generaltona

I notice from today's Melbourne Magazine Julia Gillard espousing the values of Generaltona. She's right, it's a great place. I particularly like the main drag, there is additionally a top icecream shop on the next block east, corner Bent and Esplanade I suppose. Once a few years ago for some reason I was there with Andrew Withycombe and someone he worked with appeared, it was strange, we weren't used to seeing Andrew with people he worked with. He didn't radically alter his personality or anything.

I used to think Altona marvellous when I was a child and viewed it in the Gregory's but never went there. Still to this day I have not seen Cherry Lake, even from a distance.

I will leave the posting below intact but I now realise looking at this map (purloined from Ausway) that my ancient Usualtona contact was in fact not living across from the railway reserve. All wrong. Bad memory and I didn't check the Melways.

It's funny, isn't it, that as a child I really adored the Gregory's, used to spend hours leafing through it, but now I am fully devoted to the Melways.

In 1927. C. D. Gardner, a carpenter from Altona, wrote to the Melbourne Metropolitan Town Planning Commission with a scheme of his own devising. Gardner envisaged the building of a canal network, an ‘Artificial Yarra’ through his own locale, north to Keilor:

Open a canal in a suitable place on the foreshore of land (low lying) about Altona and Continue same for shipping conveniences, to Industrial or Factory sites along its Banks. make an Artificial Yarra through flat and almost see level country acrross Keilor plains if necessary cross section of canals to make the Industrial Area compact. I hardly think any optimism on my part will outway any levelheaded and practical conclusion of your Committee, but I would like to say here. (Survey this idea from a National and economic Point) + I beleive it will outway any financial difficulties…

Gardner signed off ‘yours faithfully for Australia’ then reconsidered and continued with a ‘visionery pen picture’ which he set in 1960:

Worlds ships entering this canal passing Docks capable of Repairing the best and biggest of them. Swiftly + directly moving to their destination for the unloading of their Cargo’s… in deliveries to suit their respective Customers. Passing factory and foundry smokeless and clean. the objectionable smoke being converted in gas or power utility… Crews of British and foreign vessells mingling + working with our Pure White Stock of Mankind’s Brotherhood, whom are working under compulsory, co-operative or peice work standards conditions.

(Prescient or what!)