Gidday! New in town?

Ξ June 26th, 2007 | → | ∇ development, history |

Two hundred years of growth from a timber-getters’ camp to a great industrial region is only eight family generations.

Octogenarians recall relatives who witnessed the celebrations of 1900, when a Newcastle, a mere century old, possessed already its major public buildings and infrastructure, and could describe the building of the first church, jail, or police station.

The first half of last century saw the area’s wealth sunk into even finer structures and the creation of steel milling that turned this large country town into a mighty industrial city.

The second half witnessed manufacturing’s  astonishing disappearance, yet the Hunter barely stumbled as smart money moved on to the next transient opportunity.

Newcastle city is essentially unchanged one-hundred years on - other than the loss of tramways and coal-carrying railways that criss-crossed the central basin of suburbs, and the filling of surround foothills to the brink with suburban streets.

Thirty years ago the view east from Newcastle’s hill would seem almost unchanged to, perhaps, a grandparent, reminiscing.

The city reinvented itself upon losing its manufacturing heart in recent decades, docks and warehouses given over to chick yuppie venues and endless landscaping.

A wealthy few  amuse themselves in the dawn of this new millennium by peppering the escarpments overlooking Newcastle’s beautiful golden beaches with high-rise apartments - and it seems too many are not enough.

Those fortunate to work in the city centre and live in the traditional inner suburbs find Newcastle a workers’ paradise, with ten-minute commutes and often dazzling vistas from office windows. Lunch break for the humble white-collar worker can take in both a beach lunch and up-market shopping.

In fact, doing anything or going most anywhere in this pocket metropolis is just 15 minutes across town and park at the door.

We love it!