I’ve been roasting coffee beans at home in a popcorn popper since 2006. I thought I was doing well when I had a popper machine that lasted for 3 years. Today my popcorn popper burned out after 9 years of service, having done over 1100 roasts.
Thankfully I had a spare machine ready in the cupboard to replace this stalwart of roasting goodness.
I just had a slightly confusing experience changing the iCloud account on an iPad mini. I was helping out a family member who had recently changed their Apple ID email address recently, due to a change in ISP/email provider. In the iPad settings the ID showing in the “iTunes and App Store” section was correct, but the ID showing in the iCloud settings was the old ID. This wasn’t a problem until recently when the iPad started prompting for the password for the iCloud account every 30 seconds, rendering the device unusable.
It wasn’t at all clear how to change the iCloud ID. Clicking on the ID at the top of the page only gave the option of entering the password for the old incorrect ID, with no ability to change the ID.
Eventually I discovered that I needed to scroll the page up to reveal the “Sign Out” button at the bottom of the page. After signing out, I was then able to sign-in with the new correct Apple ID. Simple once you know what’s going on.
Thanks to the land titles available in the Historical Land Records Viewer, I have been able to identify all the locations that Lambton Council meetings were held during its existence from 1871 to 1938. I have updated my Lambton Council page with this information, including a map.
Of the six buildings they met in, only the last of them still survives – the Lambton Library building in the corner of the park.
Marshall St (on early maps at least) is a very long straight road, stretching 5 km from Jesmond to Kotara.
This story took a long time to come to fruition. I’ve had plans to write various versions of this story for over five years, before I completed it this year.
With the construction of the final section of the inner city bypass to commence in 2022, as I researched the history of this project I was quite surprised to find how long ago the bypass was first announced – in 1945! When construction is completed in 2025 it will have been 80 years in progress, making it a very long road story indeed.
A 1936 map showing Boundary Rd (Marshall St) stretching from Jesmond to Garden Suburb.
It was 50 years ago today, on 1 November 1971, that Stockton Bridge was officially opened. To mark the occasion, on the weekend I walked over the bridge and took a time lapse video as I traversed it from west to east.
The idea of a bridge from Newcastle to Stockton had been discussed for a long time prior to its construction. In a newspaper article from 10 May 1921, the writer compares Stockton with Manly in Sydney, pointing out the many similarities, and how with a bit of investment in infrastructure Stockton could become a popular tourist destination.
Stockton is almost cheek by jowl with Newcastle, and could be brought closer. Who knows but that some day, in the not too distant future, Newcastle will have its North Shore bridge, to connect the city with its premier pleasure resort at Stockton.
In April 1931, Stockton municipal council in debating the cost of running the vehicular and passenger ferries, suggested that a bridge might possibly be built across Newcastle Harbour from near Fort Scratchley, with the cost of construction to be recouped by tolls over a 20 to 30 year period.
The feasibility, advisability, type of bridge, projected cost, and the preferred route of a Stockton bridge generated many varied and strong opinions.
Surely it would be obvious, even to a child, that the bridge suggested would be of the lifting or swinging type, thus doing away with the unnecessary height. The assertion that the bridge would cost £200,000 is ridiculous, and I still contend that a suitable bridge could be constructed for the trifling sum of £750.
Serious consideration of a bridge to Stockton revived in the 1950s when the state government began reclamation of the Hunter River delta islands, to be used for industrial purposes. This reclamation opened up the possibility of a bridge that crossed the river north of Stockton via the reclaimed islands, rather than the more problematic alternative of building a bridge across a busy Newcastle Harbour.
A bridge should be built from Walsh Island to North Stockton in conjunction with the Newcastle harbor reclamation scheme, Mr. L. B. Saddington declared in the Legislative Council yesterday. The bridge would span the north arm of the harbor and connect by road with another planned for the south arm near the B.H.P. Consideration had been given over some years to connecting Stockton with Newcastle proper by bridge or tunnel. Owing to the topography this would be most costly … But one from Walsh Island to North Stockton could be done much more speedily and for less cost.
A circa 1960s map, prior to the construction of Stockton bridge. I have overlaid in green the eventual route of the road and bridge.
Construction of the bridge commenced in 1968, with the erection of the pillars for the approach spans. The Department of Main Roads in 1971 made a very interesting 17 minute documentary on the construction of the bridge, which is available on YouTube.
At the top of Stockton Bridge, 29 October 2021.The plaque from the official opening of the bridge on 1 November 1971 is located at the peak of the pedestrian walkway in the centre of the bridge.