Australia Day Tony Robertson

All are invited to join the Brisbane  Invasion Day Prayer Vigil and Candle Lighting on Wednesday January 25th at 5pm at the West End Uniting Church Cnr Vulture and Sussex Street West End

All other escheduled events including the  Invasion Day Rally and March in Brisbane have ben cancelled due to the torrential rain that has been falling on the city and surrounds.

St Andrew’s Anglican Church South Brisbane

Corner Vulture St and Stanley St, South Brisbane – revisited

South Brisbane Library

South Brisbane Railway Station

South Brisbane Town Hall

South Brisbane Catholic Church

Allgas Energy Building, Southbank Parklands

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a U2charist with Peter B & friends

St Andrews Anglican Church South Brisbane

Sat 21 Jan 2012 … 7pm

Streetwise is a musical, narrative and spiritual stirring out of the posture of terra nullius, which occupies our silences about who we are, how we got here, where we live, and what we do here in Brisbane. As Australia Day approaches, Peter B & friends bring the music of U2 into contact with the lives and movements of all who gather at St Andrews Anglican Church on Saturday evening on the 21st January, 2012.

A local post-modern take on the age-old eucharist, The Streetwise way to St Andrews in January reveals one of the creation narratives of Brisbane city. From Brisbane City Hall, cross the Victoria Bridge. Pass the Art Gallery, up Melbourne St, and be sure to use Merivale St and Vulture St.

Come on a journey with us and you may travel these streets the same way again. This one is for U2 fans, lovers of local history, and those who still haven’t found what they’re looking for.

Here’s a few fast Streetwise facts…

Daphne Mayo’s sculpture over the Brisbane City Hall portrays “The State protecting the citizens’, ‘native life… dying out before the approach of the white man’, and ‘the early explorers discovering the possibilities of the new land in its industries’.

Queen Victoria sent a message in the sloop, ‘Cordelia’, declaring the formation of ‘Queensland’ in 1859.

The Queensland Art Gallery is built on the land which Queen Victoria originally gave to the Anglican congregation of South Brisbane before they moved away from the flood-prone river bank area to the higher land between Cordelia and Vulture St.

The 2nd Viscount of Melbourne, William Lamb, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom just before the transformation of the penal settlement of Brisbane into a colonial settlement.

Herman Merivale was influential in British politics at this time of transition, delivering lectures at Oxford University on subjects such as “Examination of some subjects connected with the disposal of land in new colonies” and “Policy of colonial governments towards native tribes, as regards their protection and their civilization”

The HMS Vulture was a warship which visited Moreton Bay, along with the HMS Leopard. Vulture St was formerly known as the Southern Boundary Road

This event is free and all is welcome

Hope you can join us

Peter B & Greg Manning

ABC Brisbane Reflects the 7 Network logo on its glass wall

There is great excitement as the finishing touches are added to a building on the corner of Russel Street and Little Stanley in South Brisbane. The four storey structure will be home to ABC Brisbane and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

The building has been a controversial project even before the first sod was turned.

I went for a look at the almost completed new home in South Brisbane today.  They have an impressive bank of reflective glass along the riverside that will provide great views. The glass also reflects the logo of the 7 network on the wheel of Brisbane across the road.LOL

Melbourne Street Railway Station South Brisbane

The “grand old lady” South Brisbane Rail Station is having a facelift. It was closed for six weeks during November-December 2011 and you can read an update here.

Almost dwarfed by the extensions to the Brisbane Convention Centre the red brick rail terminus carries the history and stroies of a bygone era.  In its heyday it was known as the Melbourne Street Railway Station Why of all places did Brisbane choose to use the name of another major capital city so close to one of its main transport hubs? Melbourne and Sydney do not even have a Brisbane Street, yet  you can find Sydney Street as one of the wharfs for Brisbane City Cats!!!

So, back to the station renovations. What do you think they should “restore” of the old  girl? Perhaps the grand dining area and luggage halls? Should we bring back porters and the G&S style uniforms? Should a “Macca’s” be invited to set up shop for a contemporary look?

Stories about South Brisbane Railway Station

South Brisbane station shut down for 40 minutes by alleged bomb hoax

The 1957 South Brisbane Railway Smash

The Torres Strait Islands: A Celebration was an unprecedented celebration of Torres Strait Islander culture and history is taking place at the Cultural Centre, South Bank, Brisbane from 1 July – 23 October 2011.

The Torres Strait is a vast region of Australia that is still largely unknown to the majority of the Australian populace. Located between the northern tip of Cape York and Papua New Guinea, the Torres Strait comprises over 270 islands. 17 are inhabited by a number of Torres Strait Island peoples – Australia’s other Indigenous culture, very different from mainland Aboriginal cultures.

Visit Tony’s Images celebrating the Opening of this  exhibition

 The suburb shares the upheaval of history with its sister suburb, West End. South Brisbane’s hsitory can be bookmarked by European sttlement, the building of the Railway Station and  World Expo ’88.

Have a look at the Google Images fro South Brisbane. There are more images in the South Brisbane History Collection.

My hope is that this site will provide a space for residents, vistors and tourists to share their experiences, memories and impressions of this wonderful space.