Forty years ago this month the Skyline drive-in theatre in Lambton screened its final film, and a much loved and fondly remembered entertainment venue fell dark and silent.
The drive-in was in an area west of Croudace St, accessed from Pride Ave. The land was formerly owned by the Scottish and Australian Mining Company who established Lambton colliery in 1863. In 1903 the company leased four acres to Lambton Council to use as a sanitary depot, a place to bury the euphemistically named ‘night soil’ collected from the outside toilets of residents. With connections to a piped sewerage system commencing in 1917, the need for the night soil paddock gradually declined and the lease expired in 1938.
In 1955, Provincial Gardens Pty Ltd, a company controlled by Hoyts and Union Theatres, purchased the land and applied to open the first drive-in theatre in NSW. Constructed in 1956 at a cost of £200,000, the theatre’s 15 acres catered for 720 cars, with the 156-ton pre-stressed concrete screen the biggest in Australia at the time. The Skyline opened on 17 October 1956 with a screening of Three Coins in the Fountain. It became a popular venue for families with a snack bar, and a children’s playground that later included a ride-on train.
The site remained vacant, derelict and vandalised for several years, and a fire destroyed the main building. In the 1990s the area was redeveloped for housing, and today many of the younger residents there are possibly unaware of the varied former uses of the land beneath their homes.
Lambton’s Skyline drive-in theatre in 1956.The drive-in theatre location in 2022. Google Earth.
The article above was first published in the June 2025 edition of The Local.
Acknowledgement: Some of the information in the article was sourced from the book “Front Stalls or Back? The history and heritage of the Newcastle Theatres” by K J Cork and L R Tod.
Additional Information
For further information on the nightsoil paddock, see the Lambton sanitation page.
Advertisement for the opening of the Skyline drive-in theatre in Lambton. Newcastle Morning Herald, 13 October 1956.Skyline birthday card invitation from 1961. Courtesy of Robert Watson.
Skyline theatre marked in a 1965 Gregory’s street directory.
Newspaper articles referenced below can be found in the “Lambton” clippings folder in the Local Studies section of Newcastle Library.
Article Date Event Date
Notes
13 Oct 1955 12 Oct 1955
"An application by Provisional Gardens Pty. Ltd., for a drive-in theatre at Lambton was granted today." Newcastle Morning Herald
7 Mar 1956
"Work will start shortly and the theatre is expected to be in operation before the end of the year." - Newcastle Morning Herald
14 Sep 1956
"A regulation issued last week [by the Films and Theatres Commission] forbids the erection of a drive-in theatre within a four-mile radius of any other drive-in". This "left no site for another drive-in in Newcastle except the Pacific Ocean, Alderman Herrald said yesterday." - Newcastle Morning Herald
16 Oct 1956
Newcastle Sun six page supplement for the opening of the drive-in, with the following headlines:
"Dinner and a Show: 1956 Style"
"Garden Site From Scrub"
"Rain Won't Worry Drive-In Patrons"
"Blind Will Benefit From Skyline Invitation Show"
"Screening Time-Table"
"Facts : Figures"
"How To Reach The Skyline"
"Eat Out Of Doors - And Choose Your Style"
"Magnificent Effort Says Manager"
"50 Years Ago, Movies Began - In the Open Air. Screen Was A Sheet Hung On Goal Posts"
Prior to the introduction of a sanitary service, residents of Lambton had to manage the disposal of sewage themselves. This usually entailed the digging of cesspits in backyards. In April 1882 the Inspector of Nuisances reported complaints of overflowing cesspits and asked council to appoint a place for the deposition of night-soil. However no scheme was introduced and in the ensuing years there were occasional reports of people dumping nightsoil in the streets, in the drains, or burying it in gardens of dairies.
Progress was hindered when the Lambton Council became bankrupt due to the failure of the electric light scheme and the council ceased to function On 18 July 1899 the ratepayers elected a 13 person “Citizens’ Committee” to look after municipal affairs instead.
In August 1899, Doctor Robert Dick, Medical Officer of Health to the Hunter River combined districts, issued a scathing report on the poor sanitation in Lambton. The details of Dr Dicks’ report are too gross to reproduce here, but his conclusion gives a a good indication of the squalor he witnessed.
The condition in which quite a number of the privies were found was disgusting. It will be gathered that every householder is practically a law unto himself or herself in regard to the manner in which nightsoil is dealt with. This is a most unsatisfactory and unsafe practice and one which should not be allowed to continue.
Because there was no functioning council to deal with these matters, Dr Dick recommended that the Nuisances Prevention Act be extended to the town. In May 1900 a Sanitary Committee was formed and the government allocated £200 for sanitary purposes in Lambton. The committee held a public meeting on 11 June 1900 which passed a resolution that “the pan system should be adopted for the removal of nightsoil within the municipality.”
In November 1900 the Citizens’ Committee approached Thomas Croudace, manager of Lambton colliery, to ask for land for a nightsoil paddock. In January 1901 Croudace “promised to consider the matter”, but no favourable response was received. The committee then asked in January 1902 for “the Government to resume an area suitable for the purpose”, and a few months later the paper reported that …
The long delay in having a sanitary service introduced for Lambton since the Government grant of £200 was expended in the purchase of the apparatus has been due to the want of a suitable depot. Now however, there is a hope of some finality being reached, Dr. Robt. Dick, the medical officer of health, having approved of a site of eight acres near the tram line, on the other side of Lambton, being recommended for resumption.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 22 July 1902.
The “hope of some finality being reached” required a little more patience, for it took more than a year before the land for the nightsoil depot was secured in October 1903.
By means of a grant of £200, the citizens’ committee made a purchase of six hundred pans, with a view to providing the borough with a sanitary service, a public meeting having decided that such a service should be established. These have been stored in the council chambers for over eighteen months, while the difficulty of obtaining a depot was being overcome, owners of land having offered objections on every side. A ten-years’ lease of a site has, how ever, now been signed, at a rental of £5 per annum. The site is in Croudace’s paddock, near the pumping engine and comprises an area of five acres. A new sanitary waggon has been built, at a cost of £50, and a ton of iron on hand, and paid for, for the erection of a shed at the depot. The Government put £200 on the Estimates for the purchase of a site, and efforts are now being made to have this amount paid to the credit of the council.The council clerk, in a letter to the member, puts down the new expenditure as follows:-100 additional pans; £22 10s: fencing the site, £40; clearing, £20, building shed material, £20: laying on the water supply. £37; and the construction of two bridges and the making of a half a mile of roadway, £30; making a total of £179 10s. At the present time there is no sanitary service. The practice of burying in back yards is most objectionable in thickly populated areas, and the sooner the service can be established the better it will be for the health of the community.
Lease in November 1903 from the Scottish Australian Mining Company for the night soil paddock. Vol-Fol 996-111, page 1. Note that as the Lambton Council had not yet restarted operation, the lease is with several members of the Lambton Citizens’ Committee.
After many delays and difficulties, the Lambton sanitary service was finally commenced on 1 July 1904.
Another reason why yesterday should be remembered by the public of Lambton was by the introduction of the long-promised sanitary service, in substitution for the uncivilised practice which has had to be resorted to up to the present. By the aid of a Government grant of £200 the Citizens’ Committee made a purchase of 600 pans. These were stored in the council chamber for over two years, while the difficulty of obtaining a depot and other difficulties were being overcome, owners of land having offered objections on every side. Eventually, a ten years’ lease of a seven-acre site was obtained in Croudace’s paddock, near the pumping engine, to the south of the Wallsend tramway; and, then, the additional difficulty arose of want of funds to complete the introduction of the system. Money was wanted for extra pans, for clearing and forming a road, for the building of a shed, for the laying on of the water to the depot, for the erection of two bridges, and for fencing the site. The Government put an extra £200 on the Estimates, and, when Parliament made this available, a start was made in real earnest to improve the sanitary condition of the place. There are now 850 pans, which were purchased at a cost of 4s 3d each, making an expenditure of £180 12s 6d. A sum of £50 was expended on a sanitary waggon, and it cost £40 to have the water laid on. When the cost of the shed, the clearing, the construction of the roadway and bridges, and the fencing of the depot had been met there was a slight credit balance, and it was decided to pay the ten years’ rental for the land at the rate of £5 per annum. The system was in debt by £50 when inaugurated yesterday, but arrangements have been made by which the scheme will be something more than self-supporting from year to year. A contract has been let for the removal and the burial of the nightsoil at 4d per pan per removal, and the charge made to the residents by the council is 6d per pan per removal. This 2d is estimated to bring in to the council a revenue, above that required for the payment of the contractor, of £3 5s per week, or £169 per year. Out of this the council will have to pay for the services of an inspector, and provide £60 for the maintenance of the pans and the upkeep of the waggon and roadway, while for this first year the sum of £50 will have to be provided to pay off the present indebtedness on the system. The Inspector, Mr. Joseph W. Oldham, has taken up his duties, and will be paid £26 a year, and be allowed 5 per cent. on the money collected. This might average another £26 per year. Of course this work will not occupy the Inspectors’ whole time, and no objection is to be raised to his continuing to hold the position of secretary to the local co-operative store. Mr. Oldham was formerly a Mayor of the Borough of New Lambton. Had Mr. Johnson, the council clerk, been physically able to undertake the duties of inspector and collector, such duties would have been combined with those of council clerk.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 2 July 1904.
The Lambton sanitary depot marked on a 1925 Scottish Australian Mining Company map. Newcastle Library, Local Studies. Map 622.33/25.
The council’s lease of the sanitary paddock expired in September 1938.
The lease for the sanitary depot expired on 2 September 1938. Vol-Fol 996-111, page 10.Although no longer in use, the Lambton sanitary depot (nightsoil paddock) can be seen in this 1944 aerial photograph. NSW Historical Aerial Imagery
In 1955 the Scottish Australian Mining Company sold 180 acres of land, including the area of the nightsoil paddock, to Provincial Gardens Pty Ltd who then constructed the Skyline drive-in theatre on the site.
Purchase by Morehead and Young of 320 acres of land, Mineral Lease 14, for Lambton Colliery. Vol-Fol 2-4. Land transferred to Scottish Australian Mining Company on 24 December 1873. Vol-Fol 91-10
"From the Inspector of Nuisances, that complaints had been made about overflowing cess-pits, and asking Council to appoint a place for the deposition of night-soil."
"Alderman Hardy called attention to the practice of tipping rubbish on the footpath at the intersection of Kendal and Croudace streets. Some person had also deposited nightsoil there."
Crorrespondence received by Lambton Council "from the secretary, of the Waratah Coal Company, stating, in reply to inquiries made by the council, that the company did not care to lease any part of their land for a nightsoil paddock."
"Mr. Arthur Griffith has made a representation to the Hon. the Treasurer that in the interest of public health a sum of about £200 should be immediately placed in the hands of the citizens' committee of Lambton to be expended in carrying on the necessary sanitary works of the borough."
"Mr. Treherne Evans, secretary of the Citizens' Committee, read a communication received from Mr. Griffith, M.P., intimating that the sum of £200 was available for sanitary purposes, and asking if the Citizens' Committee would undertake the expenditure of the sum, and if so to submit names as trustees."
At a meeting of the Lambton Sanitary Committee, Mr. Holland moved, "That the Government be asked to provide a nightsoil paddock for the Lambton municipality."
Public meeting passes the resolution "That in the opinion of this meeting the pan system should be adopted for the removal of nightsoil within the municipality."
Report at a Lambton Citizens' Committee meeting that "the sub-committee appointed to inspect the proposed area for a nightsoil depot on the western side of the municipality had done so, and that the ground was, in their opinion, suitable for the purpose and easy of access. "
"The secretary [of the Lambton Citizens' Committee], Mr. T. Evans, read a communication from Mr. Thomas Croudace, general manager S.A. Mining Company, in reply to a request made by the committee for an area of land for a nightsoil paddock, and suggesting that an effort be made to secure a portion of Griffiths' Flat. The letter was received, and the secretary instructed to again write to Mr. Croudace, intimating that the committee had failed to secure a portion of land on Griffiths' Flat before they applied to the company. It was resolved to ask Mr. Croudace to lease the committee 2 acres of land on the southern side of the tramline for a nightsoil paddock, and that if necessary, a deputation would wait upon him."
"By means of a grant of £200 obtained by Mr. Griffith, the citizens' committee made a purchase of 600 pans, with a view to providing the borough with a sanitary service, a public meeting having decided that such a service should be established. Then the difficulty was to get a depot for the soil. This difficulty has still to be overcome, owners of land offering objections on every side. An unsuccessful effort was recently made to obtain the use of an old shaft on the New Lambton Company's estate, and the Waratah Council declined. Thus a second deadlock has been reached. Mr. Griffith was to have come up about a week ago to see a site which the Government might be asked to resume, but he merely sent a letter apologising for his absence."
Lambton Citizens' Committee: "Mr. Griffith M.P., had met a few members of the committee in the early part of the week when the need of a nightsoil paddock was fully explained to him. Mr. Griffiths promised to do his best to urge upon the Government to reserve a piece of land for the purpose as soon as possible. The tender of Mr. John Rees, Newcastle, was accepted for a sanitary waggon for the sum of £48 10s."
4 Jun 1902 2 Jun 1902
At the Lambton Citizens' Committee meeting "a letter was received from Mr. H. T. Jones, who had been appointed to inspect the construction of the sanitary waggon for the committee, stating that the work had been performed in a satisfactory manner."
"Good progress is being made with the sewerage work at Lambton. The strenuous manner in which the men are working in the trenches, often ten to fifteen feet deep, is sufficient evidence that after all, the
day labour is not a failure, as asserted by some people."
"Now that the Lambton section of the sewer is complete and taken over by the Water and Sewerage Board, quite a number of applications have been lodged by owners for the connecting of their premises. The business or congested part of the municipality will receive first consideration, together with the schools and public buildings."
"The Lambton Council had reported that the sewerage of the municipality had been completed, that premises were being connected with the sewer as fast as possible, that it would only be a short time when the sanitary service could be abolished altogether."
"The council's sanitary depot, situated in the western part of the S.A.M. Company's estate, has been inaccessible owing to the flooded state of the creek on either side."
"The town clerk of Lambton (Mr. H. J. Noble) reported to the council last week that two premises had been connected with the sewerage system during the fortnight making a total of 401 installations, representing a decrease of 606 sanitary services each week."
"Good progress is being made with the provision of sewerage facilities for the Waratah-Lambton Valley, in the Griffiths Flat area. The total expenditure has amounted to £8255, and 55 men are employed on the work."
"A reduction of 22½ per cent., as from January 1, bringing the rent of the sanitary depot down to £3/17/6 a year, was the information received from the Scottish-Australian Mining Co., Ltd."
2 Sep 1938
Expiry of lease for sanitary paddock. Vol-Fol 996-111, page 10.
In September 1869 when New Lambton was in its infancy, the Newcastle Chronicle reported there was already two hotels and “a third public-house is in course of erection, and the proprietor, Mr Johns, expects a license for it shortly.” Built on the north-west corner of Regent Street and Portland Place, Nicholas Johns opened the Sportsman’s Arms Hotel for business on 22 January 1870.
After three decades of operation, Marshalls Paddington Brewery purchased the land and building in 1899 and commenced plans for a new hotel building in a different location. In April 1903 the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate reported: “A large brick hotel is now being erected overlooking the reserve, close to the tram terminus. The roof which is of red tiles, is now completed, and the contractor, Mr. Viggers. is busy finishing the interior to the designs of Mr. Henderson, architect.” In July 1903 the license of the Sportsman’s Arms hotel was transferred to the new two storey building on the corner of Hobart Road and Rugby Road, with William Thompson as licensee.
The old hotel in Regent Street closed and was used as a private dwelling for two years before it was destroyed by fire in June 1905. There are no known photographs of the original hotel. In 1922 the Methodists purchased the site and constructed a church building.
In Hobart Road in 1903, in addition to his new hotel, William Thompson also built a large assembly room and named it the Commonwealth Hall. For a decade it was used for socials, fundraisers, community gatherings, political meetings, and concerts. In 1912 John Sperring, licensee of the Belmont Hotel, purchased the hall and arranged to have it dismantled, transported, and re-erected on a site adjoining his hotel in Belmont. The second Sportsman’s Arms Hotel in New Lambton continued trading until 1987, when the Wests Leagues Club demolished it to allow an extension of their premises.
The Sportsman’s Arms Hotel (left) and Commonwealth Hall (right) in Hobart Rd New Lambton, c. 1908. Photo by Ralph Snowball. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.Wests New Lambton now occupies the site of the second Sportsman’s Arms Hotel.
The article above was first published in the May 2025 edition of The Local.
Additional Information
See the following sections in my New Lambton Hotels page:
"A third public-house is in course of erection, and the proprietor, Mr. Jones [sic], expects a license for it shortly after it is finished. There will then be three licensed houses at New Lambton - a number quite equal to the wants of the people."
"NICHOLAS JOHNS begs to inform the inhabitants of New Lambton and surrounding districts, that he will commence business as a PUBLICAN in the Sportsman's Arms, New Lambton, on THIS DAY (Saturday), January 22nd."
William Masefield Bostock advertised … "that I desire to obtain and will at the next Quarterly Licensing Court to be holden at Newcastle on the Third Day of April Next apply for a Certificate authorising the issue of a Conditional Publican’s License for premises proposed to be erected and situated at the corner of Alma-road and Lambton-road, and to be known by the sign of 'Sportsman’s Arms,' and containing eleven rooms, exclusive of those required for the use of the family."
At the licensing court held on 14 April 1902, Bostock stated … "that he was an agent for Marshall’s Brewery Company, who had an hotel known as the Sportsman’s Arms Hotel, New Lambton, and he proposed to remove the license of that house to that for which he was applying for a conditional license. He had a guarantee, which he produced, from his company to close the Sportsman’s Arms should the new license be grant ed. The site of the proposed hotel was at the intersection of Alma-road and Lambton-road, opposite Roberts’ store. He did not own the land, but had taken certain steps to procure it."
"A large brick hotel is now being erected for Mr. Thomson overlooking the reserve, close to the tram terminus. The roof which is of red tiles, is now completed, and the contractor, Mr. Viggers. is busy finishing the interior to the designs of Mr. Henderson, architect."
"The old Sportsman's Arms Hotel in Regent-street, which is one of the oldest buildings in the municipality, and in the early days was considered to be among the best of its class, is now closed, the license having been transferred to the new building recently erected by the Marshall's Brewery Company in Hobart-road."
"The members of the New Lambton Fire Brigade held a social in Thompson's new hall on Friday evening ... the Mayor (Alderman Errington), on behalf of the proprietors, declared the hall open. In doing so he explained that the building was to be known as the Commonwealth Hall."
"Shortly before nine o'clock yesterday morning a fire occurred in an old unoccupied building at the corner of Regent street and Portland Place. The building, which was owned by Marshall's Brewery Co. was formerly known as the Sportsman's Arms Hotel, and about two years the license was transferred to the new hotel belonging to the same firm, situated in Hobart-road. For some time the structure was occupied as a private dwelling, but for the last few months has been untenanted ...After burning for about three-quarters of an hour, the old building collapsed, the debris falling with a crash into the middle of the street. The only portion that remained standing was the chimney and part of the kitchen, which was detached from the main building."
"TENDERS are invited for taking down the Commonwealth Hall, situated at New Lambton, Removing, and Erecting at Belmont. Tenders close 13/7/'12. Lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted. Apply for particulars. John Sperring, Belmont Hotel."
"The town possesses accommodation in the way of halls for entertainment, and within the past year Mr. Sperring, licensee of the Belmont Hotel, has erected a large hall adjoining the hotel grounds. The building is 70 feet long by 30 feet wide, and will seat comfortably about 500 persons. It has a large stage capable of mounting big acts. and the floor is well adapted for dancing. The building was previously the Commonwealth Hall at New Lambton, which Mr. Sperring purchased, and had re-erected, strengthened, and generally improved in its interior decorations. The hall is frequently used by moonlight excursion parties."
Bramcote was the original name of a subdivision in Barnsley to the west of Slatey Creek.
Plan lodgement entry for DP1145, “Bramcote”, parish of Teralba, being a subdivision of Lot 1 of DP774. Historical Land Records Viewer
The Bramcote township was advertised from 8 July 1882 through to 19 August 1882, when an auction was to be held. Rain delayed the auction until 2 September 1882.
Advertisement for sale of land at “Bramcote”. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 19 August 1882.
The advertisement spruiks the transport amenity of Bramcote, having frontages to the Cooranbong and Wallsend roads and being at the junction of the Minmi road.
Map from Land Title associated with DP774, showing the area west of Flaggy Creek where the Bramcote subdivision was located. Vol-Fol 570-229.
The advertisement also states that Bramcote is close to “the deep waters of Cockle Creek” which is “navigable for steamers.” Measurement in Google Earth shows that Bramcote would have been about half a mile from Cockle Creek.
The neighbouring subdivisions of Bramcote and Highgate, separated by Slatey (Flaggy) Creek.
The third transport feature spruiked in the advertisement was that Bramcote “is within four hundred yards of the proposed Railway Connecting Waratah with Sydney.” This claim was a highly questionable one to make at this time. A number of trial surveys of different routes and various deviations for the Sydney to Newcastle railway had been made in 1879 and 1880. An 1881 map for the neighbouring Highgate subdivision shows a railway route beside Cockle Creek. However even by early 1881 it appears that the Government had settled on a more easterly route that came through the Tickhole tunnel, Cardiff and then Teralba. This led to much dissatisfaction from some, who wanted the rail line to pass through the mining townships of Lambton and Wallsend. A municipal conference was held in April 1881 to agitate for their preferred route. Despite the protestations, the Government decided on the final (current) route in May 1883, and Bramcote and Highgate lost their railway.
The location of the Bramcote subdivision (DP1145) shown on a modern map. SIX maps.
What we now know as Ash Island and Kooragang Island was once a patchwork of smaller islands. With land reclamation projects over the years, and changes in the river course, many of these islands and their names have disappeared.
The Newcastle Family History Society’s (NFHS) Bulletin No. 15 in October 1984 describes Calico Town as being “Wallsend, Lake Road area”, however there appears to be scant evidence for this. A 1948 refers to Wallsend’s first school being “held in a calico tent at Calico Town (Lake Road) nearly 90 years ago.”
The dating in this article is somewhat contradictory, with “90 years ago” implying the school opened in 1858, but the 84 year old resident stating that he attended the opening in 1870. To add to the confusion, the only other reference I could find to “Calico Town” was a 1955 report by architecture students of Newcastle College, which gives yet another date for the school opening when stating …
In the same year, 1862, the first National school was held in a calico tent at Calico Town on Lake Road.
With only two references to Calico Town on Lake Road, the earliest some 80 to 90 years later, I remain unconvinced of the genuineness of this obsolete name.
When we think of “Burwood” in Newcastle today, it is most commonly associated with Burwood Beach, situated between Glenrock Lagoon and Merewether.
Burwood Beach is situated at the northern end of what was the Burwood Coal Company’s 1287 acre coal lease.
The coal company’s principal pit was located near the centre of their lease, where the modern day suburb of Whitebridge is …
Burwood No. 3 Colliery, was located in Whitebridge.
… and consequently this area is sometimes known as Burwood. The main north/south road here is named “Burwood Road” and there was formerly a Burwood Colliery Bowling Club at this location.
Burwood Colliery Bowling Club, 2010. Google StreetView.
However there is another area in Newcastle that earlier on was also known as Burwood. It was located in the area of Merewether immediately to the south of The Junction. The name appears on an 1855 map.
“Burwood” marked to the south of Lake Macquarie Road (Bar Beach Ave today) on the plan of the Australian Agricultural Company’s Estate, Newcastle, 1855. (Note that this plan is drawn with south at the top and north at the bottom.) University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
The Historical Land Records Viewer has a number of parish maps where “Town of Burwood” is marked. The area still has to this day a “Burwood Street” within it.
The first methodist Church in the Junction was the Burwood Primitive Methodist Church, which was opened in 1859. In 1879 the original building was replaced by a brick building 50 feet by 30 feet, and service was continued in the building until 1904.
The Burwood Primitive Methodist Church was located on the south side of Railway Street.
BURWOOD SUNDAY-SCHOOL PICNIC. The Primitive Methodist Sunday-school picnic was held in the vacant piece of ground in Railway-street, opposite the church.
The Burwood Primitive Methodist Church was located at 5-6 Railway Street, Merewether. Google Earth with water board map sheet 086 from University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
Blue Gum Flat (sometimes spelled Bluegum Flat) was an informal name of a flat area situated between Jesmond and Wallsend. Being an informal name rather than an official district, only a general idea of the boundaries can be gleaned. [Ourimbah, on the Central Coast was also originally called Blue Gum Flat, but that is not the subject of this article.]
The name first appears in a newspaper report in 1861 …
A reward of £100 has been offered by the Wallsend Coal Company for information tending to convict such party or parties who recently placed a log of wood on their line of railway near the Blue Gum Flat Bridge.
The Newcastle Chronicle and Hunter River District News, 3 AUGUST 1861.
Further details of Blue Gum Flat appear in an advertisement on 20 August 1862 for the lease of “a substantial house, with 10 acres of land” being “near Wallsend” and “near the three lines of railway now starting”.
The railway referred to would be the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company railway that was constructed in 1861 and operations of the mine and railway were just starting in 1862. Parrott’s 1893 map shows two rectangular areas adjacent to the railway with a number of houses marked.
It may be just a curious coincidence, but overlying the 1893 map into Google Earth, measurement shows the area of those two rectangles to be 10 acres, the same area as in the 1862 advertisement.
In a funeral notice from 16 February 1880 for William Edmund Wilkinson, Blue Gum Flat is described as being at Brookstown, Wallsend. Brookstown was the area near the old Wallsend Hospital.
In 1887 the residents of Blue Gum Flat were petitioning for a railway platform …
Blue Gum Flat township is about two miles from Wallsend, and close to Jesmond. There are a large number of residents in that locality who, although they are blessed with a railway on one side and the tramway on the other, are unable to avail themselves of either means of transit unless by walking nearly two miles. The proposed platform will be on the Newcastle side of the Wallsend Tunnel Railway.
From this description, Blue Gum Flat is the area between the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company railway (yellow), and the Wallsend tramway (green), with the proposed site of the rail platform “on the Newcastle side of the Wallsend Tunnel Railway” marked with a red star.
An article on 27 July 1889 reporting on storm infers that Blue Gum Flat was an alternative name for Heaton. However the full range of mentions of Blue Gum Flat would suggest that it also referred to some areas north of the private town of Heaton.
At Heaton, or Blue Gum Flat, a considerable amount of damage was done to fences and vegetables by the overflowing of a creek, but the houses escaped.
An article from 4 December 1894 indicates that John Wilkinson operated a slaughter house at Blue Gum Flat.
Usage of the name appears to peter out around 1905. One of the last references to the locality is in August 1946, in the death notice of Mrs C Arnott aged 83, who “was born in the eastern boundary of Wallsend, then known as Blue Gum Flats.”
In summary, although some sources say that Blue Gum Flat was an early name for Jesmond, this is only partially true as the locality was only the portion of modern day Jesmond west of the old Wallsend/Lambton municipal boundary, now the inner city bypass.
Approximate location of Blue Gum Flat (yellow) west of the Wallsend/Lambton municipal boundary (red), with the modern day suburb of Jesmond shaded in green.
