Visit Sydney Australia

INTER WAR SYDNEY -
1918 - 1945

The Great War of 1914-18 put many civil projects on hold in Sydney as the community turned its time, money and energy towards helping the war effort. It wasn't long after peace was declared that things soon got back to normal and Sydney entered a decade of growth and prosperity before the financial crash and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Many plans and schemes that were formulated before the war were brought to fruition including the extension, electrification and developing of the railways and the construction of the Harbour Bridge.

The end of the war also signalled the beginning of a housing boom in new outer lying suburbs like Brookvale, Castlecrag, Lindfield and Gordon in the north; Beverly Hills, East Hills, Regents Park and Miranda in the south and south-west; and Concord, Seven Hills and Wentworthville to the west. The Federation style cottage that was so popular before the war was replaced by a larger style home called the Californian bungalow. The most popular and distinctive style of domestic architecture of the period, it was based on models imported from Pasadena in California in the early 1920s. It was the standard style adopted for the newly created Garden Suburb  of Rosebery, and was promoted as reflecting the relaxed, outdoors-oriented lifestyle of Southern California which shared a similar climate to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.


Trust Building

As suburban Sydney was taking on a new look, so the city skyline came in for some radical changes too. Using American and European examples as models, the central business district underwent a major facelift with a plethora of modern office blocks and commercial premises replacing many warehouse style buildings of the previous century. The direction being taken by the designers of these new look buildings was up. The development and introduction of the high rise building was made possible by the introduction of new technologies which allowed the utilisation of a steel-framed structural system to carry the weight of the building rather than the external walls. At the end of the Great War, the tallest building in Sydney, at 66 metres in height, had been the Trust Building. By the beginning of World War II, it had been dwarfed by a number of new structures, the tallest of these being the AWA Tower at 111 metres. No doubt many more would have been built higher had the Height of Buildings Act not forbidden it.

Not only did the high rise concept revolutionise commercial building design and construction, it was also adopted for residential development projects in the form of apartment buildings. Apartments in multi storey buildings were to become a less expensive 20th century alternative to the free standing home, and proved to be the ideal dwelling for the working couple who had neither the time nor inclination to handle all the extras that come with home ownership like gardening.

TRANSPORT: RAILWAYS

The building of the Harbour Bridge and its associated approaches was Sydney's biggest single engineering project in the years between the world wars and was the talking point of the city for a decade. The bridge and the city underground railway was part of the masterplan of John J.C. Bradfield, the Chief Engineer for the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Metropolitan Railway construction, which had been adopted in 1913. The project had to play second fiddle to Australia's war effort during World War I, but after the conflict was over, work began in earnest.

Some of Bradfield's ideas for the rail system which have seen fruition are the building of the present underground railway system, the building of lines to Cronulla and East Hills, the completion of the Bankstown - Regents Park - Cabramatta - Lidcombe network, the construction of the metropolitan goods line system, and, of course, the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, although not to the plans originally submitted. Ideas which await completion or which have been discarded totally include railways from North Sydney to Mosman and the Northern Peninsula, St Leonards to Epping, Central to Matraville via Sydenham and Town Ha ll to Gladesville.

Building the City Circle Underground Railway

Excavations under Hyde Park

The City Circle railway was built in stages over a period of 30 years. As each stage was brought into use, sufficient construction work was completed to enable extensions of the system to be made at a later date without interference to the service already provided. Thus, at North Sydney, there are tunnels leading half a kilometre towards Mosman for the Peninsula Railway, the entrance of which can be seen beyond the Waverton end of platform 2. At Town Hall, additional platforms were provided at the lower level for the line to Gladesville. These are now used by the Eastern Suburbs Railway.

Even in the 1970's with the construction of the Eastern Suburbs Railway (to a route quite different from Bradfield's proposals), two additional platforms and short sections of associated tunnels were constructed at Central for the Southern Suburbs Railway to Mascot, just in case it was ever decided to build it. These platforms are above the Illawarra Line platforms, and their presence explains the surprisingly long escalator trip down to platforms 24 and 25. The unused platforms, numbered 26 and 27, are complete minus their tracks, and could be used for train traffic at short notice, though this now seems unlikely. The Airport rail link which roughly follows the path of the line for which these platforms were built, has been built elsewhere and the occupation of platforms 26 and 27 by Cityrail's Central Document Storage department seems permanent. Redfern station also contains two half built platforms which we are intended for use by the Southern Suburbs Railway to Mascot. They are located above ground between platforms 10 and 11 and include a tunnel mouth leading under Lawson Street and the Illawarra lines. The up platform was designed to be on the same level as platform 10 and the down line platform below it on the same level as platform 11.


Brafield's plan for the city circle (click to view larger map)

Bradfield's original city railway proposals saw St James as a busy junction and changeover point. In addition to the lines now in use, a double track railway was to be built from Gladesville joining the City Circle on its western arc and leaving it on its eastern side for Watson's Bay and the South Eastern suburbs. This line was to enter the city from the west at Darling Harbour, run underground and curve around from Town Hall, under O'Connell Street, to St James, where it would utilise the two spare centre platforms. Two lines would run under Hyde Park and Oxford Street to Taylor Square, where there was to be a junction. One pair of lines would go to Watson's Bay and the other through Paddington and Randwick towards Botany.

The first section of the city railway loop was above ground between Cleveland Street (now Redfern) and Central station. It was designed for use by electric trains only and the first service ran between Central and Oatley. The 2.0km section between Central to St James via Museum was opened on 20th December 1926. The 2.6km western arm of the underground railway from Central to Wynyard via Town Hall wa 2s opened on 28th February 1932 with the opening of the Harbour Bridge. The City Circle loop was finally completed in 1956, the final link in Bradfield's masterplan being incorporated into the design of the Cahill Expressway on Circular Quay. The 1.2km section between Wynyard to St James via Circular Quay was opened to traffic on 22nd January 1956. At the time, a new series of suburban rail carriages were introduced to provide maximum comfort for passengers using the tunnels of the city underground. Bradfield had input into their design, and consequently they became known as Bradfield cars.

After the city stations were brought into service, the electrification of the suburban railway expanded rapidly, reaching Sutherland, Liverpool, Parramatta, Bankstown and Hornsby by 1929. Progress then slowed until outer suburban development required extension of the electrified system to Penrith in 1955, Lithgow in 1957, Cowan in 1959, Gosford 1960, Campbelltown in 1968, Waterfall 1980, Wyong 1982, Newcastle 1984 and Wollongong in 1985.


York Street excavations for Wynyard Station and lines onto the Harbour Bridge

The lines from Wynyard which crossed the Harbour Bridge to a new station at Milsons Point and then on to a junction with the existing line at Waverton, opened with the bridge in 1932. Four lines were provided between Wynyard and North Sydney, although two of these were used by trams as a stop-gap measure until the North Sydney to Mosman and Northern Peninsula Railway was built. As this line never eventuated, trams continued to use the tracks until the closure of the North Shore tram network in 1958. The bridge tramway lanes are now used by the Cahill Expressway. At Wynyard the tram concourse which were platforms 1 and 2 was located next to the north shore platforms on the upper level behind what is today a walled off area. The tram concourse is currently used as for a hotel car park. One of the tramway tunnels from the bridge portal was once used as a police shooting range. The other tunnel is disused down to the Big Fan which vents stale air from all six platforms.

St James and Wynyard were busy terminals until 1956 when these two stations were connected by the line through Circular Quay, allowing trains to run into the City and back out again without having to stop and reverse direction. St James was intended to be the junction station of the city circle loop. It was built as was much of the City Railway by the cut and cover method. In this way, a hole was dug in the ground, the walls and roof of the tunnel were built after which the hole was filled in. The outer two platforms of St. James were for the trains travelling to and from Circular Quay which is their current use. The inner two platforms were for trains travelling to and from the Watsons Bay / Randwick area (then referred to as the Eastern Suburbs Railway). These have never been used by trains although the tunnels exist for some distance in either direction.

The Abandoned Railway Tunnels of the CBD

In 1936, the track which ultimately would carry trains from Circular Quay to St James (known as the City Outer) was built from St James as far back as the tunnel portal at Circular Quay. This line was used for the storage of trains between the peak hours. During World War II, this tunnel and those intended for the Eastern Suburbs Railway at the Museum end were converted to bomb shelters in case Sydney suffered an air raid. The bomb shelters were removed from the Circular Quay tunnel in 1956 for the building of the line but remain to this day in the double line tunnel located between the two single line tunnels now in use. The north-bound siding tunnel intended for the Gladesville line drops quite sharply along its 250 metre length. At its end, it is very much lower than the City Inner railway and stops directly under the Mitchell Library where there is a rock face and a small pilot tunnel at roof level. At the Quay end of the pilot tunnel is another double line tunnel, with a concrete arched roof, but sandstone walls. This tunnel stretches away in a left hand curve towards Bridge Street. It passes under the City Inner Line and starts a tight arc which would ultimately have led to Town Hall, but avoiding Wynyard. Construction ceased after sufficient tunnel had been built to clear the City Inner Line, the end being around where it would go under Macquarie Street.

At the entrance to the flooded tunnel at the end of the pilot tunnel is a vertical shaft leading upwards. In the days of bomb shelters at this end, a zig zag stair case used to lead up this shaft to a pill box in Shakespeare Place. The staircase and pill box have long since been removed. General Macarthur is said to have had his wartime headquarters somewhere in this area, but there are now no signs of this activity. Indeed there are so many theories on places where MacArthur had his base that the man could not have possibly used them all. MacArthur may well have operated out of St James from a section now boarded off, or from the City Inner tunnel which was not then in use for trains.


St James Lake

By the time the eastern arm of the underground railway had been completed, Bradfield had recommended an alternative design for the bridge, a single span steel arch, which was given the go-ahead and completed in 1932. Bradfield's proposed tramway service from St. James station to Mosman using the tracks on the eastern side of the bridge gained widespread support but never gained Government approval. After the bridge was opened, a new suburban railway line between St Leonards and Eastwood was given the green light but funds for the project dried up during the great depression of the 1930s and it was never built. Tunnels cut for the Eastern Suburbs railway at the Museum end of St James station have never seen a train and it is most unlikely that they ever will as the ESR has been built to quite a different plan. It actually crosses underneath St James at right angles just north of the platform. A blast curtained opening leads into the double track tunnel originally intended for the eastern suburbs railway almost immediately on the Museum side of St. James station. Like the spare tunnels at the Circular Quay end, this tunnel is located between the two currently in use for rail traffic. They are on a fairly steep gradient upwards. After a short distance, the double line tunnel becomes two parallel single line tunnels, still rising sharply. In this way, they rise up over the top of the City Outer tunnel, in the direction of Taylor Square. Again, just enough tunnel was built to ensure that rail traffic would not be disrupted when construction resumed. The tunnels end at a barricade under Hyde Park about level with but well to the East of Museum Station. Behind the barricades are rocks piled up where the cut and cover construction work ended. The existence of this tunnel system can easily be noted by watching trains arrive at and leave Museum at the St James end. The reverse curvature of the tunnels in use now to get around the tunnel between them is obvious.


End of an abandoned tunnel under Hyde Park, intended for an eastern suburbs railway that was never built

During the war, the double line tunnel was divided into a number of bomb shelters, each divided by a solid transverse wall from floor to ceiling. Access between the shelters is via a concrete blast curtain, with a similar curtain higher up for ventilation. In parts of the tunnel, tree roots from Hyde Park above have pierced their way through drainage holes and run down the walls and across the floor. At the Museum end of these tunnels, a great deal of graffiti has been scrawled on the walls. Careful searching reveals the penciled names and serial numbers of soldiers who it is assumed were involved with the construction of the bomb shelters there in the 1942. Tunneling for the eastern suburbs railway via the branch line south from St. James station commenced in 1917, but the project remained uncompleted for decades.

The Great Depression, which saw passenger numbers fall dramatically, led to many of Dr Bradfield's proposals like the eastern suburbs railway never leaving the drawing board. Politics and lack of money were the final nails in the coffin as the Country Party was opposed to expansion of the urban rail network at the expense of more lines to "open up" the bush. The growth of the Government bus network in the early 1930's also played its part. Another factor preventing completion of the South-Eastern Suburbs tunnels was the high cost of land resumption required for excavation along Oxford Street towards Taylor Square. This would have played a major part in the 1940s decision to change to the present route via Martin Place, Kings Cross etc. Government after Government embarked on a bit of excavation work here and there along the route, a token gesture to shows its supporters that they were working on it, though in reality it was in their too hard  basket. It wasn't until the vocal minority became a vocal majority that the Government bit the bullet and spent the necessary dollars to make it happen in the 1970s. On 23rd June 1979, the line became operational as far as Bondi Junction, the last leg being left for a future generation to complete.

TRANSPORT: TRAMWAYS



In 1933, with 290 km of track and 1,535 tramcars, the Sydney tram system was Australia's largest. The inter war years were very profitable in spite of the fact that only minimal expansion of the system occurred now that trains had taken over as the major public transport facility for the newly developing outlying suburbs. The colour scheme of the electric trams of the Sydney tramway system was green body below windows, cream upper body and chocolate roof, with red bumpers bars. All trams carried illustrated destination signs on front and rear to assist the signalmen in the various signal boxes to identify the route need for that service. Examples of Sydney trams may be viewed at the Sydney Tram Museum at Loftus near Sutherland. Types of rolling stock in use during the inter wars years were:-

'O' class trams - The affectionate name for these trams was the 'Toast rack'. Their capacity was 80 seated and 40 standing although this was often exceeded, especially on race days, Royal Easter Shows and peak hours. Of the foot board type, they were configured with 2 open smoking compartments that were fitted with a pull down Canvas blind for use in inclement weather. These were followed by 4 enclosed compartments with sliding doors (Non-Smoking), then 2 more open smoking compartments the same as the front ones. Destination signs were carried, with the front and rear being mounted outside and below the driver's window. This necessitated the driver or conductor leaning around the front of the tram to change destinations, the side boards were also changed from the outside by the conductor leaning backwards out the compartment and winding the knob until the destination required appeared. This class of tram could be run as a Single or coupled set, although a few were of the direct control type and could only be operated as single units. The 'O' class tram weighed 17 tons 11 cwt 1 q. They ran on two four wheel bogies and were were 10' 8 and a half" from Rail to Roof.

P' class trams - of a slightly better design, although they were still of the foot board type. All compartments were enclosed with sliding doors, all destination signs could be changed from inside the car. The coupling system was much improved in that all connections were carried in the coupler. Their capacity wa 80 seated with 40 standing. The 'P' and later 'P1" class trams weighed 16 tons 12 cwt, were 9' wide over foot boards, and ran on Two four wheel bogies.

'R' class trams - these were a much improved vehicle in that they had upholstered seats in the compartments at each end and wooden seats in the drop centre (smoking) section. They were only able to run as single units, being direct control. They had 16 seats in the smoking section and 16 in each of front and rear compartments. Trams weighed 17 tons 13 cwt, were 9' wide over centre running boards with a passenger capacity of 48 seated and 86 standing. The 'R1' type were almost identical to the 'R' except this class only had one centre door and thus had a seating capacity of 56 with 86 standing.

'OP' and the 'PR1' trams - variations of the 'O' and ' P' respectively, the 'OP' was an 'O' class reconfigured to have all compartments enclosed by sliding doors, while the 'PR1' was a 'P' class configured as per the 'R' class with entrances at each end as well as a single door in the centre.br>
The northern beaches tramway system was never a financial success and as the years went by, moves were made to have it replaced by buses. One by one, services subject to chronic financial losses or with awkward physical features of operation were withdrawn. The closure of the entire Manly electric tramway system after the last trips on 30th September 1939 and replacement by buses was the first major conversion undertaken in New South Wales. The last from Narrabeen arrived at the depot at North Manly at 1:54am, where it was formally put away to the accompaniment of "Auld Lang Syne". Thus ended public tram operation in the Manly district after 36 years of service.

The Sydney tram system was Australia's largest, at 290 km, in 1933. But because the system consisted of several isolated sections, it was relatively easy to close it down, piece by piece. This process started in 1939 with the Manly system. The last Pitt St. and Castlereagh St. tram ran in 1957 on a Saturday night at 1 am. Within minutes of the tram's run the overhead wires were pulled down, and the next morning (a Sunday) the tracks were paved over, to ensure there would be no return of the trams even if the buses should prove inadequate. This shows pretty clearly that there were forces at work other than just a desire for efficiency.


Removing tram tracks along Eddy Avenue outside Central Station, 1957

100 years after the first tram had run, the last line in Sydney closed. The replacement buses were loss-making from the start, and within just a few years the City Council was starting to regret the loss of the trams, but it was too late. In 1975, a proposal was floating to re-instate a tram loop from Central Station to Circular Quay along Pitt and Castlereagh Streets. In 1995, this proposal re-appeared, attached to the Darling Harbour Light Rail Plan, which was adopted. Today the line runs from Central Station to Lilyfield.

TRANSPORT: AIR TRAVEL


Colin Defries (left) after flying over Camperdown

The first buzz of an aircraft engine in the skies over Sydney occurred on 9th December 1909 when a Mr Colin Defries flew a British made flying machine to a height of 150m at Victoria Park, Camperdown. The first cross country flight in Australia took place two years later when William Hart flew from Sydney Showgrounds near Centennial park to Penrith. Little aeronautical activity was recorded in Australia before and during the First World War, but the aeroplane and the techniques of flying were developed considerably during the war when both sides used them to their advantage. By the end of the war, it was clear to many Governments of the world that the aeroplane would play an important part in military and commercial travel in the 20th Century. A gradual stream of land aircraft (as opposed to flying boats) began arriving from Europe and a number of Australian motor mechanics began copying designs of overseas built flying machines to made their own. The first completely Australian made aircraft (airframe and engine) was constructed at the RAAF experimental station at Randwick in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs in 1924.

When Nigel Love brought an ex-war flying machine to Australia in 1918, he sought a suitable place to land and garage it. A friend recommended he look in the Botany area as it was close to Sydney yet far enough away so as to be fairly isolated from nosy sightseers. He ended up leasing 400 acres of open paddocks between the Botany Railway line and the Cooks River from the Kensington Race Club which were adjacent to the club's Ascot Racecourse. News of Love's acquisition spread and his grass airstrip at Mascot soon became widely used by a growing number of enthusiasts. It was here that Ross and Keith Smith, two pilots from South Australia, landed their Vickers Vimy after making their first historic flight between England and Australia.

The Air Navigation Act, which regulated air travel in Australian skies, was passed on 2nd December 1920. The Civil Aviation Branch of the Department of Defence was formed to administer it and one of its first objectives was to set up aerodromes in Australia's major cities and towns. Mascot was the obvious choice for Sydney, being the home base of the Australian Aircraft and Engineering Company which commenced operations in 1919. This company was established in 1919 to service planes flying Australia's first commercial air route (Melbourne - Cootamundra - Sydney - Longreach - Darwin), which used the Mascot airstrip for the Sydney leg of the journey. The Commonwealth government purchased 161 acres alongside Love's property, establishing Mascot once and for all as the official site of Sydney's airport. The hangars, domestic terminals and associated buildings of today are located on additional strip of land purchased as an accessway to the runway area to its east. This land, which extended east to Botany Road, was a market garden when it was acquired in 1921. Love's lease, located to the south of today's domestic terminals, was taken over and incorporated into the airport's property when his lease expired.

By 1923, the first hangar had been built and by then daily flights to other towns and cities were a common occurrence. When the Dept. of Civil Aviation was formed in November 1938 and control of the airways was transferred to it from the Department of Defence, two new runways were in use. There were 120 flights a week serviced by a staff of eleven. The taxiing apron which runs south-east across the fr ont of the Ansett terminal today follows the line of the original runway. The airport's name had been changed to Kingsford Smith Airport in honour of aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (1897-1935) who, with Charles Ulm, made a record flight around Australia from Mascot in just over 10 days. His record flight from Sydney to London was the talking point of Sydney in 1933 when this achievement was made.

Rose Bay International


As you walk along the foreshore of Rose Bay, were it not for the occasional buzz of a float plane as it lands and takes off across the bay and the fact that a restaurant on the bay is called Catalina's, you would never know the bay played a short but important role as Sydney's international airport. It began in May 1914 when a Farman Hydro-aeroplane made an emerg Eency landing there. Twenty years later a flying boat base was established on a 'temporary basis' and became a terminus for Qantas Empire Airways and Imperial Airways for their London to Sydney passenger services. The first passenger flight, by an Empire class Coo-ee, left for Southampton on 2nd February 1938. The service continued until the end of 1947 when Lockheed Constellation airliners replaced the flying boats that had pioneered the Kangaroo Route, the name Australians gave to the England to Australia run.

Flying boats were used in the 1930s to pioneer the concept of international air travel. As the clouds of World War II gathered, aircraft builders were developing larger, faster, more luxurious flying boats and the airlines began developing flying boat bases such as the one at Rose Bay in anticipation of a boom in air travel. A trans-Tasman flying boat service began in April 1940 which at its peak, saw a fleet of four Sandringhams servicing the route and making the seven hour crossing to Auckland. Services to Lord Howe Islan, Fiji and Tahiti were introduced using Sandringhams, Hythes, Solents, Sunderlands and Catalinas. The hangars of the Qantas base provided maintenance for the flying boat fleets of Qantas, Tasman Empire Airways Limited, Barrier Reef Airways and Imperial which operated these services, as well as the Qantas flying boats on the Perth to Ceylon route.

After the war, the anticipated boom in air travel came, but advancements made in the design and performance of land-based aircraft during the war saw the flying boats becoming obsolete before they had a chance to make their mark. Elaborate plans to build an international airport and hotels on the Rose Bay foreshore were first put on hold, then abandoned completely as the flying boat services were replaced by land-based aircraft which could not land at Rose Bay. The last Qantas flight from Rose Bay took off at midnight on 16th august 1955. By 1962, the number of personnel at the base had dwindled to 11. The final commercial flight from Rose Bay, an Ansett service to Lord Howe Island, took place on 10th September 1974, closing a brief but important chapter in Australia's aviation history and returning the bay to being the quiet harbourside community it was before the arrival of the flying boats.

IN DEFENCE OF SYDNEY

Sydney Harbour boom net anchor, Watsons Bay

In 1914, the guns at the various forts aroud Sydney were briefly mobilised, but never fired in anger and more bunkers were erected. One bunker at South Head has a hand painted 1915 with an upwards pointed arrow (the defence department symbol) above it. Post World War I Sydney saw the development of what is known as the Fortress system of defence for the coastal areas around Sydney. The works of the Fortress system are massive, well-engineered, solidly constructed and well-sited and are in stark contrast to those erected during the course of the Second World War. Around Sydney two 9.2" gun batteries of two guns each were installed, one at North Head and the other at Cape Banks. They were supported by smaller guns along the coast, and an interlocking system of observation posts and communication and command structures which meant that the entire coast from Broken Bay in the north to the Royal National Park in the south was able to be protected.

While the initial declaration of war in 1939 caused some construction of fortifications to occur, the pace was accelerated when Japan entered the war in late 1941 and Australia came under threat. Temporary gun emplacements were set up along the coast and around the Harbour, strategic installations came under intense protection by forts, anti-aircraft guns and searchlights which were constantly being erected and shifted. A new series of tunnels were built at South Head linking HMAS Watson to a wharf used to offload military supplies at Camp Cove. These tunnels are quite deep and rather labyrinthine, their entrances today are blocked by steel doors. At the same time, a series of new observation bunkers were cut deep into the cliff face of South Head. These include one which was particularly well placed for viewing the Lady Bay nudist beach. The southern anchor point for a boom net, placed across the harbour during World War II to stop the entry of enemy ships, can still be seen on the waterline nearby.



The only attack on Sydney during World War II was by Japanese midget submarines on the night of May 31, 1942 and a shell bombardment about a week later when parts of the Eastern Suburbs were shelled by a Japanese submarine on the night of June 8th 1942. A number of houses sustained damage but there were no personal injuries or loss of life. The midget submarine attack was met primarily by water craft. The coastal defence guns, being poorly sited, failed to provide the necessary fire. Both attacks put Sydney's defenders on edge and unit war diaries record a variety of incidents, including shooting at US aircraft and blowing up of turtles mistaken for submarines, which demonstrate the tension of the situation as the war came to Sydney's doorstep.

The structures built during the war were hastily thrown together, a fact reflected in their inability to survive the following five decades. Over one hundred anti-aircraft positions and searchlight positions were built but little evidence of most of them survives. Almost none of the hundreds of kilometres of barbed wire laid during the war exists today, and only a few air-raid shelter in peoples' back yards have survived.

By 1944, when the threat of a Japanese invasion had passed, many of the coastal defence batteries were decommissioned. The process of dismantling guns continued after World War II with the last of them being decommissioned in the early 1960s. Some of the installations were then employed for other military purposes including training and storage. The tunnels at Middle Head were used to train some of Australia's first troops to Vietnam in the 'Code of Conduct' course, which trained them to withstand torture and interrogation. The 'tiger cages' constructed for the trainees still stand in the old engine room of the Outer Middle Head Battery. Some of these fortifications have been used as film and television sets - notably the TV series 'Spyforce' and the film 'Stone'.

CASTLECRAG:
SYDNEY'S GARDEN SUBURB

Chicago born architect Walter Burley Griffin is most remembered for designing the City of Canberra however his legacy also lives on in the Sydney suburb of Castlecrag. During his time working as Associate of the famous US architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Griffin entered and won the Federal Capital Competition for the design of Australia's Capital. This led Griffin and his wife Marion Mahoney, also an architect and graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of technology, to move to Australia in 1912 to oversee the project. They were accompanied by Walter's sister, Genevieve, and her architect husband, Roy Lippincott.



Though they operated an architectural practice in Melbourne, the Griffins had fallen in love with Sydney's magnificent harbour on the first day they saw it and since their arrival had lived and owned properties with harbour views at Cremorne, then Neutral Bay and Greenwich. In 1919, after endless struggles and confrontations with the authorities, Griffin resigned as Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction and moved back to Sydney. In that year the Griffins formed the Greater Sydney Development Association for the purpose of developing a new harbourside suburb. It was the realisation of an idea probably conceived on their first visit to Sydney in 1913. They hated traditional suburbia with rows and rows of similarly shaped; houses and had often voiced their disdain of the blandness of developing suburbs of the day such as Strathfield and Concord. Theirs was not going to be an ordinary subdivision, rather a model of the garden suburb concept that was very much in vogue. But what they conceived was not so much a suburb as a planned community with roads, homes and community services in harmony with the landscape.

They inspected land at Longueville, then Beauty Point, but were captivated by the beautiful forested promontories of Middle Harbour. Much of the land was owned by the developers who had built the Cammeray Suspension Bridge whose subdivision north of the bridge had fallen on hard times in the economic depression of the 1890s. Griffin secured 263 hectares of virgin land with 6.44km water frontage for the incredible price of $25,000. It included all of present day Castlecrag, part of Castle Cove and most of Middle Cove.

The first of three planned subdivisions was Castlecrag Estate. Located in Edinburgh Road and The Parapet, Griffin designed the road and allotment pattern which follows the contours of the land by walking over the terrain, planting markers for the surveyors to follow him as he went. Streets within the subdivision were given names which related to mountain castles so as to compliment the name of the subdivision and the rocky terrain. Council approval was granted for the subdivision in April 1921 and seven months later a limited number of the 110 lots in the first subdivision went on sale. By the end of 1922, six houses, some shops and an estate office had been completed.


Castlecrag's ampitheatre

What made Castlecrag unique from other developments of its time was the covenants all purchasers were made to enter into. These covenants required to Griffin approve the design of all homes. Among other things they placed restrictions on roofing materials and required a commitment by owners to contribute to the management and upkeep of the reserves Griffin had set side throughout the subdivision. The use of natural vegetation in landscaping was promoted and the building of fences on property lines was discouraged, as much to retain the natural environment throughout the subdivision as to create a sense of community. Griffin offered shareholders in his company a free block of land if they built a house. Five shareholders took up this offer. The subsequent homes built for them which were probably for investment only, as they never occupied them. These homes became the 'demonstration houses' built in the first years of the estate, 1921 and 1922. Designed by Griffin, they were a radical departure from the typical Sydney suburban home. Compact in design, they had flat roofs and were built of concrete and stone. The concrete walls and roof used the Knitlock prefabricated segmental reinforced concrete system developed by Griffin during his years in Canberra which made them easy and cheap to assemble. The Knitlock sections were manufactured in a shed on the corner of The Rampart and The Redoubt, on the southern side.

The Griffins moved into one of the demonstration homes in 1923 and played a major role in the community. Marion had a strong interest in theatre and played a leading role in the festivals held by a Sydney arts and philosophical society. She was the brains behind the creation of the Haven Scenic Ampitheatre located on the corner of The Scarp, which was chosen for its topography and acoustics. The plays, concerts and poetry readings she and fellow Castlecrag resident Luke Drummond organised were held there and attracted artistic people from all over Sydney. Marion coerced many a Castlecrag resident to assist her in creating elaborate stage sets featuring classical columns for the performances of Greek tragedies like Iphigenia (Euripides).



In spite of the enthusiasm of those who did get caught up in the ideals of the Castlecrag project and bought land and built there, until the stringent terms and conditions of the covenants were relaxed after the Griffins moved to India in 1935, land purchases were mainly for investment and few homes were built. A combination of factors contributed towards the slow growth of Castlecrag and the lack of public acceptance of the Griffin's revolutionary interpretation of the garden suburb concept. Banks showed an unwillingness to approve loans for Griffin houses and publicity surrounding a number of legal battles between residents and the developers over the covenants turned many prospective buyers away. The emergent wealthy middle class which the Griffins hoped would have found their 'new age' garden suburb appealing showed a preference for no-risk north shore railway suburbs like Roseville and Killara where they were not bound by restrictions on the size or type of house they could build or how they could or could not landscape the surrounds. The depression of the 1930s slowed down all development in Sydney and brought the less popular subdivisions like Castlecrag to a grinding halt. The idea of communal involvement in the performing arts was quite radical for conservative 1920s/30s Sydney and Castlecrag was looked upon as a haven for artistic types rather than a community of ordinary citizens. The residents along with their suburb became somewhat of a curiosity for people to visit and marvel at rather than join in.

Castlecrag saw its greatest period of growth in the 1940s after the influence of Walter and Marion had gone. The bush environment that had been an essential part of their masterplan was retained but few homes complied to the developers' ideal and brick and tile, the pet hate of the Griffins, became the norm. The fourteen homes which were designed and built by Griffin were to be the only ones of their kind and remain today, along with the Griffin-designed Castlecrag shops (now called The Griffin Centre) the Haven Ampitheatre, the narrow, winding streets and the islands of stone and bush at their intersections, as a legacy to the Griffins and their garden suburb utopia. Following is a list of these homes built by the Griffins. Should you visit Castlecrag to see them, please remember that today they are all private residences and are not open for public viewing. They are private property and entry without permission in trespassing. Please respect the privacy of the occupants at all times.

The Griffin Houses at Castlecrag

INTER-WAR-ARCHITECTURE

Flats and Units

Birtley Towers

The architectural type known as flats or apartments is very much a high density living phenomenon of the 20th century. Unlike the terrace in which dwellings are sandwiched together horizontally, the flat added a vertical dimension, with homes built above and below in blocks as well as side by side. One of the oldest surviving examples of a block of flats in Sydney is Strickland Flats, a three storey brick and stone building located at the corner of Meagher and Cleveland Streets, Chippendale. Designed as high-density council-built social housing, the original plan was to have two similar buildings side by side providing a total of 134 dwellings but outbreak of the Great War around the time of the completion of the first building brought a halt to the project.

The next stage in the development of the high rise apartment building was epitomised in Birtley Towers at 8 Birtley Place, Elizabeth Bay. Competed in 1934, it was designed by Emil Sodersten (1901-61) a leading Sydney architect and proponent of the Art Deco style of architecture. It featured a U-shaped design with six flats per floor. Its highly decorative motifs and the use of red texture brick did much to popularise the Art Deco style, Birtley Towers having been fashioned on the latest Art Deco apartment buildings of New York's fashionable Central Park West. Revolutionary in its day, it was a style of residential building that was far from popular at first, with many calling for this apartment concept in housing to be outlawed as it was seen as a potential breeding ground for slums of the future.


The Astor

The Astor (completed 1923) in Macquarie Street, Sydney, took a different approach and was an early attempt to popularise the concept of high density inner city living. A magnificent structure that has been described as the Grand Dame of apartment buildings, it is 13 storeys high with one apartment on each floor and a small shopping area at street level. Stylish and Elegant, it became one of Sydney's most sought after addresses, its owner/occupants over the years including Dame Edith Walker and author and actor Barry Humphries.

Whilst large blocks of units were reaching skyward in the inner suburbs and city centre, further out in suburbia block of flats of a different kind were springing up. Developers were buying two or three regular suburban blocks, demolishing the houses on them and replacing them with blocks of units. These were usually two storeys in height which were much larger than the one and two storey residences around them, but blended in well with the streetscape rather than towering over it as the high rise blocks of units tended to do. These smaller blocks, containing anywhere from four to twelve units, offered home style living in an apartment block and became very popular in the years between the world wars. They can be seen in a variety of sizes and architectural styles throughout the middle to inner suburbs of Sydney. Following are examples which typify the apartment buildings of the era.

TUNNELS, BRIDGES AND PUNTS

1918 - Fullers Bridge

Constructed over the Lane Cove River between Ryde and Chatswood, Fullers Bridge was the first major reinforced concrete-beam bridge to be built in the Sydney metropolitan area. It was d esigned to carry a tramway to the Field of Mars Cemetery.


Glebe Point Railway Viaducts

1919 - Glebe Point Railway Viaducts

The two brick and stone viaducts on the Western Goods Line, both elegant structures built on a curve with well detailed arches, were built across Wentworth Park and Jubilee Park in 1919. The Wentworth Park viaduct is the longest section of brick arch viaduct on the NSW system and the largest viaduct structure to survive in Australia. It is a major engineering work, having been built on reclaimed land with the brickwork sitting on timber piles. In its heyday the double track Western Goods Line which passed over it had up to forty train movements a day. The line was closed in January 1996, by which time it saw only weekly use to the Edwin Davey Flour Mill (adjacent to Metro Light Rail's present terminus at Wentworth Park station). The tracks are now in use again by Sydney Light Rail which runs a service from Central Station along the Western Goods Line from Darling Harbour to Lilyfield.


Glebe Road tunnal portal

1919-21 - Glebe Road and John Street Railway Tunnels, Pyrmont
The Glebe and Pyrmont tunnels, now used by Sydney's Light Rail, are important relics of the inner city rail freight system, having remained virtually i ntact as the line was never electrified. The double track tunnels and associated cuttings were created in 1919 as part of the Western Goods Line between Darling Island and Balmain Road Jctn. The 4.1 km long section of track which passes through them was opened on 23rd January 1922 and closed to goods rail traffic 74 years later to the day. The brick-lined Glebe Road tunnel is 744.8 m long and runs from Pyrmont Bridge Road to Jubilee Park, passing below Glebe Point Road. The western portal is adjacent to the former Rozelle Tram Depot. Both portals now frame Metro Light Rail's Glebe and Jubilee Park Stations. The John Street Tunnel was built, opened and closed for traffic simulatanous to the Glebe Road tunnel. A curved brick-lined 123.8 metre long tunnel, its takes the line under the sandstone heart of the Pyrmont peninsula. The line's corridor lay dormant until it was brought back into use by Metro Light Rai which operates a service to Lilyfield using the goods line's tracks, viaducts, bridges and tunnels. Joh n Street Station was created within the cutting beyond the eastern portal of the John Street Tunnel.



1919 - Bellevue Street Railway Bridge, Glebe
In 1919 the NSW Government Railway built the first reinforced concrete railway bridge on its system over the northern end of Bellevue Street, Glebe. The experimental single span was restricted to 21ft in length and supported the goods line from Rozelle to Darling Harbour which was being built at the time.