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@@tonybirks4956 The Creator was a teacher at Ashbury School from the 80’s. We know the pit you are referring too. Good to hear that your nostalgic about your past. We have videos on the two suburbs that Ashbury derives its name, the ‘Ash’ from Ashfield and the ‘bury,’ from Canterbury.

@@mrBigbob01 Thanks for your comment. Interesting that you can be nostalgic about a place that you still live in. We are happy with the number of views that Kingsgrove and East Hills have. Interesting you should use the word “nostalgia.” Our title is “Highlighting History of Suburban History,” but it wasn’t long till we recognised that many of our viewers are nostalgic, not only for their own past, but their parents and grandparents. We did a live performance of our Rockdale and Kogarah videos at a meeting of Kogarah History Society this week. Our audience had many memories of the past.

This is not true. We are obligated to reveal our sources. Had you clicked on “more”underneath the title of the video, and subsequently another “more “ on the source page you will find the following. We are not trying to hide anything, this is the TH-cam design. Here for your benefit a total listing of our sources: The History of Picnic Point, Panania and East Hills by Andrew Molloy. Picnic Point , Then and Now. Andrew Molloy. Bankstown Historical Society. Trove digital newspapers. Daily Telegraph. National Library of Australia. State Library of N.S.W. Google Maps. Whereis.com Wikipedia. Mark Waugh, the biography. James Night. I trust you will find the entry, the technique is the same for every video. Thank you.

@@stpeterscooksriver1873 for specific photos like the Panania corner shop and the Bennett family obtained not from libraries but actual interviews and tracking people down 20 years ago when so much was done old style, it would be decent to credit in small print below each key item - Photo:Name and from Book title. I would doubt many would look at the information below. If you watch ABC documentaries, ie where some have been used - you will see it in print below the photo. Yes You Tube let someone just copy and paste as more advertising dollars for them and no regard to original research. The referencing is generic, it should have which items come from the source. Please amend to list those Corner Shop photos and Bennett family and others are credited at point. Thankyou. Also Hibberd's Shop in Lambeth Street and subdivision plan for Burbank Avenue.

Parramatta was considered by Captain Arthur Phillip as a possible site for the Colony capital, but it never happened. Government House, Parramatta was the country residence for ten Governors between 1800 and 1847. Possibly because it was a healthier environment.

Delighted with your comment. The Creator when she discovered the house, immediately wanted to share with me, something so unique. Today, I voiced my concerns with her about their conservation, and her reply was that just about all of Croydon is a conservation area.I knew of the term “breeze block construction,” but wasn’t sure what it meant. I have of course “googled it” and know so much more, but I’m just not clear what you mean when you write, “bored many a hole in the coke breeze walls.” Why are you boring holes in them and what has coke got to do with it? Looking forward to your reply.We are at present very pleased with the number of viewers watching “Croydon."

@@stpeterscooksriver1873 Breeze is a mix of ash and cement, so the "coke" is the ash. I basically takes the place of blue metal as an aggregate, not as strong as concrete, but more than enough for walls. The construction of the walls was tongue and groove, prefabricated on the ground and stood in place with cement as a bond, just like a tongue and groove floor if you put glue in the joints. It has a lower density so therefore, in theory, a better insulator. However, these houses were either extremely hot, or extremely cold. The coke breeze would gradually heat up during the day and release the energy at night, the same in winter. We insulated the ceiling and I removed slates to allow for the the hot air to escape. The walls were not blocks, they were pillars stood vertically on end, about 12" wide, 3 to 4" thick and as tall as needed. Modern methods are miles in front, one of these houses would not pass Council requirements. The holes I drilled were for brackets for new downpipes, hose cocks, plant hangers, picture frames and so on. I am a plumber and more than a little interested in historic housing. You can see the construction from the top, under the roof. The roof was beautiful solid Oregon, and in superb condition after 70 years, the house was built in 1917.

My older sister and her husband lived in 20 Brady street in the very early 1980s. I spent many happy school holidays at that house and Croydon.

It’s a very pleasant suburb to drive round, some of the best high rise developments are to be found there, on what were previously factory sites. Slightly disappointed with the number of viewers our video on Rosebery has had. Consulting the most recent census figures, the suburb has a population of 13,000 app. Our viewers are for the most part over forty five years old, with four out of five of them being male. My estimate is that at most the number in Rosebery that fit our category are at most 1500 people. It seems to be a universal truth that few of the younger generation are particularly interested in history, or is it that “nostalgia,”is something one grows into. Thanks for your encouraging remarks.

@@GuapoDelmonte A constant theme of almost all of our videos, is the development of any of the Sydney suburbs created by transport, to and from the area. The coming of the railway line to any area, brought with it, not only settlers but agricultural and industrial potential. However the simple answer to your question is that Ryde is on the river, so that it was accessible by boat. Horse and cart are all very well, but boats were capable of carrying greater numbers of people and a greater volume of goods. The ship James Cook sailed to Australia was a collier, that is it was designed to take by sea coal from Newcastle upon Tyne in the north of England to London and other ports in the south. We hope we’ve given you something to look into when you view others of our videos. Thanks for asking the question. I hope this is an adequate response.

Good to hear you enjoyed it, and given that it is a small suburb, (though well known), we are quite happy with its number of views. Other people who have written about it seem to have enjoyed the video, and seem to enjoy living in the suburb. Thank you.

@@roduri8373 Thanks for your encouraging remarks, we can only wish there were more of them. After five years of making the Sydney Suburban History TH-cam videos, we still haven’t been able to rationalise what makes a successful video with regard to number of views or hours watched. A number of factors are in play: our audience don’t necessarily live in the suburb they are watching. It may be because they are nostalgic for their own past, that of their parents or grandparents. With regard to Camperdown, Darlington and Chippendale we suspect that our slight disappointment with views stems from them being taken over by either Universities or Hospitals, places where people study or work, but don’t identify with the suburb. We place Kogarah the home of the St.George Hospital in the same category. We may be wrong, and are willing to listen to any other opinion, particularly those that live in the area.

@@RangaTurk I believe all your comments are about Mooney Mooney, they are however interesting. The problem lies with Mooney Mooney not being in Hornsby, and given that our TH-cam Channel is called “Sydney Suburban History” and Mooney Mooney is not within the area, we are most unlikely to do something on it.

@@stpeterscooksriver1873 So true that is the Central Coast Local Government Area. Keep up the good work nevertheless!

@@RangaTurk One of the delights of replying to comments left by our viewers is, in contrast with most social media comments, only two comments, over a period of five years have been slightly less than civilised. It maybe because so many of our viewers are over thirty five, with fifty per/cent watch on television. Don’t be afraid of nominating a suburb, and perhaps uncovering why Hornsby has up to the present time, regarding number of views, been a little disappointing. Thanks for your comments.

@@stpeterscooksriver1873 For an LGA that stretches from Brooklyn to Epping nobody can say it was short on content. Top marks all round there. The geography can get intimidating as one drives north of Asquith shops along the sandstone ridgetop which is known to be a high-wind area not unlike many spots in the eastern half of the Hawkesbury District.

@@RangaTurk My apologies for not replying sooner, but I’ve had some dental work done and suffered a little. The problem we have is understanding why certain suburbs in the “Northern Sydney Suburbs ,” don’t have as many views as others. Those suburbs are specifically, North Sydney, The Forest,(Frenchs Forest), Along the Barrenjoey Road, and Hornsby. We have noted, regarding other videos that, suburbs dominated by universities and hospitals, have fewer than expected views. Regarding North Sydney we have heard it said that it is the heart of the advertising industry, but no one lives there, or identifies with the suburb. Whilst the comments we’ve received about our Hornsby video have been positive, we are left wondering whether some of it is, like many of our videos, driven by people who are interested because Hornby was something of their past, but they no longer live there. Dare I ask is it just a place to live in, like a good number of Sydney suburbs of the present or is there a sense of community? Often we have people commenting on other suburbs, than the one they have viewed. In that we have started this conversation on “Hornsby,” and continued it, I’m hoping we might get others joining in the conversation, such that we can become more aware of our subject matter. Thanks again. Look forward to hearing from you.

@@matton36 We may be inclined to agree with you. How our intention has from the beginning to allow people to make up their own minds as to what they see and hear on our videos. You will not find us telling you that: a building is beautiful or ugly, that a site that was a brick pit and is now a recreational park is a better use, whilst mentioning names, we shan’t mention whether they are the good, the bad or the ugly. Should the newspapers of the time have an opinion of any of these things we might share it with you. Our desire is that you should take from our videos what you want, and not have our opinion forced upon you. Our initial reason for creating the channel was for it to be the basis of a flowering of creativity within Suburban Sydney, in short or long story, plays one act etc, short films, all in some way grounded in the information we have presented.

@@chrisflesser2171 The reason for it being one of the earliest settlements is that being on a river, meant that it was easy to travel to by boat. Roads had to be made, horse and cart or carriage, didn’t have the capacity of shipping. Even horse drawn trams required a rail network. The development of many of Sydney’s suburbs was created by the rail network. It is a constant feature of many of Sydney Suburban History videos. It enabled not only factories in the suburbs to trade, but also those whose business was in the city, could live in the far more attractive environment of suburbs in larger homes, hence Strathfield and Burwood to name but two. The historian Geoffrey Blainey’s book “Black Kettle, Full Moon,” deals with the reason why things were as they were in early settlement times, why spirits were the drink, rather than beer and the importance of a full moon. All quite trivial, but significant in their time. It does encourage us to read that you found “Ryde” interesting, thank you.

Thanks for your comment, it’s something that keeps us both working at further videos, particularly the Creator. We are very pleased with some our two videos on Parramatta and with Balmain. I would like to say that it says something about the people who live there, but we are never sure of that, for we are aware, that there are many who no longer live in the a suburb, but are, for a variety of reasons, nostalgic about it. Even after five years, creating the the videos, we only see, success or failure, “through a glass darkly.” We’re still waiting for North Sydney and other North Shore videos to show views, which might reflect their population. Our inspiration for creating Sydney suburban history, was that so much “history,” is focused on the City of Sydney. The hope of the side, culturally may well be women novelists who are pulling Australia’s not too distant past into their books, and getting it substantially correct. Our next video, perhaps in the next week, will be “Croydon,” which was suggested by one of our viewers. The Creator has been surprised with what sh’s found there. We are hoping that you too will be a little surprised as to what she has unearthed. We are a little surprised that TH-cam has told us that 50% of our viewers are watching on television, which may well account for the spike in viewers, after 10.00 p.m.

Thanks for your comment. We spent a day photographing there, the sun shone, people were pleasant, and all was right with the world. Yes and we too took some pictures of some classic buildings and sites.

The Creator has had a brief look as to whether Gladesville might be put on the agenda. We have noted that you were watching the Ryde video, when you chose to make this comment. Ryde itself, has been quite remarkable as to not only how many views it has received, but also how erratic it has been, with many days where it has certain peaks of views. We are still very much in the dark as to what the cause is, and have searched for some newsworthy event in the area. Alas we are none the wiser, and have come to the conclusion it has something to do with real estate. Perhaps you could enlighten us, not only about this, but also the likelihood of Gladesville behaving in the same way. Such information might harden our resolve to “work on Gladesville.” If I were you I’d be optimistic.Thanks for your comment.

@stpeterscooksriver1873 YT sent me a suggestion to see your video on Balmain which I watched and on searching your channel I found the Ryde video and watched that also. I've let other people know about your interesting historic Sydney videos and will watch more of them. I think the YT algorithm is a bit temperamental and sends me interesting things to see like yours which also sent me the history of the construction of the Gladesville Bridge. Keep up the good work.

@@ALF782 Delighted by your response. Give me a day or so and I’ll get back to you on the challenges as to how the algorithm work, or doesn’t work. The Creator just gets on with making another video whilst I have spent too many hours on the analysis of what suburbs are viewed more than others. By the way Balmain is one of those, whilst, North Sydney and anything other than Manly, on the North Shore can only be described as being disappointing.

Happy Anniversary regarding Westfield Shopping Centre. We spent a day, taking photographs around Burwood, initially inspired by having to take a picture of the plinth which notes the position of the first house built in the area, but alas no longer there. Even when focusing on taking photographs, we couldn’t help but notice the number of people happily walking the streets with shops that weren’t entirely given over to eating, but were simply a great variety. It certainly gives the impression that diversity in all its forms is remarkably successful.

Good to read your remarks, and to know that others are out there doing something other than photographing the food they eat, whilst conversing with one another using their mobile device, and consuming their meal in a cafe. The initial inspiration for creating this channel was the hope that people would begin to create, fictional stories long or short, plays one act or three, short videos, audio books etc. That Sydney suburbs feature in few of what I have mentioned and that it is something not confined to this century, but may well go back to the 19th century, is something which needs addressing. One thing we are interested in is how people in one suburb relate to their neighbouring suburbs. Our question to you is why did you start your walk at Enfield rather than any other suburb? The reason for our question is, the disparity often between the number of views one suburb gets in comparison with its neighbour.

The woman’s voice is that of the Creator of the videos, I am the male voice. Having lived together for many years, I have not been short on complimenting her. Now I have just one regret, I’ve never thought of saying, “I love your voice, so clear and direct.” Very pleased with the number of viewers we have for Burwood so far.

@stpeterscooksriver1873 ha ha, beat you to it my friend, fantastic work from you both 👏

We are still very much in the dark as to why certain of our videos are successful and others aren’t. It would appear that you have enjoyed seeing your old school mentioned, and I’m wondering whether your Father’s school is found on our Balmain video. Strathfield appears to be the place which historically has the most number of schools. We’ve had school comments before, one some time ago, somewhere in the inner west, remembered the smell of the jam factory next door, when the boilers were working. Thanks for your comment.

@@karineshellshear2226 The Creator will get back to you within a couple of days, after she has further researched your interest. Thanks for your comment. You haven’t been forgotten.

The text shown on our video, can be found on the website: tradeshallsydney.wordpress.com/2021/09/09/jack-mundey-woolloomooloo/https:/ A substantial article from the Sydney Horning Herald is: www.smh.com.au/national/giant-architect-built-for-justice-20130222-2ewqq.html Enjoy.

@@Virginia3443 Your comment is very encouraging. Sadly it doesn’t equate to many watching the video. I don’t want you weep for us, for thus it has always been for four and a half years. Rarely are we aware as to why one suburb gets considerable numbers, when others don’t. North Sydney performs magnificently badly. One has to wonder whether anyone lives there. Sydenham, having now a population of less than one thousand, is remarkable for its number of viewers. We suspect they no longer live there but are nostalgic as to their lives before the third runway went in. Manly after barely moving suddenly picked up. Our recent creation of a play list order has improved our viewing, but as to why we are still in the dark.

Along with a great many others, such that I seem to remember that at the recent census Sydenham has a population now of less than one thousand. Many people have I am sure happy memories of living in Sydney for many more than that choose to watch our TH-cam video, for which we are very grateful.It really is quite remarkable. Thanks for you comment.

@@Virginia3443 Interesting you should mention “buildings old and new,” we were hoping the attraction of the Strathfield video would be either the schools or the churches. It has made however a good start, so much so that, we are going to fill in a geographical hole, in on the suggestion from one of our viewers, to do next Homebush. No mention so far of school or church attended on our comments page. Thank you for your comment.

@@scottsv96 Thanks for your comment, your father’s move from Pyrmont to Moorebank illustrates, some of the challenges as to what one of our videos people will watch next. There are so many reasons for choosing a suburb to watch : you are living there, you once lived there, one or other of your parents lived there, and were always talking about it, and likewise your grandparents. Not to mention those who like to look at how once industrial suburbs used to be, and how some, largely with water views have become gentrified. After four and a half years and seventy odd videos, we are ever surprised as to which ones are successful.

@stpeterscooksriver1873 my grandfather used to deliver sugercane to the CSR via horse and carriage in the early 1900s

@@scottsv96 Your comment set the Creator searching as to your comment.She found nothing of any consequence. We’ve always thought the cane came in by ship from Queensland and the C.S.R. factory was next to the dock. Would be delighted if you could tell us more. We truly would like more comments like yours.

@stpeterscooksriver1873 maybe he was bringing something else there but it was definitely by horse and carriage

@stpeterscooksriver1873 ok so I just spoke to DAd and my GF was UNLOADING the can off the ship.(1903)

@@fookriver I thought I might tell how I purchased a cassette tape of Boris Gardener singing “I want to wake up with you,” from the Strathfield shopping centre, until the Creator pointed out it was Ashfield. Spent Sunday afternoon at Lydham Hall talking with a number of delightful people from Arncliffe. Have I mentioned the diary of Mr. Willington, after whom a street in Arncliffe is name. Coming out from England, which we in its entirety have transposed, that diary records events and views as he travelled third class by steam ship from London passing the Rock of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean through the Suez canal and on to Arncliffe where he lived for the rest of his life. For a brief period of time he was Mayor of Rockdale. He had dealt in silver wear in Sydney having had a silver plating business in Birmingham which at that time, the 1880’s, was the centre of the trade in the U.K.

@@AB-kx4nc Thanks for your comments, as for our videos, there are seventy so far, and an extra two if you should be watching one a night. I trust you are following them on our playlist, which can be reached by searching “Highlighting History of Suburban Sydney.” We have rearranged the grouping such that you should find suburbs that have common borders are grouped together. This means that you should find eight or so grouped together before you move onto another area. Hopefully this should mean a better understanding of how larger areas developed. Development of most suburbs have been dependent on transport be it roads, river, and the use of horse and cart, trams, and railways. Freshwater was another consideration as were churches both mention in real estate advertisements. We’ve always enjoyed visiting Balmain, particularly when we visited it on a sunny day to take photographs for our video.

@stpeterscooksriver1873 great work, I will try and watch the rest in order,I was just watching as they came up on my feed.

@@AB-kx4nc I doubt if you can understand how encouraging your comment is to us. Do keep in touch. Are some suburbs in a place where you would prefer to overlook them perhaps? This would help us to reorder our play list. Not just, I might add because you would like your area to be at the top of the list. After I asked which areas did someone like viewing, the reply was “I like viewing the Inner West and then going onto the Bondi area.” I was a little surprised for I thought after the Inner West the next viewing should be the suburbs on Botany Bay that are across the Cooks River. We are still on a learning curve.

@stpeterscooksriver1873 I can understand that you have put a lot of effort into these videos I like the way that it's straight to the point and not drawn out , I can't say I haven't enjoyed 1 yet and I've watched around 15, just about to watch another 👏 thank you for making my winter evenings enjoyable

@@AB-kx4nc TH-cam give us a graph every day, which tell us when people are watching our videos. There is consistently a goodly number watching from what appears to be ten o’clock in the evening, we’re just hoping that our videos are being used as a substitute for sleeping pills. Thanks for the comment.

@@AdventureB4-Dementia Knowing that the Creator spends on average a month finding information and illustrations for each video, and then more research into verifying a great number of dates, the last thing I think of is calling this work fantastic. This was particularly true of Strathfield with date verification. However the pleasure is receiving comments like yours. We aren’t chasing the money, simply wanting to provide something that people will get something from. It’s people like you who make our day. I watched a video of early Australian photographs which had been colourised by an American. They were neither, in chronological number, nor in State or area of origin. When I read the comments page , the number of Australians, who liked the photographs but were critical of the streets named were wrong and electric trams were not electric trams, to name but two, were phenomenal. It wasn’t the sort of thing I’d want to reply too. Do please read the other comments we have left on the Strathfield comments page. Thanks for your comment.

@@longtallshorty5791 Thanks for your comment. The Creator and I spent sometime yesterday evening evaluating your proposal. Part of Enfield, an industrial area, is on the Strathfield video, in that some historic suburbs have been divided into different municipalities. The good news is we have taken up your suggestion and The Municipality of Burwood will be our next video, which will the include the missing part of Enfield and Croydon. By filling in Burwood we will connect many more suburban borders. This might be thought of as being something encouraging more views across suburban borders, but it is not always the case. We are very pleasantly surprised by not only the number of views Strathfield has but also the number of encouraging comments. May they continue to grow.

@@stpeterscooksriver1873 excellent! I had meant to mention Burwood as well. I had a great book as a child called The History of Burwood, or something close to that. Probably still at my father's house somewhere. A very interesting read.

@@longtallshorty5791 Your mention of a “History of Burwood,” prompt me to tell you that the Creator has found on line an interesting book, titled “Harvest of the Years,” The Story of Burwood 1794-1974 by Eric Dunlop. Published by a school in the area, not the local council or history society. Like many history books its inclined to drift off into areas not particularly pertinent to the subject matter. Once is almost inclined to think that a book is not a book unless it’s so many pages long. However having said that, the Creator is finding it a wonderful basic resource, which she as usual will give credit to the author in our production. I’m also hoping that this is the book you remember! Thanks once again for your comment.

Like to say that you were the one who suggested a video on Croydon. I’m pleased to say it has been up for less than eight hours and we are very pleased with the number of views. There’s also one comment, about the concrete houses which when the Creator discovered a reference to them, we thought was interesting, but the comment, just makes it more real. May we say a big thank you to you for your suggestion!

@@GerardHammond Thanks for your comment, you are the second person from yesterday who has used the word fantastic. By chance I came across what videos you have watched of ours and left comments. I’m finding it difficult to discover what in your eyes or ears makes a good video. Have you anything more to say for instance on “Tempe House”? We have a number of videos that lie comparatively dormant as to views, but then blossom. We cannot discover why this should happen. Tempe House is close by which of late has shown an inexplicable growth. Whilst having our ear to the ground we know not why. Manly has of late shown enormous growth, after sulking for two years. We await North Sydney to perhaps do the same. Your comment has given us heart, for much as we think Woolloomooloo isn’t largely populated, people know the name and the cafe. I don’t wish to know where you live, just where your nostalgia lies. P.S. Tempe House, though beautifully placed on the Cooks River and externally interesting, inside lacks furniture, an essential part of Victorian houses and as far as we know is rarely open to the public. The place to be is Lydham Hall at Rockdale/ Bexley. A furnished historic home, not a museum.

@@stpeterscooksriver1873 it's fantastic because i lived in sydney for 30 years and just love seeing sydney's history. i've travelled the world a lot and sydney is special.

@@stpeterscooksriver1873 i'm mostly interested in the inner west suburbs and heading to bondi beach suburbs.

finally the TH-cam algorithm is both mysterious and pernicious :-)

@@GerardHammond Yes we might agree, but what this greater challenge is knowing that someone who has just watched “Touring Cornwall in a Minibus,” has chosen to watch one of ours next. When we thought of creating this Channel, our thinking was that someone might be inspired by the information in them, to write a short story, play, poem, or film script. That as far as we know hasn’t happened. We also attempted without success to get local history societies involved. Their opinion then and may still be that books are far more important. Local Council’s efforts in this area, have a curious way of presenting on screen academics attempting to speak off the cuff to a poorly grouped set of pictures. I shan’t mention any other elements of their production except to say that the turn off point is consistently at the beginning. We long to see the time, when another channel, might tackle another facet of history but have the same production values as ourselves. Thus the person who watches one will also watch the other. One can but dream. I apologise if the answer I’ve given is not the one you wanted to hear.