A new Project, and Williamstown revisited

 We have effectively given up on trying to make sense out of goings on the VicRail site about current services on the Frankston and Geelong lines.  So rather than going to those new destinations we went back to Williamstown.  

As we settled in to our seats Frances raised what sounds like an excellent Project, somewhat similar to our past "Every Town in NSW" epic. The aim of this is to visit every station in the Melbourne area which was originally built in the Victorian era.  This seems like an excellent suggestion.  There is a need set some rules about which stations qualify because of repurposing and rebuilding.  For example the first station outside the CBD was at Port Melbourne, and while I think the building still exists it is now the Beacon Cove tram stop.  Our current thinking is that as the station is still a public transport facility it gets a guernsey (as would the St Kilda Station on Fitzroy St).  Watch this blog for details.

At the least most of the stations on the Williamstown line seem to have been built before 1901 (Queen Victoria died on 21 January 1901) and fortunately most of them seem to have a Wikipedia entry given an opening date, and in most cases a good bit of history.  I was very interested to see the passenger numbers for several that I looked up showing the impact of COVID.  That will be an ongoing sub-project but today will begin with some comments about the Williamstown Station from Wikipedia:

"The station building is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, and is the second oldest railway station in Victoria, after St Kilda. It is also the oldest timber railway station building to survive in the state, and one of the earliest surviving timber public buildings in Victoria."

The following graph shows the passenger numbers quoted in the Wikipedia article about the station, with some notes relating to the numbered dots below.

1. I can find no clear explanation of this jump, but wonder if it is to do with the development of new housing in the area at Jawbone formerly occupied by a rifle range?
2. All stations show a gap for this year but no explanation.
3. Drop due to COVID leading the work from home.  Appears for many - if not all stations.
4. For other stations browsed the series goes further.  For example, for North Melbourne it shows recovery to previous levels for 2022-23 and 2023-24.

We began our walk by heading to the shore.  Getting there we saw a few Little Pied Cormorants and an active Gannet.  We headed to the Timeball Tower.  In the past the ball used to drop exactly at noon to provide an accurate time check for shipping to enable them to plot their position accurately.

I had hoped to walk along the Breakwater Pier but that is closed off as part of the tanker unloading facility.  The visit to the timeball was an extension to the first (of three) heritage walks in the area, developed by Hobson's Bay City Council.  

We rejoined the walk at Ann Street heading past the morgue, which replaced the practice of holding inquests in pubs (presumably the cool of the cellars preserved the corpses).  The morgue ceased use in 1925.

The sheds between the morgue and the wharf did not look to be that well maintained.

The top of Spirit of Tasmania 4 pokes above the wharf (see below for better images).

A view across to the docks.

I think this is the mooring of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria.

A rather battered sign at the back of Sea Works.

Boatbuilders shed,

The 300 ton slip built in 1942 to handle big ships..  The rails are 12'6" gauge and extend to 15 feet below the water level at a gradient of 1:20.

Both of the new ferries are in this image (#5 is over at Station Pier in front of the CBD

A zoom to get a view of #5, which is about 2.5km away at Station Pier.

This the former Royal Hotel built in 1893.  At least they have kept the buildings, even if they have been repurposed.  It was very frustrating in Montreal where just about every stop on the self guided walk was at a concrete high-rise  "the site of" something interesting that has been bulldozed.

The Customs House near the Visitor Centre.

A drinking fountain honoring a teetotal vicar of a nearby church.

A former E S and A bank and some old houses.

The back wall of the Steam-packet Hotel.  I suspect that Nick Gadd, the author of "Melbourne Circle", which begins in Williamstown, would include not this as a Ghost Sign as the pub is still there and VB is available for the less discerning thirst.  Perhaps it a Ghost Sign in waiting?

The former George Hotel, delicensed in the 1920s and now a private residence.

St Andrews Presbyterian Church.  As a Protestant building firmly locked.

Originally the Presbyterian Manse and later teacher's house, built in 1854.

The area is well supplied with pubs.  The Stags Head - see on first floor - is another which is still open.

Back to the station.  On the way back to Flinders St we noticed the George Theatre in Yarraville (another suburb of which I had never heard before starting to reside in Melbourne).