Victoria Hall, Fremantle

Published in Fremantle History Society’s Newsletter October 2020

Victoria Hall is no stranger to members of Fremantle History Society (The Society) as it’s been many things to many people.  I’d like to share with you some of my memories of the place, there are several interconnecting stories.

Designed by Talbot Hobbs and built in 1897 as St John’s Parish Hall, Victoria Hall took on its new name to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.  In 1974 the Hall was saved from demolition by Union Green Bans.  Ron Davidson RIP told a colourful story of this in Fighting for Fremantle.  That action means we have one Gold Rush building left on the eastern section of High Street as a reminder of what once was.

My memories of 1980’s Victoria Hall were of a rundown elegant well-proportioned building housing the Salvation Army charity shop.  And elegant it was, boasting all the extravagance of neo-classical Gold Rush architecture and a well-proportioned façade.  We continued to patronise the ‘Sally Army’ for furniture and homewares for our new home in South Terrace until they moved out in 1996.

The Hall struggled along as a space for children’s entertainment and occasional adult dance, harking back to when barber and dance instructor Norm Wrightson ran post war formal dance classes and Saturday Dances for three decades. His brother Bob and wife were championship dancers.  

Our home on South Terrace was across from Price Street where the shop on the corner had a huge deckchair above its door, it was one of many temporary homes of Deckchair Theatre Co.  From there they produced Factory Girls, performed at the Mills and Wares Biscuit factory in South Fremantle.

This homeless theatre company found temporary accommodation in The Old Customs House and then was to gain a permanent home in Victoria Hall in 1998 -where they stayed until their closure in 2012.  Having purchased the Hall in 2002 Fremantle Council spent a lot of money on renovations, these works were a double-edged sword for Deckchair often clashing with performances. 

Some years later as a Fremantle Councillor I attended the unveiling of the renovated façade, which was grey concrete, consistent with Talbot Hobbs original design.  I had many people ask why it wasn’t painted a nicer colour!

Deckchair struggled around the Victorian design of the building, sometimes having audiences turn their backs on the stage and proscenium arch. Their theatrical focus was ‘new works by emerging playwrights’, funded by the annual Deckchair Auction and the very popular Shakespeare in the Park (Kings Park).  Unfortunately, the Australia Council threatened to remove funding if they continued with the Shakespeare events, causing great financial stress. The final blow came when a dodgy floorboard gave way and allowed a lighting rig to fall during preparation for The Fremantle Candidate, which became Deckchair’s final production and had to be performed in Perth.

The Society provided important archival work for Deckchair Theatre’s historical record, preparing the extensive artifacts for State Library acquisition. Members can be justly proud of this legacy for the people of Fremantle, which otherwise would have been lost.

Deckchair’s closure allowed The Fly by Night music club to try their hand in Victoria Hall. They had run a popular club in the Drill Hall, I saw many Australian and international acts there and have fond memories of them. The Fly struggled also with the Victorian layout, I saw some excellent musicians there too, but the atmosphere was just not the same as the Drill Hall. In 2009 The Fly met the same fate as Deckchair and folded.

This year SpaceMarket were successful with their EOI and Fremantle Council granted them a lease at Victoria Hall. SpaceMarket’s by-line is “Pairing disused spaces with useful people” Manager, Kate Hulett has a long list of successes in the arts and style, and brings experience from managing MANY and MANY 2.0 in Fremantle. COVID19 has limited their work so far, but the new Fremantle Theatre Company has a sell-out show at the Hall now and more booked for 2021. Let’s hope Victoria Hall is set for a new renaissance it thoroughly deserves.

ICAN Can and Did

Sunday 25 October the United Nations (UN) received the 50^th signature needed to activate an International Treaty banning nuclear armaments – Australia is still not a signatory.  The ban will be implemented 90 days after that signature.

Attendees at last week’s South Fremantle Precinct Meeting heard a short presentation on the fact that nuclear weapons are the only weapons of mass destruction (WMD) not banned by the UN and how this action is long overdue.  I also spoke on the devastating humanitarian, social, political, economic and environmental impacts of even a contained detonation of a nuclear device, in our region, including Australia.

A week is a long time in politics, and the last 3 countries signed up over the weekend despite lobbying from USA not to do so.  The USA has also lobbied signatory countries to withdraw, it is this lobbying that sees Australia missing-in-action on this crucial issue.  I ask, who should determine Australia’s position on nuclear bombs, USA or Australian citizens?  If you believe it should be citizens there is a lot of work to do telling the Federal Government they have got it wrong.

ICAN (International Campaign Against Nuclear weapons) received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for their work with UN on the Treaty.  Fremantle, the only Australian executive member of Mayor’s for Peace, a sister organisation of ICAN will be lobbying the Federal Government to change its stance.  Joining a call for concerned people and organisations to send messages to the Prime Minister for the 22^nd January end of the 90 day period.

This is a very important milestone in ensuring the events of 75 years ago in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are never repeated, but with an estimated global stockpile of 13,400

nuclear warheads there is still a long road ahead.

For Australian actions: https://icanw.org.au/action/eif/

This piece was submitted to the Fremantle Herald last week. Alas they chose to publish letters related to dogs on the beach and continued attacks on Fremantle Council instead of an issue of great importance.

Making Stock

I’m going to make a confession, it will be no surprise to my friends, but I don’t much care for sport.  Yes, a bit un-Australian.  One of my alternatives to sport is playing in the kitchen.  Yes, I enjoy cooking.  As anybody who enjoys creating in the kitchen will know there are some very important basics, and very high on my list is good stock.  You can buy the 700ml boxes from the supermarket, but they are limited in their usefulness, or you can buy the small packs of expensive stock, or bone broth as the marketing people like to call it.  Recently I took the middle ground and bought some Maggie Beer chicken stock.  It was just like water, so I sent an email to the address on the pack.  The reply back was that there was nothing wrong with it and I clearly do not understand stock.  Maggie Beer products are now off my shopping list.

Right, so I do try and make my own and freeze it in handy sized containers.  This weekend was going to be cold and windy, and while I was getting some fillet steak from Goodchild’s I also got the smallest pack of pig’s trotters.  I only mention Goodchild’s because you can be pretty sure they have good well priced fillet and a regular supply of pig’s trotters.  I picked up a copy of Classic Conran cookbook from Salvation Army charity shop and I was interested to see he used trotters in his stock.  This makes good sense the reason for which I will go into later.  So, a couple of kilos of chicken drumsticks and the trotters went into a hot oven.  I normally use free range, because I find images of all those chickens jammed into those barns repulsive, but I now hear that there is an outbreak of chicken flu caused by free rage birds catching it from wild birds.   Meanwhile I sweated onions, garlic, carrots, celery and flavourings in my very big pan.  The pan was deglazed with half a bottle of dry white wine and topped up with water.  The contents of the roasting pan were then added and some gravy from the previous night’s dinner as well as some blended parsnip, Stephanie Alexander called this shaking the fridge.  The whole lot was filled with water to the top of the pan and a small amount of salt added.  Don’t be tempted to salt it to taste because when you use it you can salt to the desired level, you cannot un-salt it!  I left on a slow simmer for a few hours, finally turned off as we went to bed.

Next morning it was cool, so I skimmed the fat off the top and proceeded to strain it into my second biggest pan.  This went in the fridge until it was cold and again any fat was scraped off the top.  Some would then put it through a muslin cloth to get fine particles out.  For most cases I see that as too much work.  If I need a superfine stock, I can strain the amount I need.  Back to why pig’s trotters are so good.   They are jam packed loaded with collagen.  People pay significant amounts for therapeutic collagen from the chemist, and here I am with a pan overflowing with the stuff.  The other thing it does is become a jelly at room temperature.  This gorgeous mix goes into containers and into the freezer.  Try it, you’ll never buy stock again.  The cost?  I made 6 or 7 litres for $15, make that $18 if you buy the wine, Lindeman’s bin 65 at $6 works well.

Wildflower Wander

We are very lucky to be living in WA, we enjoy the lowest level of COVID-19 restrictions in Australia and are able to travel within our State quite freely; and what a State it is.  We have just returned from a short trip into Wildflower Country, and while the season seems to be coming to an end early this year, no doubt due to Climate Change, it is still a wonderful experience.

On the first day we left Fremantle and went to Goomalling via Northam, this really gets you into the northern wheatbelt, with increasing diversity into canola.  Goomalling has a reserve in the centre of town famous for orchids, alas they had all finished, but we still were able to walk through other wildflowers and be entertained by birds.  We try to support local businesses, so went to the Goomalling Hotel for pre-dinner drinks, and the walk back demonstrated how stunning the night sky is away from the big city lights.

The next day we went to Perenjori, a favourite from previous trips.  We stopped off at Buntine Rock, with carpets of flowers (and many flies) and Caron Dam.  The dam was built to supply water to the rail connection that followed the opening up of agricultural land.  Perenjori is known as the Everlasting capital, but we had missed them.  On the way we went to the Bakery at Wongan Hills for coffee and a brekky roll, alas it was closed.  A local suggested it was the only bakery in WA that chose not to open on Saturday mornings.

Sunday saw us in Morawa, where there were reports on Wreath Flowers, one of the must-see plants in WA.  We followed directions and headed east on the Yalgoo road for about 50 km and were treated to see many examples.  They are strange insomuch as their preferred location is in the dry hard dirt on the shoulder of the road.  On the way back to Morawa we saw a sign saying we were now entering the ‘inback’ (as opposed to outback) very drole.

Another hotspot for WA wildflowers is Mingenew, our nest destination.  Depot Hill is a must visit reserve.  It was busy, with parking at a premium.  As we entered, I was concerned to see Patterson’s Curse, a member of the Borage family introduced into Australia in the 1880’s via mail order seed delivery.  It is now a declared noxious weed.  Fortunately, it soon gave way to the indigenous wildflowers, including some orchids.  It really is a great walk winding around the small hill base.

That night we stayed in Port Denison.  Unlike the inland route, the coast is very busy with tourists.  We were very lucky to get somewhere to stay, and our cray dinner in the hotel took over an hour to be delivered, but was well worth the wait.

We then had a leisurely drive along Indian Ocean Drive back to Fremantle.  All-in-all a great trip.

Wildflower Season

It’s wildflower season again, so last weekend we took a trip to Wireless Hill Park, the flowers were stunning, especially Kangaroo Paws and Spider Orchids.  Alas I did not take a camera, so her are a couple of pics from my phone.  The Park really is a gem, with a Museum, grassed areas, picnic areas and of course wildflowers.

This weekend we visited Star Swamp Reserve in Trigg.  I was not aware of it until I saw it in the RAC Magazine.  It was worth the Visit, and a great Spring day ride on the bike to get there.

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Next Weekend we could try Beeliare Wetlands, Kings Park or Lesmurdie, all of which have reports of good displays.

Ian Boyd’s Vincents

Last week I had the good fortune to visit Ian Boyd’s Vincent collection in Jurien Bay.  His home is designed around the Museum, which holds in excess of 50 machines, mostly HRD/Vincent’s and about 10 other bikes, plus 2 race cars and an E Type.

Phil Vincent bought HRD* motorcycles in 1928 and called it HRD Vincent, but when they began exporting to the USA the importer felt HRD was too close to HD (Harley Davidson) so they insisted all HRD logos were removed.  As a result, the name was changed to just Vincent.  Their first consignment was 50 Red Flash’s.

In the UK, and consequently Australia they sold 2 versions, the Black Shadow, which was a performance cruiser and the Black Lightning as the race version.

HRD’s started out as single cylinder 500cc bikes (citation).  It is reputed that chief designer Phil Irving left 2 drawings on his desk, coincidentally in the form of a V, and this was the birth of the 1000cc V twin, and the fastest motorcycle in the world, and probably one of the most famous motorcycle pics ever as Roland Free takes the speed record in 1928 at Bonneville.

Race results are testament to the bikes performance and reliability.  Of course, Richard Thompson’s song about a Vincent ’52 has kept the bike in the public’s consciousness.  Today one needs deep pockets to own a Vincent, with prices for a reasonable quality one being north of $100k.

The pictures tell the story, so do look at them, and many thanks to Ian for allowing us to visit and his generosity of spirit.

• Howard Raymond Davis

Austral Fisheries Choose Hybrid For Fremantle

 

Australia’s latest Fisheries Vessel has just arrived in Home Port, Fremantle from Gdansk, via Maloy, Norway where it was manufactured and fitted out.  The Cape Arkona boasts revolutionary fishing equipment specifically for cold water fishing in the Southern Ocean.  The Cape Arkona is also a Hybrid Vessel.  There are 2 conventional CAT main propulsion engines, with additional generators on the prop shaft used to charge a battery array, one of these generators also works as a motor to drive the vessel by electric power.  As with a Hybrid car this system significantly reduces fuel consumption and allows for regenerative charging from the vessels winch equipment.

Congratulations to Austral Fisheries for choosing sustainable alternative propulsion and home Porting her in Fremantle.

State Government funding for Fremantle

The State Government announced earlier today it will dedicate $1.6 million dollars for essential work on the UNESCO listed Fremantle Prison.

https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2020/08/Fremantle-Prison-benefits-from-1-point-6-million-dollars-in-WA-Recovery-funds.aspx

Shortly after they also announced that it is dedicating funds to address Coastal Erosion.  The lions share of $5 million will come to Fremantle to address the situation at Port Beach.  The money will go towards sand nourishing to protect the beach for up to 10 years.

https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2020/08/McGowan-Government-investing-in-coastal-erosion-hotspots.aspx

The State needs to be congratulated for stepping up to fund these essential works.

Fremantle Bridge Social Importance

Main Roads have released information on their plans to upgrade the Swan River crossing between Fremantle and North Fremantle.  This information can be accessed at mysaytransport.wa.gov.au

On that webpage there is information about community drop-in sessions and access to an on-line survey.  It is disappointing they have made all the strategic decisions without any community input.  These include location of the new bridge to the north of the existing bridge, removal of the existing bridges and road alignments, and provision of an additional rail crossing between the existing rail crossing and the new bridge.

While acknowledging the area is constrained, I am strongly of the opinion that the community should have been given distinct options.  These options should have been developed by a team of experts with skills in urban form, town planning, indigenous heritage and transit, looking at the project from both the narrow lens as Main Roads have done and the strategic regional perspective.  This should never be a simple issue of getting a road for cars and trucks across the river as quickly as possible, it has far more important aspects.  These include the high indigenous and colonial heritage of the river crossing, the need for social and cultural connectivity between North Fremantle and Fremantle and respect for the importance of the North Fremantle urban centre.

Main Roads’ focus is on road building because this is their role in life.  Issues of sense of place and community connectivity are not in their toolbox of ideas.  Some years ago Sir Terry Farrell spoke to the City of Perth and emphasised the need for getting the urban for right BEFORE allowing the road building authorities to do their designs, otherwise they will see the project as a blank canvas for roads, not people.

The main reason the new traffic bridge is planned to the north is that Main Roads say that there is insufficient space to the south.  In fact, the major constraint is the proximity of the North Bank apartments to the existing bridge.  If we park the proposed new rail bridge for the moment, the southern option between the existing road and rail bridges has much merit.  If the new crossing were to mimic the curve of the rail line drivers would be guided into Fremantle, and if it were to connect to Beach Street the West End creating much needed activation.  Terminating a bridge at a T junction is not good design philosophy.  Furthermore, the interface between the bridge and land, at both ends of the crossing can be a celebration of the crossing.

The heritage significance of the connection between the two parts of Fremantle, and their individual heritage significance demands very sympathetic treatment of this project.

Should it be deemed necessary to duplicate the rail bridge this can be done to the south of the existing rail bridge.  Submissions by Fremantle Ports on the need for every square metre of the port for operational reasons should not lead to a sub optimal outcome.

This is a far too important project to relegate the community to deckchair arranging.

Fremantle Police Station

“Where will the Fremantle Police Station go?” That was a hot topic when I was first elected to Fremantle Council in 2005. The former building on Henderson St was unfit for purpose. Speculation was, rationalisation of WA Police services would occur and the Minister was being enticed to the Murdoch activity centre. Spiral forward 15 years, we’re still having the same debate. Thankfully the Station at Murdoch is established but will not displace the need for one in Fremantle. As the metropolitan second city, the major metro port and a vibrant late night venue, it is essential Fremantle has a major regional Police Station.

So “Where will the Fremantle Police Station go?” is still the question after all these years. The current location in an old bank building on High Street has its problems and was only a temporary solution. Silverleaf hoped the Minister would commit to their redevelopment of the Woolstores Shopping Centre, but seem to have been unsuccessful in that endeavour. Hot favourite now seems Police Services will be included in proposals for the former Stan Reilly site, now a temporary carpark.

I have reservations regarding that location, whilst understanding a new build can allow Police Service a fit for purpose facility. As a member of the Fremantle Oval Working Group I can say an expected outcome of renewal on the Stan Reilly site (with the oval fringes and parts of the Fremantle Hospital site) would be a transformed South Terrace entry into the City centre as an attractive place for people. This would require new development to interact well with the streetscape through being welcoming and vibrant. Unfortunately, I don’t feel a Police Station on this site could achieve those good outcomes. A valid alternative proposal would be integration of Police Services into renewal of our downgraded local hospital. The old Hospital Accident & Emergency section could be an ideal location (less than 100 metres away from the Stan Reilly site) with its purpose built ramp. The Fremantle Hospital (now an outlier of Fiona Stanley) is in an outsized woefully underutilised building that will be with us for many decades.

Deciding where to locate the essential service of the Police should not be a process of moving boxes on a map, it is fundamental they have a home that is fit for purpose in design and location whilst allowing enhanced public realm along the South Terrace gateway.

As a society we tend to link Police, Nurses and Hospitals, so combining the two is a natural fit. What is needed to finally place Police Services in Fremantle in a great location is creative cooperation between Police and Health Ministers and their departments.

The result would be a win-win situation for the Police, The Hospital and Fremantle’s urban streetscape.