Secrets of a Sydney past

Just a few air-side places to visit, virtually or otherwise...

There's RAAF Richmond, roughly adjacent to and north of the old Clarendon airfield

Nearby neighbour RAN base Schofields, a bit too close to Richmond to survive

Of course there's Sydney(Kingsford-Smith)

And of course Bankstown, hemmed in by development

and Top Gear Australia has made the most of Camden's distance from Sydney

and Hoxton Park has been axed

and long-lost Hargrave Park - too close to Bankstown - is just a memory, and a collection of interesting street names

Long lost? How about the Jamison Park airfield at Penrith

And many more ex-WWII airstrips dotted around the city's extremities, most lost, a few active like Oaks Airfield or not, like at St Marys.

Labels: airports, airstrips, sydney airport

Sydney has suffered many planning misfortunes and missteps, including the lack of a heavy rail connection to the northern beaches, despite long-standing plans to do so, and the seemingly endless indecision over the location of a "second" major airport (although some may argue that Bankstown airport already fills that role). My personal favourite though would have to be the dismantling of what was the 2nd-most extensive tram system in the British Commonwealth - second only to the London network and many times larger that Melbourne's. This startling removal of track, electric catenary and associated tram sheds was largely "achieved" by 1961. Tracks were ripped up or submerged under tar; tramcars were sold for scrap or burned; and land and buildings were reused as bus depots or sold.

Why oh why did we ditch light rail? Wikipedia says this: The overcrowded and heaving trams running at a high frequency, in competition with growing private motor car and bus use, created congestion. Competition from the private car, private bus operators and the perception of traffic congestion led to the gradual closure of lines from the 1940s.

Buses, you see, were more flexible in their routing and interfered less with other vehicular traffic. Which was good in theory, but the government-run bus routes largely replicated the tram routes anyway; and as both bus and car traffic grew the road network hit its natural limit as well - stopping everything in its peak-hour tracks.

Now this infrastructure planning miracle was achieved after seeking the input of overseas "experts" and largely executed by Labor governments. Interestingly, again quoting Wikipedia, closure was supported by the NRMA, but generally went against public opinion. Thank you once again, National Roads and Motoring Association. Nothing ever really changes, does it?

All that aside, some tantalising remnants of Sydney's trams exist, to remind us of our folly. For instance there are tramway remnants along Anzac Parade, through Randwick and Kensington, including reserved track and "bus stops" facing the "wrong way" (ie towards the trams, not the buses) towards La Perouse. There is a tram bridge at Annandale and sheds at Rozelle, Tempe and Newtown, plus recycled tram depots like Randwick bus workshops and a shopping centre at North Sydney. And plenty more, if you look closely enough.

Labels: sydney airport, trains, trams

Alexandra Canal is a relic of our past that shouldn't be forgotten. Check this out for its immense detail: http://www.aussieheritage.com.au/listings/nsw/Sydney%20Airport/AlexandraCanal/2551
Many's the time in my misbegotten youth I wandered along stretches of Alexandra Canal and wondered "why is it so?". I could see that it was meant to be an industrial canal, like you may find in Europe, but why did it so obviously fail to, umm, "take off"?

If you follow that link you'll get the full story. But here's my take on it... with my own recollections and observations thrown in. Yes, it is a relic of a 19th Century NSW Government initiative to create water transport, one of just 2 in that state and 3 total in Australia; and yes, it was based upon the English canal system. It partly used unemployed labour in its construction. The canal itself played its part in the draining and in-filling of large areas of low-lying in the Alexandria and Botany area, opening it up for development.

It's worth a look. Intact original sections of the "fascine-dyke sandstone construction" are apparently rare examples of late 19th century coastal engineering works. They certainly look it, too. My favourite views of this barely-navigable canal were from the Ricketty Street bridge (love that name) and along Airport Drive (where I spent many hours watching and photographing aircraft landing, of course). Some parts of the Cooks River are lined in the same way.

Alexandra Canal is also known as Shea`s Creek, a tributary of the Cooks River, and it begins in what were once the sandy hills of the present Surry Hills, north of Redfern. The sand hills themselves are long gone but stretched east to South Dowling Street (where Australian Glass Manufacturers set up a factory, strangely enough) and south to Botany and the marshes that surrounded northern Botany Bay. Dredging commenced in 1887 to adapt Shea`s Creek to a canal, starting with a junction with the Cooks River, south-west of the existing Sydenham-to-Botany railway bridge. It extended north only so far as the Canal Road Bridge - and had to be re-aligned somewhat as the airport expanded.

However plans were afoot to extend to Buckland Street, Redfern - which would have been interesting indeed, had it happened. Apparently that extension only got as far as Huntley Street, Alexandria (in about 1897) before political will died away. We all know what that's like.

Other interesting bits from that URL above:

• During construction, scientists were called in to record the finding of dugong bones displaying butchery marks, aboriginal stone axes and remnants of an ancient forest
• Wharves were constructed along the canal to encourage its use
• A similar development occurred on the south side of the Cooks River, with Muddy Creek reconstructed as a canal as far south as Bestic Street between 1893 and 1895
• Development of the Alexandra Canal ceased in 1912.
  

So what went wrong? Apparently it quickly became a `white elephant`as it required constant dredging and repair, at considerable expense, but was generating little commercial use or income. It was also limited by the shallow draught of the vessels that could use it, as well as tidal flows that required careful timing of use. Of course another factor was the growing success of commercial road transport in the 1930s. By the early 1940s it was decided to demolish the wharves. It was largely disused from the 1950s onwards.

Enough about the canal, what of the Airport? Again drawing heaving from that link, but with my observations added, the airport was significantly expanded from 1947. The airport land was expanded to include much of what had been Sydney's water supply reservation (near the old Mill Pond, ie the south-east corner of the field, now variously helicopter and car parking as well as roadway) as well as former Rockdale Sewage Farm land (near Muddy Creek), the F. T. Wimble and Co. Ltd Ink Factory (unsure where that was), the Mascot Granite Works (or that) and the whole of the suburb of Lauriston Park (which of course is pretty much the core street scape of the "domestic" terminal area - severed from surrounding suburbs by the Botany Goods railway line.

Much of the "new" east-west (07/25) runway was constructed along the centre of the existing Cooks River, requiring a major diversion. The diverted river was placed on the western boundary of the airport, with a hard turm to the south instead of a gentle meander across the airfield. Whereas it once flowed out to the Bay near the Mill Pond, it now exited next to what became the site of the 1970s Control Tower. Some houses in that area were also marooned when the river moved.

The excavated material and sand went to the aerodrome to raise the level of the runways and to fill the old Cooks River alignment. You can see a swampy area created by the removal of the river in maps and photos of the time, to the north of the intersection of the 2 main runways. Later, after the new runways were operating, the Alexandra Canal south of the railway bridge, including a surviving stretch of what was the Cooks River, were realigned, the original Canal and riverbed filled and a new channel cut through further to the west. This work created some more space for airport buildings to the north, including the international terminal, and was complete to my recollection by 1969. A new road bridge over the Canal was built during construction of the terminal, later becoming restricted to pedestrian and cycle traffic only. That of course was my favoured way to get to the International Terminal - a bus to Tempe bus (formerly tram) depot, then a stroll over the old construction bridge to the new terminal.

Also in this general area is a rail/tram interchange at Arncliffe, from whence ballast and sand was also transported across the tram network. Just thought you should know that.

Labels: Alexandra canal, Lauriston Park, sydney airport

It was once a common sight. Strong westerly winds drew pilots to land and take off on runway 25, rather than use the main north-south runway. In fact this strip was the main runway up until the north-south runway was extended into Botany Bay in the late 1960s. This east-west strip exposed more people to aircraft noise and its use has been subsequently curtailed. Note the TAA 727, shortly to be renamed Australian Airlines before disappearing with a merger into Qantas. The Ansett F27 also represents a brand no longer in the air.

Labels: Ansett, Qantas, runways, sydney airport, TAA

Well it was fairly new in the 1970s, anyway. Replacing the old tower near the intersection of the east-west and north-south runways, this "new" tower sat on the edge of Botany Bay, next to the Cook's River. It had the advantage of seeing to the end of the newly-extended north-south runway (which has a slight hill in the middle). Later replaced by a taller, more dramatic structure on the other side of the main runway when the parallel north-south runway was built.

It's worth noting that the Cook's River was diverted to make more room for these runways at Sydney, originally emptying into Botany Bay on the other side of the north-south runway. The current runways themselves were settled upon only in the 1950s, earlier grass and gravel strips having a more north-east/south-west orientation. One strip was actually crossed by a railway line (later diverted to the north), a DC-3 famously colliding with a train and illustrating the obvious dangers in that arrangement...

Labels: control towers, runways, sydney airport

Not the last visit but certainly the first. The Anglo-French Concorde prototype sits at Sydney's International terminal in 1972, framed by a QANTAS 707 "V-jet". Security was certainly more relaxed in those days, as evidenced by this then 14 year old photographer (armed with a Kodak Instamatic) wandering up to the edge of the hardstanding...

Labels: Concorde, sydney airport, V-jet

There haven't been that many accidents or incidents at Sydney but some stick in the mind. How about the Vickers Viscount tragically lost in Botany Bay?

The PAA 707 that beached itself in the mud at the southern side of the western end of the 25 runway?

The PAA 747 that did something very similar at the eastern end of that same strip, turning hard right to avoid colliding with the main southern sewer and Cook's River.

Or this DC3, VH-EDC, lost again in the bay after engine failure: "On Sunday 24 April 1994, at about 0910 EST, Douglas DC-3 aircraft VH-EDC took off from runway 16 at Sydney (Kingsford-Smith) Airport. The crew reported an engine malfunction during the initial climb and subsequently ditched the aircraft into Botany Bay. The DC-3 was on a charter flight to convey a group of college students and their band equipment from Sydney to Norfolk Island and return as part of Anzac Day celebrations on the island. All 25
occupants, including the four crew, successfully evacuated the aircraft before it sank. The investigation found that the circumstances of the accident were consistent with the left engine having suffered a substantial power loss when an inlet valve stuck in the open position. The inability of the handling pilot (co-pilot) to obtain optimum asymmetric performance from the aircraft was the culminating factor in a combination of local and organisational factors that led to this accident. Contributing factors included the overweight condition of the aircraft, an engine overhaul or maintenance error, non-adherence to operating
procedures and lack of skill of the handling pilot."

Also noteworthy was the slightly bizarre crash involving Ansett DC-3 VH-BZK and a NSWGR coal train which was (as was normal at the time) crossing runway 22... and yes, they later moved the train line as well as the runway.

Labels: aicraft accidents, Ansett, sydney airport

You probably realise that Sydney has one international airport, namely Sydney (Kingsford-Smith) Airport. You probably also realise that there's a major light aircraft airfield in the outer-inner western suburb of Bankstown. You may even know about Camden airport, south-west of Sydney.

Some of you will have heard of Schofields, the former RAN air base, near the RAAF base at Richmond. Schofields had a triangular arrangement of intersecting runways, and when the Navy moved out the strips were gradually cut, with one DC3 marooned there when a fence divided the longest remaining strip. Did they truck it out, or take down the fence? RAAF 36 Squadron moved to Schofields near Sydney on 19 August 1946 as well for a time, populating the field with C-47s. Sadly now it's suburbia.

There's even the single-strip at Hoxton Park, west of Liverpool. You may think you know all that there is to know about aviation in Sydney... but wait, there's more.

What about Hargrave Park, near Liverpool? Now suburbia.

Penrith had an airfield, too, now a park close to town.

Holsworthy is an army base that can take short-field RAAF transports.

What of Duffy's Forest, to the north?

There are also many more grass strips to list, and we'll get to them soon enough.

What about the history of Sydney's airports? What of the pony racing that was conducted on land to the east of the current domestic terminals? Or the balloon loop for the trams that brought punters to that pony track? What of the early runway alignment at Sydney, which had one runway crossing the railway tracks to the northeast? Or of the DC3 that was involved in an accident with a freight train?

There are some secrets to be uncovered here. It will take time but we'll get there!

Labels: airports, Bankstown, camden, Hargrave Park, Holsworthy, Hoxton Park, Penrith, pony racing, Richmond, schofields, sydney airport, trams