Next month Before this page gets entirely too big I'll save some goodies
for next month !
I have some new info about the Woy Woy airfield and on the weekend I found the
exact location of the Tuggerah strip and met a local who has lived next to it
all his life who had tales to tell aplenty ....
Welcome back to local blogger
Spike - get your blog on mate !
Tuggerah RAAF Military Airfield While researching the airfield at Woy Woy during WW2 , I also
kept finding references to the airfield at Tuggerah. I decided to look into it's
location a little further , of course there is no info directly related to it
online so I started at
National Archives and got me a Parish Map , then I went
to the info search and found some records relating to the hiring of land parcels
by the RAAF around 1942 - 46 , using the info gathered so far I then opened up
Google Earth for a lookee and had the strip located with seconds , there are 2
possible locations visible from the aerial view with correlate with the land
hired , both have visible traces of that familiar red gravel used for the runway
surface.
I have also found records of several aircraft crashes and forced landings on the
coast , one in particular at the Tuggerah strip and a couple of seaplanes from
the
Rathmines Flying Boat base also made emergency landings in Tuggerah Lake ,
you will see in the photos below that the main public wharf is nearby the to
strip location and would be a handy place to land in an emergency.
In Station St at Ourimbah there is an old army building that may have been used
at the airfield , it is of corrugated iron construction and is curved like a
half pipe , it is currently in public use. The same type of buildng also existed
in Booker Bay until the late 60's and was owned by Bullions and used as a store
for their business , this building was most certainly a building disposed from
the Woy Woy airfield.
* Tip: Centre click your mouse to open photo in a new
window
In this photo you can see 2 areas that could have been the airstrip , in the
centre there is a clearing in thick trees running north to south which is most
probably the old strip , land parcels were hired by the RAAF at the northern end
, on the right hand side nearly extending the whole length of the runway and on
the left hand side in what is now Second Ave at Tuggerah. Curiously the land
parcel at the north end of the strip is now a substation , much like the land
parcel at the north end of the Woy Woy strip is now a telephone exchange. A
close up zoom from
Google Earth shows red gravel extending along the entire site
today making it the most preserved wartime military airfield in existence today
- that's if my homework is correct !
Note the strange road pattern at the top right of the strip , it looks like 3
lead in roads from possible hangars.
Also note a possible second airstrip location or possibly a second runway
outlined by paddock fences at the northern end of the first strip , there are
some curious clearings in this area which makes me think it could be part of it
as well , note the fence lines running off to the right in the photo.
* Tip: Centre click your mouse to open photo in a new
window
The parish map from 1946 shows the land parcels in the area ,
the large blank area at the top is Lot 44 , part of which was hired by the RAAF.
Land to the right of the strip owned by William Smith was also hired lots 43/44
were noted.
Iguanagate For those overseas viewers the latest scandal to hit Woy Woy
town was the recent sacking of M.P John Della Bosca over an incident at the
waterfront restaurant and nightclub at Gosford -
Iguana Joes ( formerly The
Aquatic Club )
His wife Belinda Neal also became involved in the scuffle which caused several
staff members to sign Statutory Declarations the following day , the club's
management was forced to issue an apology and the stat decs were mysteriously
withdrawn.
In a week with little news the witch hunt began and it was discovered that
Belinda Neal had been suspended from the local women's soccer comp for
assaulting a player some weeks before , she was sent to anger management classes
by Kevin Rudd hiself !
Then it was revealed that the apology that was issued by the management at
Iguana Joe's had actually been written by John Della Bosca himself - he got the
ass on Friday arvo and now the Police are investigating !
Rain Plenty of that happening here , 1 months rain in a 24 hour
period , dams at highest levels in 4 years - mite wash the ute ! ( when the rain
stops )
Monopoly - Ye Olde Woy Woy Edition A bit of late night photoshop fun ......
Woy Woy Road blues Last month part of Woy Woy road at Bulls Hill subsided and
gave away causing the road to be closed , after a few days it was clear that
there was entirely too much traffic trying to get out and into town via West
Gosford and the road was temporarily opened to allow incoming traffic.
There must be some movers and shakers living in Woy Woy as emergency funding has
been allotted to fix the section of the road pronto after it was heard work
could take many months to begin with !
The sign on the church at Ettalong proclaimed " Woy Woy Road closed ? - the path
to the Lord is always open "
Changes
Mike sent me 2 pics to compare , one was of the main drag of
town taken by himself just recently and the other one was an old archive shot of
the main drag circa 1978 , so what has changed in 30 years ?
Noonan's stores are still there , although its high verandah was removed in the
early 60's
Then we have what is left of the Alecia Tearooms before the Commonwealth bank
decided to demolish most of the building , today the turrets above the butchers
shop is about all that is left of this grand old girl.
Next building is an old bank ( not sure which one ) I remember those big white
Roman type columns out the front of it - it's gone now.
Next we have the old Woolworths store ( now Video Ezy ) it was the Peninsula's
first big supermarket , I remember them selling those nasty old plastic
skateboards for $2.50 in the early 70's - all us kids had one !
In the background you can see the old Woy Woy theatre , Mum took me to see "
Barry Mackenzie Saves the World " there in the 70's which I slept through (
thankfully )
Peninsula Plaza now sits on the site next to the Fire Station and old Woy Woy
Shire Council Chambers ( now the Library )
Cheers Mike !
The mysterious shaking poles of Woy
Woy Town
Inspired by the last story and in need of some better pics ,
I headed into town last Saturday night to do some shooting.
It's hard to get some different looking pics to the usual fare , so I figured no
one had taken night photos of Woy Woy before and set about my task , much to the
bewilderment of some locals ( it's called art not stalking ffs )
Anyway when I get to this building my memory comes back and I am reminded of a
tale from long ago ............
It's brisk and bitterly cold winter morning at Woy Woy station , waiting for the
5.17 am train to Central , my fellow travelers stand fast on the platform with
backs to the waters of Woy Woy Bay in hope that the sun may come out just a tad
earlier and warm our souls up.
There is always one lark who will wear shorts to work everyday ( even in mid
winter ) , he stands there grinning as folk say to him " Aren't you f#@king cold
mate ? " and replies " nah it ain't f#@king cold enough mate ! "
One morning this lark says to our assembled group " check out the flagpole on
that building across the road , one is wobbling all over the place " and it was
true , one of the twin flagpoles was going berserk wobbling like a giant had
just flicked it with it's thumb !
Mind you there was no wind present and the wobbling did not slow down , we
noticed this event for many mornings over the next few months. Theories abounded
on what caused the pole to rattle , there was no wind or passing heavy traffic ,
it shook in cold or warm weather - maybe some sort of magnetic influence ?
The shaking became so evident that the staff inside the building noticed it and
the pole was secured according to another bystander on the platform at Woy Woy ,
so that's the story of the shaking poles - only known by a few until now !
I thought these might be different , taken last weekend at around 8 pm , the
best ones were unplanned random shots which came out quite dandy I thought , I
don't claim to be a Ken Duncan and just used the night setting on my digital
cam.
One thing I noticed , it was easier to isolate your subject at night with no
background distractions , this set shows the difference between old and new
architecture in Woy Woy
The Woy Woy Peninsula and
surrounding areas including: Ettalong , Umina , Blackwall Booker
Bay , Orange Grove , Pearl Beach , Patonga , Daleys Point , Empire Bay
St Hueberts
Island , Rileys Island , Pelican Island , Koolewong
New South Wales , The Central Coast , Australia
