Author Archives
A journalist, writer and historian, Mick Roberts specialises in Australian cultural history, particularly associated with Australian pubs. Mick has had an interest in revealing the colourful story of Australian hotels or pubs and associated industries for over 35 years. Besides writing a number of history books, Mick has managed several community newspapers. Editorially, he has managed the Wollongong Northern News, The Bulli Times, The Northern Times, The Northern Leader and The Local - all located in the Wollongong region. As a journalist he has reported for Rural Press, Cumberland (News Limited), City Hub Sydney (City News), and Torch Publications (based in Canterbury Bankstown, Sydney).
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The Eveleigh Hotel was not always located at Abercrombie & Vine Streets, Redfern
GENTRIFICATION is around the corner for arguably Sydney’s last working class inner-city suburb, Redfern. But, for those who appreciate the remnants of working class Sydney, there’s still a few traditional pubs worth a visit. One of my favourite Redfern pubs… Read More ›
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He can shout – if he likes
This week the Sunday Telegraph asked the President of the United Liquor Victuallers Association (ULVA), Mr N. Connolly, the attitude the ULVA would adopt toward a Sydney publican who reintroduced the pre-war gesture of “shouting” rounds of drinks for his… Read More ›
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The old ‘Conti’ pub, Broome: ‘a great, ugly edifice, but oh, so charming’…
LIKE Broome of old, the original Continental Hotel, in Western Australia’s Kimberley, has made way for the new. In his book, ‘Australian Pubs’, John Larkins described the original corrugated iron pub, with its cooling verandah slung along its front, as… Read More ›
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Sky’s a regular at Surry Hills’ Shakespeare Hotel
“LET’S drop into the ‘Shakey’ for a bite and a beer,” was my suggestion as we battled the traffic towards Sydney from Wollongong. After a morning visiting family in Bulli, and the thirst inducing drive north to Sydney, through grinding… Read More ›
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Three men slept in shifts in one bed over 24 hours! Wollongong’s hotel bed shortages
THE population of the Wollongong region exploded after Charles Hoskins entered into an agreement with the NSW Government to build a steelworks at Port Kembla in 1927. In 1936, BHP acquired Australian Iron and Steel Limited and production at Port Kembla increased rapidly… Read More ›
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That glare you get when you sit in a regular’s seat at the pub: Sydney’s Villawood Hotel
YOU know that glare? That glare you get from patrons when you walk into an unfamiliar pub? Is there a more uncomfortable feeling? Yes, there is a more uneasy feeling; that feeling when you walk into an almost empty bar,… Read More ›
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The demise of Sydney’s inner-city hotels, and the rise of the 1950s suburban ‘Super Pubs’
IN an effort to spread evenly the number of pubs around a rapidly expanding Sydney in the late 1940s, the NSW Government began encouraging the removal of inner-city pub licenses out into the suburbs. One of the first so called… Read More ›
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More than ‘just another beer house’, Parramatta’s Lennox Hotel was a ‘social centre’
THE Lennox Hotel at Parramatta opened for business as a Toohey’s tied house in Sydney’s west on Friday, October 10, 1958, after its license was transferred from the nearby Tattersall’s Hotel at the corner of Smith and George Streets. Read… Read More ›
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Parramatta’s Tattersalls Hotel and the Creasey family
By MICK ROBERTS © MARGARET Creasey must have been wary of banks. Twice, banks purchased her pubs at Parramatta, and moved her from successful operating businesses over her 26 year career as a hotelier. Margaret, along with her husband John, established… Read More ›
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The dry-wit drinkers of Queensland’s Prairie Hotel
LOCATED 340kms south-west of Townsville, in northern Queensland, the Prairie Hotel is a must see with its unique atmosphere, collection of stockman’s hats and other historical memorabilia. Famous for its tale of the wandering ringer – a story of a ghostly prowler… Read More ›