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Town Hall, 333 Bay Street, Port Melbourne
Town Hall, 333 Bay Street, Port Melbourne

When Mad Max Came to Port Melbourne

Still from Mad Max (1979) showing the Halls of Justice gateway. The recent release of Mad Max: Fury Road has us thinking back to 1979 when director, George Miller started the franchise with the film Mad Max. That original film, telling the story of Main Force Patrol (MFP) policeman Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) battling against a violent motorcycle gang, was made on a…

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Keeping Warm in Port

South Melbourne Gasworks It is one of Port’s often told stories - how people ‘knocked off’ coal from the trucks taking coal to the Gasworks from Town Pier at the end of Bay Street. Emily Lock remembered "The different cargoes were a source of wonder. Some of them brought coal for the Gasworks. It was a dirty job unloading the coal into small…

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Port Melbourne on location

  Approach to the Graham St overpass, Port Melbourne A glimpse of the Graham St overpass in the current TAC (Transport Accident Commission) road safety campaign triggers a post about Port Melbourne as a location in films. Port Melbourne was the scene of the early 1905 Limelight documentary film showing Swallow and Ariell and employees leaving the building from a very recognisable Rouse St. The late 1980s was a…

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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…

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Three icons of Port

Sometimes you just can't find the right word. Take icon, for example. Many Port Melbourne people have had enough of the word 'icon'. 'Iconic' as new developments are often described, is almost guaranteed to get people's backs up. Port Melbourne foreshore from Princes Pier Three Port landmarks of Port are captured in this image: the beacon, the newly restored Stothert & Pitt…

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