The Mercury of Monday October 18th, 1920 carried an article titled “CONCRETE BUILDING BLOCKS. A MARGATE SYNDICATE’S VENTURE.” Today we take concrete for granted, but then the article began “The age of concrete in building construction seems to have begun, and if it were not for the serious shortage of cement, there is no doubt…

I only visited Margate, Kent, UK, in September 2013 because I live in Margate, Tasmania, and because a “Great Train Journey” from Penzance in Cornwall along the length of the English South Coast logically would end there. Expecting a run-down coastal resort deserted by the British for Spain to my surprise I found a wide…

‘The Variety Bay Historical Site consists of a complex of three separate, but linked areas located on the Murrayfield private property on North Bruny Island. The remains of a pilot station built by William Lawrence is 1831, a brick works and St Peter’s Church.’ (from pamphlet – Bruny Island Historical Society) The meeting point is…

As an official location, “The Chimneys” is no more! While searching the Internet for any mention of it, I came across this entry in the Tasmanian Government Gazette of 15 April 2015, under “Rescission of Place Names”: Reg No  Name                     Municipality       Location            Decision No. 5755M   The Chimneys   Kingborough   Unbounded Locality, Margate     3630 The Placenames Tasmania website (www.placenames.tas.gov.au, accessed…