Middle Brighton

The catalyst for this outing was a photographic exhibition at the Bayside gallery in the suburb of Brighton, a name which resonated well with us as we lived in the 'burb of the same name in Adelaide for about 30 years (Frances) and 6 years (Martin).  It would also tick off  2 stations in the Melbourne stations project.  

We began by walking to Prahran Station which we have walked past many times on our way to the local branch of the Stonnington Library.  This station was opened in 1860 under the name Greville Street.  The wikipedia entry for the station has a few interesting comments:

• The station connects to the #6 tram route.  
• There is a second entrance to the station from High St (which is where the tram runs) opened in 2015;
• There used to be a pedestrian tunnel under the line, replaced by pedestrian gates in 1997.
• A bus service from the station to Malvern Town Hall didn't last long, being open for only a year before it was shut down due to the unreliability of the buses and rough condition of roads, which made the service unpopular with locals.

This is a photo of the up (ie towards the CBD) platform.

The weathered sign on the building behind the station is a good example of a ghost sign.  I cannot find any mention of the subject - I think "Table Talk Biscuits" - on the web.  It is also interesting that another building on Greville St, close to the station has a ghost sign for Sunrise Confectionery, so it appears the area was a centre for sweet comestibles (Sunrise ceased operation at this site in 1991).  

One of our favourite series of fantasy books, by Tamora Pierce, features a main character who communicates with pigeons which carry the unquiet spirits of the recently dead.  It is thus appropriate that a pigeon posed with the ghost sign - on the return trip there were about 6 of them.

As the train approached Brighton a bunch of teenagers (both sexes) in private school uniforms got on the train.  They came past s us as we got off, so I asked them why they were wearing their uniforms on a Saturday afternoon.  The answer was that they were from Caulfield Grammar who were playing Brighton in the first ever APS Grand Final of Australian Rules.  Consulting Prof Google, Brighton had been undefeated in the minor round and won 72-63 in the Final.  An Instagram post is headlined " Thousands cram Brighton.." which seems believable given the horde of uniformed kids around Church St (the blue and yellow blazer is Brighton-  Caulfield were black and white).. 

We searched unsuccessfully for a bakery, to buy some bread.  We did find this nice mosaic celebrating the Brighton Bathing Boxes.

Approaching the Brighton Town Hall (now the HQ of Bayside Council, thank you as always for your amalgamations Jeff Kennett) we found a nice set of sculptures.  One of them is labelled 'Genesis

The exhibition - a travelling show from NGA - was very interesting.  The images were mainly by Max Dupain (Australian architecture) and Ansel Adams (USA landscapes).

The pictures were hung in pairs showing similarities despite the different topics.

The image of the Sunbaker by Max Dupain is probably the most famous Australian photograph Of All Time.  The similarity of structure to Ansel Adams' image of the Church of Saint Francis, Rancho de Taos, is quite remarkable.

I thought the view of this staircase in the building fitted very well with Dupain's architectural images.

A little further down the street was St Cuthbert's Church.  Being Presbyterian it was of course locked up so we have no idea what it is like inside.

Looking back at the Town Hall.

The Municipal Library buiding was interesting.

The scout hall also had some interest, especially the climbing wall to the left.

We walked back beside the train track noticing the way (some of) the trees had been pruned to avoid (some of) the power lines.

Middle Brighton Station.  Initially opened in 1861 as Church Street, the station was given its current name of Middle Brighton on 1 January 1867.  The only other interesting element of this station is the bus routes which pass by are run by three different companies, under contract to PTV. 

Hopping off at Prahran (hoping to buy bread at Q Le Baker if they hadn't sold out by 1430) we noticed this large bit of art on the far side of the train tracks.  Google Lens describes the image but provides no further detail.