Urban Ambling

As you travel down from Brooklyn to the rivers mouth at Cowan Water you will see ahead a high ridge of land. This is the Lambert Penninsula. Behind it to the east is a tied island, Barrenjoey.

Both are N.ational Parks and provide stunning views of land and water. They are yet another example of Sydney’s gems.

The lower Hawkesbury has nearly all pristine land and bush on either side. Again , a rare gem.

This is partly due to topography and isolation, but , in the case of the Lambert , a lot of luck.

We also give a brief description of the life of Eardly Henderson McGaw and his wife on the Lambert.

An historic goods railway corridor becomes a link between the Parramatta and Cooks River.

If I had to choose only two words to describe The Greenway, then they would be “accessible” and “history”.

It is only a bit under 6kms long and is beside the light rail, so any level of capacity can be accommodated. There are also some playgrounds along the way. You can walk the lot, walk there and back, or 1km and then take the light rail.

It also gives us access to parts of Sydney we may otherwise never visit.

The rail line itself is an integral part of transport history as are the businesses which sprung up along it.

It is pretty flat and an ideal spot for an amble.

James Bloodworth, like James Smith, was an early arrival in Sydney Town.

The similarity ends there, however, as Smith's time was not successful, but Bloodworth was a stunning success.

In many ways, he was critical to the survival of the infant settlement.

Born on 7-3-1759, he was convicted in October 1785 of the dreadful crime of stealing a game cock and two hens! He left England on the “ Charlotte “ on 13-5-1787.

Such was his worth to the colony that by 1-9-179,1 he was appointed Superintendent of Brick Makers and Layers.

He died at the age of 45 on 21-3-1804 . Governor Philip Gidley King accorded him an early form of a State Funeral.

Not a bad effort. Arrives as a convict and 16 years later has a State Funeral.

At 47 years of age , James Smith paid his fare for a passage to Botany Bay with the First Fleet. The arrangement was made with Captain Sever of the Lady Penrhyn. The Captain did not consult with Captain Arthur Philip about the arrangement.

Philip found out about Smith when the Fleet were all together in Cape Town. He was furious as it was outside the instructions he had been given.

In the end result, Smith was allowed to stay in the colony which he did until he left on HMS Gorgon in 1791.

Smith was eccentric and elusive, but he was still either the first free settler or the first paying tourist. Either way he should be recognised as such.

Abused, Ignored and avoided were apt descriptions of the Cooks River over the years from 1788 to the mid 1970’s.

It started as a Arcadian Wonderland, but industrial, chemical and plastic pollution, together with urbanisation, almost destroyed it.

But the river won through and now has a delightful pathway following it for most of its course.

A delightful spot to amble!

A passing mention of an engineer, Moriarty, on an historical plaque by the Moruya River, leads to some enquiries. These, oddly enough, result in learning that the sandstone circular dam that created Lake Parramatta, is of some distinction.

It was the first arch dam built in Australia and was the 12th engineered dam built in the world since Roman times!

The bonus was finding a delightful spot to amble through bushland whilst going around the lake.

It is apt that Martin Place, like the man after whom it is named, progressed from humble beginnings to pre-eminence.

Such was the life of James Martin, who arrived in Sydney at the age of one with his Irish parents.

Over the next 65 years, he rose to be Premier of NSW on three occasions and finally to be the Chief Justice of NSW.

The motto he adopted gives an insight into his personality:

"AUT VIAM INVENIAM AUT FACIAM: If there is no way, make one."

On the 22nd of September,1918 the first direct radio message from England was received in Australia.

Surprisingly, it was sent from a Transmitting Station in the NW of Wales to a radio station in a suburban house in Wahroonga , a suburb of Sydney.

The message was to the people of Australia from the Prime Minister, W M Hughes.He spoke of his recent visit to the Western Front in France. Hughes, Guglielmo Marconi and Ernest Fisk of Sydney were the principal organisers.

We sketch out the life of Fisk, a remarkable person.

Despite the fabulous name , this is not about a Spike Milligan or Barry Humphreys character.

There really was an Eccleston Frederick Du Faur. He left a wonderful legacy to his adopted city of Sydney.

In his quiet methodical way he made his dreams come true and left Sydney a better place than found it.

As if being one of the founders of the Art Gallery of NSW was not enough, he was the driving force behind the creation of the Kuringai Chase National Park. That preserved a large area of rugged native bushland on Sydneys northern edge.

A gift for the ages!!