Welcome to readers of The Local. Below you will find links to web pages that accompany the “That was then, this is now” articles published each month. On these pages you can view the photos in higher resolution by clicking on an image. These pages also have additional material such as references to old newspaper articles, and any corrections or clarifications.

1. February 2015 – Lambton Colliery
2. March 2015 – Newcastle to Plattsburg Tramway Cutting
3. April 2015 – The Dividing Lines
4. May 2015 – The Many Roads to Town
5. June 2015 – A Little Light History
6. July 2015 – In Search of Paddy Lewis
7. August 2015 – Post and Telegraph Office, Lambton
8. September 2015 – Electric Light Station
9. October 2015 – Lambton Park
10. November 2015 – Lambton Park Rotunda
11. December 2015 – Church life, Anglican
12. January 2016 – Maps
    • A visual index to historical real estate maps in the University of Newcastle Cultural Collections
13. February 2016 – Mosquito Pit
14. March 2016 – “Hollywood” depression era shanty town
15. April 2016 – Council mergers
    • Newcastle Municipal Councils
16. May 2016 – Mechanics’ Institute, Lambton
17. June 2016 – Thomas Croudace
18. July 2016 – Lambton Fire Brigade
19. August 2016 – The Omnibus
20. September 2016 – Matthew Charlton
21. October 2016 – Transport history
22. November 2016 – Stoker’s Hotel, Lambton
23. December 2016 – Church Life, Catholic
24. January 2017 – Maps, Bridges Road
25. February 2017 – Drains
26. March 2017 – Doctor John James Hill
27. April 2017 – History under our feet, Lewis Oval
28. May 2017 – Lambton Courthouse
29. June 2017 – Arthur Lydney Payne
30. July 2017 – Blackbutt Reserve
31. August 2017 – Power Station Plaque
32. September 2017 – Croudace’s Paddock (Jesmond Park)
33. October 2017 – Jack Burnley
34. November 2017 – Lambton Reservoir
35. December 2017 – Welsh Congregational Church, Lambton
36. January 2018 – Barrett’s 1910 Map
37. February 2018 – The Hand of Friendship Hotel, New Lambton
38. March 2018 – Lambton Aldermen
39. April 2018 – New Lambton Aldermen
40. May 2018 – “Dog and Rat” Colliery
41. June 2018 – New Lambton Colliery
42. July 2018 – Rankin Park Hospital
43. August 2018 – Albert Henry McEwan
44. September 2018 – New Lambton C Pit Strike of 1888
45. October 2018
    • Part 1 – Lambton Park Memorial Gates
    • Part 2 – Thomas and Harry Pease
    • November 2018 – no article this month
46. December 2018 – Commercial Hotel
47. January 2019 – Lambton to Mayfield tramway
48. February 2019 – The well travelled brick
49. March 2019 – Adamstown Council Chambers
50. April 2019 – The Sturey Mystery
51. May 2019 – Clearing up the halls
52. June 2019 – The Commonage
53. July 2019 – Hutton Printing & Paper Co
54. August 2019 – Drain plane – District Park aerodrome
55. September 2019 – Lawson Crichton – Lambton Cooperative Store
    • October 2019 – no article this month
56. November 2019 – James Gray, Undertaker, Adamstown
57. December 2019 – Clash of Armies – Lambton Salvation Army.
58. January 2020 – History in our streets – Chilcott St, Lambton.
59. February 2020 – New Lambton Public School – 140 years
60. March 2020 – No. 2 Fighter Sector, New Lambton Public School
61. April 2020 – Adamstown Tram, 1900-1950
62. May 2020 – William Conn
63. June 2020 – Burning Style, Waratah and Parry St incinerators
64. July 2020 – New Lambton Post Office
65. August 2020 – Ralph Snowball
66. September 2020 – Adamstown Rifle Range
67. October 2020 – Morgan’s Store, Lambton
68. November 2020 – A Picnic Homecoming – Lambton passenger train services.
69. December 2020 – Adamstown Post Office
70. January 2021 – Reservoir Hotel, Lambton
71. February 2021 – East Lambton Colliery (in New Lambton)
72. March 2021 – Gittins and Eastham Store (Broadmeadow Co-operative Society)
73. April 2021 – Thomas Bevan, Undertaker and more
74. May 2021 – George Bell, Grocer
75. June 2021 – Furnace Feast
76. July 2021 – Charles Noble
77. August 2021 – “Darkness Into Light” – Lambton’s jubilee celebrations of 1921 and the return of electric street lighting.
78. September 2021 – New Lambton Mechanics’ Institute
79. October 2021 – William Thomas Dent
    • November 2021 – no article this month
80. December 2021 – A very long road story – Marshall St and the Inner City Bypass
81. January 2022 – A Timely Trophy – Fire Brigade Demonstration Days 1888
82. February 2022 – Lambton Central Collieries
83. March 2022 – “Hums of the Wheel” – Newcastle Bicycle Carnival March 1897 and the A A Company’s Garden Suburb subdivision.
84. April 2022 – Adamstown Railway Station and Crossing
85. May 2022 – Robinson’s Farm, Orchardtown, New Lambton
86. June 2022 – Ebbw Vale Colliery
87. July 2022 – New Lambton Fire Station
88. August 2022 – The “Baby” Coal Mines of Lambton-Waratah
89. September 2022 – WAAAF Hostel, New Lambton
90. October 2022 – Leonora Glass Industries
91. November 2022 – Adamstown Fire and Police Station
92. December 2022 – Newcastle to Sydney telephone line
93. January 2023 – Broadmeadow Planes and Plans, Tiger Moth crash in January 1953.
94. February 2023 – Coal Miners’ Strike of 1896
    • March 2023  – no article this month
95. April 2023 – General Roberts Hotel, New Lambton
96. May 2023 – Corner Commerce – Thomas Griffiths hairdresser, and Oldham’s Butcher Shop
97. June 2023 – Sadly bungled street names – the 1889-1992 street names of New Lambton
98. July 2023 – Waratah Council Chambers
99. August 2023 – History in 3D – the stereoscopic photographs of Ralph Snowball
100. September 2023 – Cycling century run
101. October 2023 – Premier Hotel, Broadmeadow

Other Local History content

• Lambton Hotels
• Lambton Park Memorial Gates
• Historical real estate maps visual index
• Historical aerial photographs visual index
• Newcastle Municipal Councils
  • Lambton Aldermen (1871-1938)
  • New Lambton Aldermen (1889-1938)
  • Adamstown Aldermen (1886-1938)

Local history blog posts

In addition to the monthly “Then and Now” articles for The Local, I also occasionally post content about local history on my blog.  If you want to view just my local history posts (without the other subjects I write about) click here. These posts vary in length and detail, but some of the more substantial ones I’ve written are:

• January 2015 – My holiday historical adventure (The blog post that launched me into the monthly Then and Now articles)
• March 2015 – History in 3D
• January 206 – Freyberg St, New Lambton
• January 2017 – Copper Smelter Waratah/New Lambton, Part 1
• February 2017 – Corlette St, Cooks Hill
• February 2017 – Copper Smelter Waratah/New Lambton, Part 2
• April 2017 – Lambton Park Memorial Gate Kangaroos
• May 2017 – Skyline drive-in, Lambton
• May 2017 – Bull’s Garden, Whitebridge
• June 2017 – Birdwood Park, Newcastle West
• July 2017 – Mechanics’ Institute, Adamstown
• August 2017 – Jesmond Hill horse racing track
• August 2017 – Glebe Hill Reservoir, Merewether
• December 2017 – Waratah Gasworks
• December 2017 – Railway St, Merewether
• January 2018 – Tudor St, Hamilton
• April 2018 – Ralph Snowball’s House and Studio
• July 2018 – Peacock’s Corner, Lambton
• December 2018 – Memorial Baby Health Centre, Lambton
• January 2019 -Teralba Railway Deviation
• August 2019 – Walsh Island Aerodrome
• December 2019 – The Grange, New Lambton
• January 2020 – Tharwa Rd Lambton
• August 2020 – Carrington Boat Harbour
• November 2020 – The Edden Political Dynasty
• September 2021 – Hartley Vale Colliery, Newcastle

Acknowledgements

• My thanks go to the University of Newcastle Cultural Collections for maintaining a fabulous repository of historic photos, and for granting permission to publish some of them in the Lambton Local.
• Thanks also to Robert Watson for research assistance, fact checking, proof reading, ideas and inspiration.
• Julie Keating has also been a valued collaborator with me over the years.

Questions and Answers

In doing this research, I seem to find more questions than answers, so I have a page of unanswered questions concerning Lambton’s local history, and another smaller but hopefully growing page of answered questions.