Newcastle Wanderings

I really enjoy just wandering about with a camera, taking photos of things that catch my eye.

Great opportunity to do this last week when the car was in for a service.  

I took the car into Hamilton to be serviced, time frame was about 4 hours give or take.  I hadn't been up Hunter Street Newcastle properly for a couple of years; it has been sort of off limits whilst they were building the new tram lines and upgrading roads for our yearly Supercar race.  That is all completed now and I hadn't had a good opportunity to see what all the fuss was about.  The Interchange was only a short walk from the car dealership at Hamilton and I thought I would go into town and ride the Tram to check it out.

$2.80 for a one way trip (can't get a return - gotta buy another ticket for the trip back!) from the interchange at Wickham to Nobbys Beach.  Good thing is you can get off at any stop along the way.  This is what I did, I rode the Tram, getting off at each stop and wandered around in the vicinity.  I really enjoyed it!  The Tram is very popular and, dare I say, I noted quite a few new businesses opened up on Hunter Street and it also seemed that there were more people on Hunter Street than I have seen for a while.

I took the Canon 600D with the Canon EF 50mm f1.8.  The 50mm EF lens on a cropped sensor camera is the 35mm equivalent to 80mm focal distance.  I took the 50mm because it is nice and sharp and I can get a nice shallow depth of field if I need to.  It also makes me more aware of the shot because it is not as versatile as a zoom lens and I have to pay more attention to the framing of a subject.

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Not sure, but, I think that these 'planter boxes' are made from the
remnants of the heavy rail line that used to run into Newcastle.

Random window I saw as I wandered along Hunter Street.

The Blue Door Cafe in the old Bennett and Wood building cnr of Hunter Street and Wheeler Place.
Bennet and Wood, a firm established by Charles W. Bennett and Charles R. Wood in 1882 in Sydney
were the original manufacturers of Speedwell Bicycles.  As Motorcars and Motorcycles became available
Bennett and Wood entered the Motor Trade. They built and sold the Speedwell bicycle and the Speedwell
and Acme motorcycles.  The Speedwell motorcycle was built in the early 1900s.

Civic Theatre in Wheeler Place, Newcastle.  Beautiful building!

Habesha - Ethopian Restaurant in King Street, Newcastle.  

Civic Theatre - Wheeler Place, Newcastle.  I have become a lover of a Film Noir look for my
Black and White photography of late.  Lovely crisp contrasty look with dark vignette!

Blue Door Cafe - Wheeler Place, Newcastle.  The old Newcastle Council Offices
in the background.  That building has apparently been sold to a
developer who wants to turn it into a 5 Star Hotel.
Very unusual architectural design!

Fred Ash LTD may have been established in 1855 but this building was built
 in 1904-5.  It was designed by F. B. Menkens. It was built  as a warehouse
for Frederick Ash. It appears to have served as a retail showroom
with office and storage space on upper floors.
Frederick Ash used this building to sell hardware and store building materials
with workshops and packing rooms behind.

Balance Collective.  I just liked the look of this with the word
'Balance' above the entrance.

I'm sure it's just a coincidence that the sign for Second Hand Goods
store sits just below that of one of Newcastles brothels!

The architectural look of this building and it's gradual decay seemed to be further degraded by being boarded
 up and having a cheap mural painted on the shop front.  this speaks to me of a once grand building that has
 seen better years.  I couldn't find anything that told me about the history of this building.  On the far right is a
renovated 'section' of this building.  The Terrace Cocktail bar looks really great inside.  To the left,what
 appears to be the 'centre' of this terraced building, was a shop called Emmas Soup, a bridal and boutique
 shop which has since relocated.
Many shopfronts closed down with the building of the new tram lines up and down Hunter Street.
Access to local businesses was a non event while that was occurring and sent quite a few Hunter Street
businesses to the wall, never to open again.

The upper facade of what was 'Emmas Soup' a Bridal and Boutique shop (larger
photo above).  Not sure when this was built but the logo 'Advance Australia'
reminds me of an advertising slogan that referred to community mindedness
from the mid 1980's.

In fact, although the phrase ‘Advance Australia’ is known as the title of the
Australian national anthem, it is often forgotten that the phrase had a life
as a slogan and as a coat of arms extending well into the early years of the
colony.

I love to capture reflections of the side of glass buildings.

Fred Ash building in colour this time.

Newcastle City Hall has been undergoing renovations for the past
couple of years. The clock tower was the first piece to be completed.
The building is coming along very nicely and is looking so clean and
new!