Month: November 2015

Boots and all in Clifton Hill

Industrial history, psychogeography, Victorian Melbourne, , , View all 17 comments

Back in the early 90s, I worked as a teacher of English to people who had lost their jobs because of the restructuring of the economy. The idea was to retrain former workers from the TCF (textile, clothing and footwear) industries, who came from very diverse cultural backgrounds. Even then, manufacturing was in drastic decline. Back then, I didn’t have much idea how important footwear used to be in Melbourne’s economy. If you want the evidence of that history, suburbs like Clifton Hill are a good place to look. Continue reading →

Fitzroy North or North Fitzroy?

psychogeography, , View all 6 comments

I made my way east from Carlton North, and spent an afternoon wandering through the adjacent suburb of North Fitzroy. Or is it Fitzroy North?

Either way, it’s one of those suburbs where you feel a strong sense of the past. It’s a peaceful place of gently curving streets, established trees, Victorian streetscapes – some of them grand and Italianate Boom-style, some of them humble – corner shops, bluestone lanes, and public reserves. Unlike traditionally working class Fitzroy, North Fitzroy is residential not industrial. And it doesn’t seem to have changed all that much  – not as drastically as some suburbs, anyway. There’s a bit of a Victorian vibe.

The ghostsigns reflect the suburb’s residential identity. Continue reading →

A cuppa in North Carlton

hot beverages, psychogeography, , View all 5 comments

This wall is on the corner of Lygon Street and St Philip Street, East Brunswick. I paused there, drawn by the presence of some very faded ghostsigns. It’s pretty hard to make them out. But when you’re an experienced wall-starer, small clues are enough to reveal what is lurking there. Continue reading →