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St Thomas Rest Park, located in West Street, Crows Nest, is the site of the first cemetery on Sydney's North Shore. It is the largest park in the densely populated Crows Nest area. The land that now contains the St Thomas' cemetery site was granted, in 1821, to Edward Wollstonecraft. The land for the cemetery was donated to the Anglican Parish of St Leonards in 1845 by the prominent landowner and merchant, Alexander Berry, whose wife Elizabeth had inherited it on the death of her brother Edward Wollstonecraft.

In 1967 the Cemetery was converted from a cemetery into a Rest Park. The new park opened in 1974. The sexton's cottage, dating from around 1850, was restored and opened as a museum in 1985. Many monuments and headstones are located within the sandstone-edged historic precincts while others are scattered around the Rest Park. An interpretive history trail provides 24-hour access to historical information.

St Thomas Rest Park is the resting place of Elizabeth Berry, the wife of pioneer settler Alexander Berry, who gave the land for a burial ground; pioneer settlers and businessmen Edward Wollstonecraft and George Lavender who are remembered in the names of suburbs on the Lower North Shore; explorer Capt. Owen Stanley; Lt-Col. George Barney, the engineer responsible for the construction of Fort Denison and the Victoria Barracks.

St Leonards is a close neighbour to Crows Nest, so close in fact that it is difficult to identify where one stops and the other stops apart from a line on a map. Of the two, St Leonards is more the commercial centre, whereas Crows Nest is predominantly retail. St Leonards has a commercial centre that complements the role of Chatswood, Lane Cove and North Sydney as one of the centres for business on theNorth Shore of Sydney. St Leonards contains one of Sydney's suburban skyscraper clusters, with major offices for many large companies.

St Leonards was named after English statesman Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney of St Leonards, after whom Sydney was also named. Originally, St Leonards applied to the whole area from the present suburb of North Sydney to Gore Hill. The township of St Leonards in 1883 is now North Sydney. The oldest railway station on the North Shore line opened in 1890 in St Leonards and originally only ran to Hornsby. The Gore Hill cemetery was established on the Pacific Highway in 1868 and was the main burial site for the area until its closure in 1975. It is still maintained as a heritage site by the Department of Local Government and Lands, Willoughby Municipal Council and the Heritage Council of New South Wales.

Artarmon is a neighbouring suburb to the north of St Leonards, located 9 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district. Artarmon has a mix of residential, commercial and industrial areas. High-rise buildings are located to the west of the railway line and houses to the east. There is also an industrial area south of the Gore Hill Freeway, although the suburb retains a rather leafy feel. The Artarmon Fair is held annually in May.

Its name is taken from Artarmon Farm, the name of the 150-acre 1810 grant of William Gore (1765 1845), the first settler, who was a provost-marshal. The name recalls Gore's family estate in Ireland. The locality of Gore Hill is named after him. Originally dense forest, it was cleared for farms and orchards in the early years of Gore's occupation. Subdivision and residential development did not begin until the coming of the north shore railway line in July 1898 when the original Artarmon station was opened. A new station was opened at a different site in October 1910.



The studios of the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), a public television station, are located in Herbert Street. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation was until recently located on the Pacific Highway, at Gore Hill. Fox Sports is headquartered on Broadcast Way near the Pacific Highway at Gore Hill. The Seven Network and Ten Network broadcast from a high transmission tower, operated by TXA in Hampden Road. The Nine Network has its studios in the adjacent suburb of Willoughby.



The Artarmon Triangle: Paris is a long way from Sydney, but there are plenty of Eiffel Towers in the Sydney suburbs. On the lower north shore there were three - the television transmission towers collectively known as the Artarmon Triangle. These tall, red and white pyramids at Gore Hill, Artarmon and Willoughby have been sending out tv signals since their construction in the 1950s and 60s. The towers signified a new era of technology.

The transmission tower on Pacific Highway is one of the few remains of the ABCTV complex, most of which was demolished in 2007. The complex was built in the 1950s. This was long before the neighbouring dark brick colossus of Royal North Shore Hospital was constructed and the highway was still mostly lined with houses. Sydney s first official television broadcast - which began with Bruce Gyngell in front of a map of the world saying Good Evening and welcome to television  - aired in 1956. The towers were a symbol of this new era of technology.

The tallest of the towers, and at 233 metres, the sixth highest structure in Sydney for over 50 years (the Eiffel Tower, by comparison, is 324 metres). Is tucked away at the corner of what was the Channel 9 studios in Willoughby. It is at the end of a dead-end street, surrounded by cyclone fencing with a warning against electromagnetic radiation on the fence to deter explorers.

Chatswood Reservoirs: The two Chatswood Reservoirs at 559 Pacific Highway, Artarmon were key structures in the provision of the North Shore's first substantial water supply, made possible by the commissioning in 1888 of the Upper Nepean Scheme. Built in that year, these reservoirs were a key component in the supply of water to the Chatswood area. As their top water level was 113 metres above sea level, the pair were able to service the suburbs of Chatswood, North Sydney, Mosman, and a small portion of Ryde by gravity. Supply to Manly could also be obtained from the reservoirs by means of gravitation through Mosman reservoir after it was built in 1904. The reservoirs also supplied suction water to a steam pumping station, constructed adjacent to them in 1895. This was pumped to two 90 kilolitre elevated steel tanks at Wahroonga for supply to the Upper North Shore. In 1972, a 54 megalitre welded steel reservoir was constructed adjacent to the originals.



Flat Rock Creek: This short but picturesque watercourse rises in the suburb of Artarmon, and flows down the hillside through a series of rapids before flowing under the old Northbridge suspension bridge and emptying into Middle Harbour. A 4km return medium-grade walkin track follows the course of the stream through natural coachwood forest and open forests of Blackbutt, Peppermint and Sydney Red Gum. It passes by sandstone ruins and a disused quarry before winding its way through Tunks Park, Cammeray, where the walk commences and finishes. It is a rewarding walk rich in natural and cultural heritage.

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Willoughby is a neighbouring residential suburb located 8 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district. Artarmon is the nearest railway station, on the western border of the suburb. Also a number of bus routes cover the area. Willoughby is known for a large Armenian community, who arrived in the area in the 1960s-1970s.

The City of Willoughby takes its name from the suburb but its administrative centre is located in the adjacent suburb of Chatswood, which is the local area's major commercial centre. There is some conjecture as to how Willoughby was named. Some historians believe it was named after a parish, while others believe that Surveyor-General Sir Thomas Mitchell decided to commemorate Sir James Willoughby Gordon whom he had served during the Peninsular War and was the quartermaster-general in England when the First Fleet sailed to Botany Bay.

Captain Arthur Phillip's search for "good land, well watered" led to the discovery and colonisation of the rough shores of Roseville Chase, where Samuel Bates built a farm at Echo Point. Later developments included the building of the first post office in 1871 and the construction of Pommy Lodge in the same year. In 1934, the heritage listed Willoughby incinerator was built in Small Street, after a design by Walter Burley Griffin. It has been described as "a particularly successful example of an industrial building integrating function with site."


Henry Lawson's Cave, Bicentennial Reserve

Bicentennial Reserve: This reserve is located in what was the upper valley of Flat Rock Creek. Early last century, the creek passed under Willoughby Road at Flat Rock Creek Bridge before cascading over Naremburn Falls, the highest waterfall in the Sydney region, into what was known as The Devil's Hole to the east of Willoughby Road. When the land above the falls was cleared and subdivided, the creek began to flow only after rain. In an act of shortsightedness, the local council began using Devil's Hole and the upper valley as a rubbish tip in 1930 and began filling it in.



In 1934 the Walter Burley Griffin designed Willoughby Incinerator (above) was built from Sandstone cut from a quarry located there. In 1946 the reclaimed area was made a playing field with financial help from Sir Edward Hallstrom, whose Silent Knight refrigerator factory was on Willoughby Road opposite, and named Hallstrom Park. In the late 1980s, the Willoughby Leisure Centre was built and the whole area re-landscaped and named Bicentennial Reserve. Henry Lawson Cave, at the southern end of the reserve, was just below the falls, facing The Devil's Hole. Its position indicates the original level of the valley floor. The cave's name commemorates the famous Australian author who used it as a refuge and did much of his writing here. Lawson lived at various houses in nearby Market Street. Location: Small Street, Willoughby.
Public transport: bus No. 272, 273 from Wynyard, alight Cnr Willoughby Rd and Artarmon Rd. Walk east along Small Street.

The affluent harbourside suburb of Wollstonecraft is located on Sydney's lower North Shore. Wollstonecraft is distinguished by its fine homes and million dollar views of Balmain, Hunters Hill and Birchgrove. Bordered by the affluent suburbs of Crows Nest, North Sydney and Greenwich, Wollstonecraft is five kilometres north-west of Sydney's CBD and is only one square kilometre in area.

Just three bays up from the Harbour Bridge and five stations up the railway line from Town Hall station, Wollstonecraft is encapsulated on three sides by a delightful ribbon of natural bushland on its harbourside shoreline. Just 20 metres from the railway station exit is Smoothey Park, a pleasant bushland reserve through which flows Gore Creek, bouncing its way over rocks and through splashing pools on its way to Gore Cove.

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One of the residential suburbs of Sydney's Lower North Shore, Cammeray is the northern neighbour of North Sydney and Neutral Bay. Facing Long Bay on Middle Harbour, Cammeray is named after the original Aboriginal inhabitants of this part of the Lower North Shore, the Cammeraygal, reputed to be a group of fierce fighters. A number of small dairy farms operated here until the 1880s when it became one of the first parts of the Lower North Shore to be developed as a residential area.



There are two Long Bays in the Sydney region, one being a large inlet on Middle Harbour on Sydney's Lower North Shore. The bay, which incorporates the lesser waterways of Quakers Hat Bay, Wreck Bay (Salt Pan Creek) and Willoughby Bay, is surrounded by the affluent suburbs of Northbridge, Cammeray, Cremorne Junction and Beauty Point, Mosman. The residents make full use of the bay for the archorage and maintenance of their pleasure craft. In spite of the encroachment of suburbia which now encircles it, Long Bay still retains much of its natural brauty, and the parks and reserves on its shores are popular places for family picnics and walks.

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Naremburn is a neighbouring suburb to the north of St Leonards. Its name is of origin unknown, possibly using the Scottish word 'burn'. The nucleus of what would become Naremburn was originally known as Central Township, being the first and largest settlement on the Lower North Shore in the 19th Century. As other areas grew, Naremburn remained small in terms of its area, being reduced even more in the 1960s when the Warringah Freeway cut a wide path through its heart. Another victim of progress was Naremburn Falls, once the tallest waterfall in the Sydney metropolitan area, which eventually dried up and was filled in as a rubbish tip in the 1940s as a result of the encroachment of suburbia.



Narremburn Falls: Bicentennial Reserve near Small Street, Willoughby is where the upper valley of Flat Rock Creek. Early last century, the creek passed under Willoughby Road at Flat Rock Creek Bridge before cascading over Naremburn Falls, the highest waterfall in the Sydney region, into what was known as The Devil's Hole to the east of Willoughby Road. It then flowed down to Long Bay at Cammeray after passing under Cammeray Bridge.

When the land above the Naremburn Falls was cleared and subdivided, the creek's flow was reduced considerably. In an act of short-sightedness, the local council then began using Devil's Hole and the upper valley as a rubbish tip and by 1930 had begun filling it in.

By 1946, all trace of the waterfall had gone. The area, which was filled up to the level of the top of the falls and the fill area was made into a playing field. In the late 1980s, the Willoughby Leisure Centre was built and the whole area re-landscaped and named Bicentennial Reserve. Henry Lawson Cave, at the southern end of the reserve, was just below the falls, facing The Devil's Hole. The cave's name commemorates the famous Australian author who used it as a refuge and did much of his writing here. Lawson lived at various houses in nearby Market Street. UBD Map 216 Ref A 1

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Neutral Bay is one of the inner Lower North Shore suburbs, situated around 5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district. Neutral Bay remained dense bushland, except for a military road which passed through it, until the turn of the 20th century when subdivision and development commenced. Neutral Bay and Cremorne became alternative society suburbs , populated by the kind of people who were attracted to the Arts and Crafts architectural style that was in vogue at the time. This style was an attempt to get away from mass production and give homes the human touch . Notable examples soon appeared in the area. Brent Knowle, in Shellcove Road, was designed by Bertrand James Waterhouse and built in 1914.

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