Thursday 1 November 2012

Theme Day - The Water's Edge


Originally, Circular Quay was not circular at all; it was a tidal mud-flat, with a slash - in the south-western corner - where the Tank Stream entered Sydney Cove. Hah! A corner in a circular shape - boggles the mind, eh what? The engineer, George Barney, was allocated a team of convicts to shape up the cove from about 1836 when mercantilism was the colony's saviour. At that stage, that landward side of the cove was known as 'semi-circular quay".


Between 1860 and 1880, it took on the shape that we see today; the Tank Stream went underground, the edges were buffed and lined with wool stores and gang planks. If you wander from the Opera House around the 'circular' bit to the Museum of Contemporary Art, you will notice, perhaps, bronze plaques indicating the water's edge at various years from 1788 to today.


The two, large colour photographs I took on Wednesday evening as I wandered across the Cahill Expressway from the Botanic Gardens to the Glenmore Hotel in The Rocks. The painting is a recreation of the raising of the flag of the United Kingdom on 26th January 1788 beside the waters of Sydney Cove. The black and white photogaph is dated 1892, and shows the hectic pace of the quayside along the eastern edge of Circular Quay.


Click here to see other participants in the City Daily Photo Theme Day for November, 'The Water's Edge'.

27 comments:

EG CameraGirl said...

I like the before and after photos here. Sydney sure has changed over the years!

Tanya Breese said...

i always love before and after shots!

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Love the older images also, but wow the two fresh new shots are fabulous Julie, what an excellent view point. Sydney is looking good!!

Jilly said...

Fascinating to see the then and now images. Beautiful photography Julie.

Dina said...

Circular Quay is such an exciting place. Thanks for the history; it will add to my enjoyment, next visit.
Your last photo is so nice, with both sides of the quay in it.
It is hard to imagine the place as it looks in the painting.

Small City Scenes said...

Julie I did try to link to theme day I followed the directions but the pic never appeared and when I tried to link again it said I already linked. What next?? Thanks MB

Shantaram said...

Julie, it is amazing to see so many iconic features in the same picture. And THANK YOU! For the pictures as well as for all the work you've been doing in getting the portal back and buzzing!

Hull and Hereabouts said...

I like that first shot, it has the only two things I knew about Sydney in it...but I'm learning.

slim said...

Perfect theme day post for Sydney. I like the good bit of history as well.

cieldequimper said...

Oh Julie what a great idea to show how Sydney has changed!

RedPat said...

Great informative post for the day!

Lude said...

Gee this brings back fond memories... Memories to which you are associated Julie if you remember ;-)

Jo said...

Great post.

Sharon said...

As with all cities, it's seen a lot of change over the years. I love that photo with the bridge and the opera house in the same shot.

paul said...

An edge with history, beautifully illustrated!

Thanks for your and team's great efforts in recreating the portal, excellent result.

raf said...

Enjoy learning the geography and history of your great city, Julie, through your many exceptional posts of images and commentary. Thanks to Sydney Eye, I'm starting to feel like I've actually spent some time there.

LONDONLULU said...

Both beautiful and amazing to see the city past and present. You live in an amazing place!

Virginia said...

WEll of course you had water, water , everywhere! :)
Your city was made for this Theme Day Julie and you did it proud.
V

Oakland Daily Photo said...

I like the idea of plaques showing the changing edges of the harbor.

Joe said...

My goodness how things have changed. I was just looking at some photos of Melbourne in the 50's. Although that was before my time I have memories of the CBD in the 60s and I must admit the old photos made me quite nostalgic.

Valladolid Daily Photo said...

Love your choice for the theme day. Thank you for sharing it with us all.

Have a great month!

hamilton said...

I think Barney's convicts did an amazing job at starting off this iconic busy, busy quay!

Kay L. Davies said...

Such a beautiful place, Julie.
K

Joan Elizabeth said...

It is just so hard for me to imagine this transformation.

Red Nomad OZ said...

I don't think any of us Aussie bloggers can compete with that trifecta of icons - Opera House, Bridge, Harbour - and with fascinating history too! Interesting comparison between the B&W shot & your first - not as different as I thought they'd be!

Jim said...

Great light for these shots.

dasnolonger said...

hi

when you use old pics from other collections can you please say where you got them from? its just good manners

but it also lets people know where they may find such stuff

staff in libraries, galleries and archives work hard to make sure our material culture is looked after so people can have free (or cheap) access to it no matter who they are.

acknowledging the collections they work for also acknowledges those people.

:-)