the 'Fauntleroy' family.....a name I had always previously associated only with the fabled fop 'Little Lord Fauntleroy'. Same family?
On the opposite side of Terrace Road we passed rows of old cottages all of which house various school functionaries. This one is for you, Mum! (look closely at the sign)
The walls of many of these cottages were constructed in the manner of the day...Flemish Bond brickwork, a style which preceded cavity walls. Two bricks were laid side by side along the direction of the wall. At the end of each set of two another brick was laid at right angles. With the bricks being twice as long as they were wide, this pattern resulted in a wall much thicker than if laid in the conventional style with the resultant improvement in insulating qualities.
And they look good, too.
What's a posh school without grass tennis courts? Actually Guildford Grammar is noted for the sporting achievements of its students. With facilities like these is it any wonder (we couldn't find the ovals and so on....but I am sure they are equally well maintained)
Our wanderings around this part of Guildford took us past the school complex into Swan Street where the avenue of plane trees in Terrace Road was replaced by an equally impressive row of towering sugar gums. These are a beautiful specimen of our native eucalypts with their high, spreading habit and colourful mottled bark. They are actually far more impressive in real life that in this photo and now rank as my favourite WA tree. (mind you we have yet to see the 'Valley of the Giants' etc)
Swan Street took us back to our starting point at the good old Rose and Crown where the early hour of the day and the utterly prohibitive cost of a pint meant that we did not darken its doorstep and from here we moved on to 'Guildford proper'.
But before we depart, a final word on Guildford, that charming and interesting spot on the Perth map. It is directly under one of the flight paths to the not too distant Perth airport.
Colonial history and life in a modern society sit comfortably side by side in Guildford. Next we make our way south, out of Perth's heat and the vagaries of the Kinsgway park to the breezy coastal climes of WA's 'Great Southern'.
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