Week 21

Week 21

In about 1971 I went to Perth with Dianne and her parents, to visit family in Perth. We had a family gathering which included Dianne's Grandfather Mr Ross W. Brownlie. I was very impressed (young and impressionable?) with the fact that a new super modern housing complex had just been opened - bearing the name Brownlie Towers. 

BROWNLIE
TOWERS
DUMOND* STREET

The Brownlie Towers project is an integral part of Bentley. Brownlie Towers was officially opened on December 14, 1970. However, the first tenants had moved in during March of that year. The Towers was named after Mr. R. W. Brownlie who was Chairman of the Commissioners until he retired in 1954. 

Initially, the land on which the Towers is built was used as a quarry but history does not show when the quarrying stopped. It could have been some time in 1962 when an appeal to grant a further quarry permit was lost. The Towers was built by the then State Housing
Commission. The architect was a Mr Denis Borrow and the Supervisor Mr Bill Betjemen.
Preliminary work included removing the fill from the old quarry and refilling with compacted material and a million or so bricks were used in its construction. The first manager of the
towers was Mr Don Blair. The rents at the outset were $13.40 for a two bedroom unit and
$11.50 for a one bedroom unit.

Something made me think of it again this week so I looked it up - for the first time in more than 50 years...

...only to discover that the whole project had been a total social failure and the buildings were demolished in 2019.

From ABC News

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-07/brownlie-towers-housing-complex-faces-demolition/10918264

It was supposed to be the revolutionary utopian future of public housing within suburban Perth.

With an in-house grocery store, day care centre, chemist, hairdresser — and a school and swimming pool next door — the twin 10-storey complex of Brownlie Towers in the suburb of Bentley stood as the centrepiece of a carefully curated neighbourhood full of gardens and open space.

Then, to the horror of planning officials, it quickly disintegrated into a hotbed of crime, becoming synonymous with murders, suicides, violence and drug abuse.

I seem to remember Mr. Brownlie as an imposing figure at the family dinner table - perhaps because of the work he had done and it must be a pretty big deal to have Brownlie Towers named after you...

Now I just wonder if he lived long enough to see what was happening...hopefully not.

Another memory from then...

 

One of Dianne's uncles used to be the Government Botanist for W.A. - he took us to see "the only place in the world" where a type of kangaroo paw plant grows.

When we drove over, the Nullabor Plains road was not fully sealed - about 300 kilometres still without asphalt. And Dianne and I took the train home... this is all stretching the memory a bit!! 

And another...

A visit to the monastery at New Norcia. Again I remember that I was really impressed and we bought 2 loaves of the bread that the monks made...

And again, a Google search more than 50 years later shows yet another story...

The commission found one in five Benedictine priests between 1950 and 2010 were alleged child abusers – triple the national average for Catholic institutions. Some survivors believe the present-day Benedictine Community has failed to sufficiently acknowledge the abuse that occurred in New Norcia.19 Jan 2020

I've started moving the computers back to the upstairs office...where Tassie likes to help...

Bathroom fittings 25% off...The colour board is for the bathroom - we're probably going for the white one - with one accent wall in the darkest colour - so says the Building Supervisor...

Kitchen arrived on Tuesday - installed on Wednesday ...

Stairway pieces all cut...

Treads and risers removed and a test bit of painting for the colour... all OK says the Building Supervisor...  :)

Boeke at rest in the Day Activity area...

Janny is away with her Mum and sisters - a holiday visit to Ameland, one of the Frisian Islands...these are probably more correctly known as the West Frisian Islands, as there are a lot more East Frisian Islands that are part of Germany

They looked like they were having a good time...

Definitely not peas in a pod...more "6 penneth of mixed lollies" as Mum used to say...

During the week, Renny had been "honoured" at a gathering of her choir...she has been singing with them for 75 years! She even made the front page of our local newspaper...

In the meantime, Boeke and I had to prepare for the arrival of Grandson Tom and his friend Helena. I had hoped to do a short boat trip, but it was not possible in the time available...we at least went to have a look at the boat just to make sure she hadn't sunk...

We took Boeke for a walk in "our" forest and had a lovely meal with just the 3 (4) of us...

Old Age does have some benefits :)

Ben has been to Madrid (again) and made it home for one night and then he was off again to a Weekend Hideaway (they don't know where they are going until the last minute) with his University Student Club. They ended up somewhere in Drenthe which might be close enough for us to pick him up later today...