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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How Casino’s Charcoal Inn got its name
THERE’S a pub in the Northern Rivers region of NSW that has an intriguing sign. The Charcoal Inn at Casino, about 30kms from Lismore, was built in the middle of last century. But like many Australian pubs, she’s been rebuilt… Read More ›
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Pub has traded on the corner for 160 years: Covent Gardens Hotel, Haymarket
There’s been a pub trading at the corner of Hay and Dixon Streets in Sydney’s Haymarket for well over 150 years. Way before the Covent Gardens Hotel was established on the site, a pub by the name of the Miller’s… Read More ›
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Gold fever: Publicans sink shafts in the yards of Wedderburn’s two hotels
By MICK ROBERTS © THERE was difficulty ordering a beer, let alone booking a room in Wedderburn’s two pubs in March 1950 when gold fever gripped the sleepy Victorian farming community. A resident unearthed a 175-ounce nugget of gold in… Read More ›
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Customers of ‘Limit Jim’ allowed only two to four drinks at Tabulam Hotel
IF you were planning to get plastered on the grog at Jim Jordan’s pub, you chose the wrong bar. The publican of Tabulam Hotel, in the far north-east of NSW, between Tenterfield and Casino, was known as ‘Limit Jim’. Jim,… Read More ›
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Grave robber’s macabre deal on the verandah of East Maitland’s Victoria Inn
By MICK ROBERTS © EAST Maitland’s Victoria Inn, west of Newcastle in the Hunter Valley, has had many incarnations since its original construction. Its most recent manifestation in 2015 has been a labour of love for James Morgan, who restored the… Read More ›
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How two pubs ended up with the same name: Station Hotel, Kurri Kurri
IN a confusing administrative error, two pubs in the fledgling colliery town of Kurri Kurri, in the Hunter region of NSW, officially were known by the same name for a short period in 1904. Robert Robertson, an experience hotelier, was… Read More ›
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The Waterhouse family and Fairy Meadow’s Charles Hotel
THE misfortunes of a landmark pub in a town on the central-western plains of NSW enabled the Charles Hotel at Fairy Meadow to open for business on September 15 1955. The Charles was built and established by the Waterhouse family, well-known… Read More ›
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Road trip: Kurri Kurri Hotel’s flash dunnies got it over the line
ONWARD we go, on our Upper Hunter road trip, this time to the picture postcard pub, so familiar to those who love the architecture of Australian hotels. The Kurri Kurri Hotel is majestic in everyway. A beautiful example of Australian… Read More ›
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Chelmsford Hotel, Kurri Kurri.
ON a road trip to the upper Hunter, we stopped at the bandaged Chelmsford Hotel at Kurri Kurri. The poor old lady was undergoing a bit of a facelift, and she wasn’t in the best state to be photographed…. Read More ›
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Experienced publican established Weston’s Criterion Hotel
THE Criterion was built at Weston in 1903 by James Jones, an experienced hotelier who had run a number of hotels in Newcastle and Sydney prior to setting his sights on the booming coalfields of South Maitland. Jim was licensee… Read More ›