On the Beach

For these hot days, a summer photo.

This is a favourite picture from the PMH&PS collection.  While charming in itself, there is much to be gleaned from the background. It is taken approximately where the Life Saving Headquarters at Sandridge is today. You can see a house in the immediate background with Princes Pier and the chimney of the Starch Factory in the distance.

There was a settlement down there on the Bend from the early days.  The last house was only demolished around 1970 as part of the expansion of Webb Dock.. At first making a living from occupations long since disappeared such as lumpers, ballasters, watermen, by the time of the First World War it was largely a fishing and boat building community. Dugga Beazley’s grandparents lived and fished there. There were also small farms and dairies. The houses were  on Crown Land and not serviced by water or electricity. There were no shops. It was a long walk to Bay Street for supplies across the sandy terrain.

Allan Meiers has written about this lesser known aspect of Port’s history through the stories of the families who lived there in The Fisherfolk of Fishermans Bend available from our Shop.

Do you have any pictures that evoke summer in Port? Contact us.