Walking north towards Yarraville shopping centre, we pass Coles supermarket and reach a row of small houses, behind which is a small park with a new playground. The is the site of the Sinking Village.
Quarries and a nature reserve in Yarraville
We walk from the West Gate bridge north up Hyde Street. Ahead of us, to the right are the big white drums of yet another refinery, Mobil this time (Caltex and Shell are behind us, in Newport.) Opposite Mobil is a Singaporean power company. There’s industry all the way up this road, and signage warning of hazards of various kinds. Not really a place that you’d expect to find a nature reserve.
The West Gate Bridge disaster
I walk north from Newport, up Douglas Parade towards the West Gate Freeway. I am heading towards the West Gate Bridge, one of Melbourne’s most beautiful and impressive landmarks, and the essential conduit for traffic over the Yarra, linking the two sides of the city. It’s also the site of Melbourne’s worst industrial disaster.
Death and resurrection, Newport
I find cemeteries fascinating. Every gravestone is a mini-narrative – a person’s life story in its most concise form, often no more than dates of birth and death and perhaps the name of a spouse or relative. If you are a writer looking for inspiration you could do worse than wander around a cemetery and let the tombstones be triggers for your imagination. Continue reading
Guest post: Skin deep in Williamstown
By Vin Maskell
There is a rash of skin-care and day spa businesses in our suburb. Like teenage acne, they’re popping up everywhere. Fifteen at last count, within a one kilometre stretch of the local shops.
Every suburb, every shopping strip, has its layers of skin, its history waiting to be peeled back. Continue reading
Melbourne Circle: stories from the suburbs 