Fremantlebiz - Paul's Letter from Australia

A glimpse of the Cottesloe business precinct

The suburb of Cottesloe owes its name to Captain Charles Fremantle's eldest brother, Baron Cottesloe of Swanbourne, Buckinghamshire. The next suburb further north is called Swanbourne and is mostly noted for its nudist beach and the adjacent Special Air Service training facility. The port of Fremantle can be seen a few kilometres south of Cottesloe Beach.

Cottesloe beach is a favourite destination for bikini watchers in summer. At least it was when I was a youth. However, the winter surf is much better than summer, and that was really much more interesting.

The fashionable suburb is on the western side of a narrow strip of land between the Indian Ocean and the Swan River. What's not in Cottesloe is in the arguably more fashionable Peppermint Grove overlooking the river. But look closely at many of the houses and gardens in both suburbs and there is plenty of decay. The dividing line for these elitist haunts is Stirling Highway, which connects between Fremantle and Perth.

Parallel with the western side of Stirling Highway was/is the Perth Fremantle line, which was established in 1881. The first trains stopped when necessary at Butler's siding, which later became Cottesloe Station. The Butlers had held a huge land grant for farming the area since the earliest days of the colony in the 1830s.

The catalyst for the urban development of Cottesloe and Peppermint Grove appears to have been the ongoing development of the railway and the death of the the widow of John Butler in 1886. The subdivision of Peppermint Grove by speculative syndicates took place soon after her passing. A burgeoning population as a result of a prospering economy ensured there were plenty of buyers. Blocks which were available for a fifteen pound deposit are now amongst the highest priced on the continent.

A small business precinct grew on the eastern side of the railway line. Today it has spread for half a block into Peppermint Grove. The trendiest area is Napoleon Street on the Cottesloe side with a swag of sidewalk cafes, boutiques and the sort of places where the well heeled can stock up on pâté de foie gras. This picture facing west caught it at a quiet time. Saturday mornings are much busier.

The old Cottesloe railway station which existed through much of the twentieth century used to be a picturesque delight. Then some government bright spark decided it was too old fashioned and had it ripped down. What exists today is an insult to the eye. Perhaps it could be described as a stark imitation of Butler's Siding in 1881?

I made a 190 degree, nine image panorama of the business precinct and raidway siding a couple of weeks ago. I was standing on the footbridge which crosses the railway line.

In the foreground there is some structural engineering activity going on. The workers were using a wide diameter auger to drill fifty feet deep holes through the sand in order to pour reinforced concrete piles for a new building.

Another thing I noticed in this panorama is that most of the roofing in the precinct appears in reasonable condition. Ten years ago it was not the case. There were a lot of sheets of rusting corrugated steel visible.

So the Cottesloe business precinct is being steadily upgraded, but real estate sales command premium prices. For small shops, they probably need a high turnover, or a generous landlord to survive.

© 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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