Fremantlebiz - Paul's Letter from Australia

The Swan Hotel - North Fremantle

First, there's another couple of views of Cantonment Hill which I've put online. Number one is a long shot taken northwards from the Fremantle War Memorial Hill with a 300mm lens.

Unfortunately there was a bit of haze at the time, but the image is a lesson on how depth of field can be used to economise with photography shoots. Not only can the plumbing of the old signal station be inspected, but also can some of the best known buildings in North Fremantle, which are actually kilometres further north. There's the cathedral-like Dingo Flour Mill in the centre with the Leighton foot bridge which crosses the railway line. On the far right can be seen the red bricks of the old Ford car assembly works which became a brewery until recently. The Fremantle Football Club flag on the signal station is an extra bonus.

The second image of Cantonment Hill was taken in the opposite direction from the northern end of the Fremantle Traffic Bridge. This has a bit of everything too, but the perspective has been retained because it was taken with a 35mm lens.

That's enough of Cantonment Hill and the Traffic Bridge for now. There's a building close by in North Fremantle which I like very much. It's the Swan Hotel, located on what used to be Stirling Highway, but is now Queen Victoria Street. It's the first building on the left after you cross the bridge.

You can see from the banners that they're seeking employees. Also that the letter E is missing in "Hotel". I wonder what happened to it? Karaoke on Friday and Saturday nights are obviously all the go these days in what was Bon Scott's teenage stamping ground. If I was the owner of the pub I'd name a bar after him and sit back and get rich. I liked the above picture so much I've also put a higher definition version on my Panoramio site.

The Swan Hotel dates back to 1922, which is when a fire destroyed the previous inn which had been on the site since 1888. Being near the North Wharf it's long been a favourite haunt of waterside workers. The much more modern office of the Maritime Union of Australia is located conveniently across the road.

My final picture is of the Swan Hotel's eastern facade. Ironically, the front wall carries advertisements for two Victorian beers and none for the local products. It wouldn't have happened in the olden days.

© MMVIII Paul R. Weaver.

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Original still photographs are stored online in a cache at my Panoramio website or my Picasa site. Most of them have a brief description and a link back to a relevant essay. Images on Panoramio can usually be enlarged several times by clicking them.

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Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days as part of an undertaking to write at least couple of million words. Zzzzzzzz!

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