Suburb #99 Campbell

Suburb no. 99 was my home suburb of Campbell - explored on foot on a beautiful sunny Canberra day in the company of my favourite super hero.

This suburb is named after Robert Campbell - a Scotsman and merchant, who first arrived in Australia in 1798, building Australia's first shipyards in Kirribilli in 1807. In the 1820s, a sheep station was established for him in Pialligo in Canberra as compensation for the loss of one of his ships on a government charter. In 1846, he renamed this property Duntroon - after Duntrune Castle in Scotland, which as an aside is apparently haunted by a handless piper - and built a homestead here which remains part of the Royal Military College. Campbell was a member of the first NSW legislative council.

The streets here are named after defence personnel....apparently the suburb name is also spelt wrong???

So our Campbell adventures began outside my own little part of Australian architectural history - Campbell Group Housing, designed in 1964 for ANU by the remarkable Harry Seidler. Completely impractical to live in but very good for the soul - the sense of space and calm is just remarkable.

 Living in one of the cheapest places in a very expensive suburb, I don't have to walk far to start day-dreaming about winning the lottery and living in one of these little shacks...with some bits of Campbell like a beautiful English village...

Then it was up to top of the suburb - which most people probably don't even known is there - under Fairbairn Avenue....

But it really is quite beautiful...

Then it was back down to the center of the suburb with its multiple parks, schools and a remarkable number of playgrounds....

 

I wish I had a buddy bench at my school :)

Next up were the local Campbell shops...which appeared to be having a Jeffrey Smart moment :p

Then it was time to head down towards Constitution Avenue, past many of the lovely less showy old houses full of character that too many people are knocking down to build their mega mansions :(

 

It makes me sad - the trees around here clearly need to be comforted as well :(

Does anyone know what this memorial was for? The plaque has been removed...

Away, while pondering the possibilities....we decided that it was time for a break with a glass of wine at the new wonderful wine bar in Campbell.. the perfect place to decompress in the sun after a horrid week. They sell amazing wines by the glass and the grilled haloumi is pretty damn good too :)

 

Our adventure also then continued to get slightly waylaid at the Pedlar next door...those onion rings and dumplings are just too damn good! And there is finally a place in my suburb to get an espresso martini! :)

And so began a lovely sunset walk back home...over the hill and through Legacy Park....not a bad view hey? :)

 

So that was really it for our fabulous big day out in Campbell....

I do have to cheat though and add a couple of extra photos of the Blamey Crescent walk I take every time I walk to civic - inherently 'campbell' for me. 

Plus a friend wouldn't forgive me if I didn't include a photo of his impressive hedge :p

 

 

Suburb #98 Kingston

So it was time to do one of the epic Canberra suburbs - Kingston  - where I spend quite a lot of my time. This was going to be difficult as I wanted to show a less well known side of this popular suburb...

Kingston, gazetted in the 1920s, is named after Charles Cameron Kingston. Kingston was the Premier of South Australia and later Minister for Trade and Customs in the first federal government. While he was premier, he passed legislation allowing women in South Australia to vote and in a world first to stand for election. He died in 1908 but apparently his body was exhumed in 2008 to determine his descendants, after apparently fathering many illegitimate children.

The streets here are named after explorers, local pioneers and Australian flora.

So I started my journey at the place I know best....part of 'old style Kingston'.. gorgeous heritage houses, majestic trees, hedges and a sort of English calmness about the place...

Then it was off past the railway station....

To explore the 'other side of the tracks'...the area known as the Causeway, where wooden cottages were built for construction workers in the 1920s. The cottages have gone but approximately 67 Government houses remain, with only three privately owned houses here, as well as the nearby Canberra Railway Museum.

 
I understand that this area is scheduled to be demolished to make way for further development, which is a bit sad given that some families have apparently lived their since Canberra was created...I must admit it does have a bit of an odd feel to it in parts.....

Its an odd mix of country, the 1970s and the 1950s in someways. At one stage, I turned the corner and found myself in the middle of the nowhere...

Or so I thought, it was actually a road to a heritage dairy cottage from the 1920s, where many causeway residents worked up until the 1950s...

Then I turned the corner again and the modern development that most people now know as Kingston appeared in the distance....

Before dealing with 'the Foreshore', I decided to explore the edge of the lake down past the Causeway where I had never been. Quite a beautiful spot....really wish I had a canoe some days...

Then it was off to the part of the suburb most people now know as Kingston...I love the food here but I really question some of the design features...surely this will look so dated and horrid in a few years...

I love the little parks that have sprung up around this part of Kingston though....

And the bird life they have brought with them...

Next stop was the old Kingston shops...the side most people would know...

And the hidden side...

This had been an epic journey already but before the day was over I needed to visit some of my favourite remaining places in Kingston....so I walked down towards Barton...

Past my favourite 'slanty flats'....

 And the Narnia style gate...

Past the 'old Kingo' and Muse....still one of the best places in Canberra to eat, drink and buy books (yes, essentially heaven)...

Past the watching eye of a new friend...

 To the old cricket ground with its birds, pine cones and feeling of calm...

 And so ended my big day out in Kingston - a suburb of many contrasts as an old friend used to say.