We ARE living in the colonies, but we may as well be in the hills of Scotland as its been cold, wet and dark for weeks now.
As much as I hate the summer, I am looking forward to a bit of warmth.
This afternoon, despite the rain and cold, I went for a historic walk around an old local suburb called Mayfield here in Newcastle.
The suburb used to be known as Newcastle's "TOORAK" which is a well to do suburb in Melbourne. So it was well known to be a placed for the rich and industrious of Newcastle. As the city itself grew, so did the surrounding coal mines and the "Hill" area where all the rich people lived was always dirty with coal dust coming in the windows and doors. So the well heeled wanted to move out to an area close by with good views and space.
And so began the wealth of the Mayfield area with families that started huge businesses, like soap and candle making, Arnott's the biscuit maker and the Winn family that had stores in Newcastle amongst those to make the move.
"Bella Vista", shown above, is now a function centre but belonged to the manager of the BHP which was situated just across the way not far from the best dressed people in town. When the BHP opened its doors and started functioning it dirtied up the whole neighborhood and again these families moved on even further out of town, many to a place called Toronto by the lake.
It was a wonderful afternoon looking at all the places that are now worth millions each, places little Ladies like myself can only drool over.
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