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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Adavale’s Blackwater Hotel, aka ‘The Dog & Vomit’
By MICK ROBERTS © WHILE the Brits have their ‘Dog and Whistles’ and ‘Fox and Hounds’, here in Australia we also have had a few pubs named after ‘man’s best friend’. There’s the long-gone, infamous colonial pub the ‘Black Dog‘… Read More ›
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Road Trip: Central West NSW
By MICK ROBERTS © ON Time Gents’ road trips, we sometimes stumble upon pubs that can only be described as pure treasures. On a Sunday drive in 2017 we visited a number of small villages and towns in the central… Read More ›
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The pub that never opened: The Athletic Club Hotel, Surry Hills
By MICK ROBERTS © A STONE’S throw down the hill, in the narrow laneways off the thriving entertainment strip of Crown Street, where weekend crowds pack Surry Hills’ venues like ‘The Clock’, and ‘White Horse’, can be found the “pub… Read More ›
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Australian Hotel, The Rocks, Sydney
THE original Australian Hotel, leased to John Murray, sat at 116 Cumberland Street on land within the Observatory Hill precinct. However, the history of the hotel’s license can be traced back to 1824, when a pub traded on George Street,… Read More ›
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Australian Hotel, Woolloomooloo
THE Australian Inn Hotel at Woolloomooloo traded for just over 100 years before it was forced to shut after the license was transferred to Yagoona, in Sydney’s west. John J. Earl licensed the Australian Inn on the corner of Woolloomooloo… Read More ›
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The Australia Hotel, aka The Abercrombie, Broadway, Sydney
A PUB has traded at the corner of Broadway and Abercrombie Street, in Sydney’s Chippendale, since 1843. The current art deco pub opened in 1938 to replace a previous structure, built in 1911. The Australian Hotel was one of four… Read More ›
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Hotel Astra, Bondi Beach
For more than a hundred years a hotel stood on the site of what is today the Astra Retirement Village at Bondi Beach. The original building was named the Cliff House Hotel and was built around 1880. The Cliff House… Read More ›
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Fire destroys the White House Hotel, Menzies
FIRE destroyed a number of buildings, including the White House Hotel, in the Western Australian gold mining town of Menzies in 1898. Within a few days the thirsty miners were again propped against the bar when a… Read More ›
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Waterloo Hotel, Fortitude Valley
MET ITS WATERLOO After yesterday’s heavy rain this taxi-cab skidded on the wet bitumen, got out of control, and crashed into an awning post of tho Waterloo Hotel, Valley, where another cab earlier in the day had been involved in a similar accident…. Read More ›
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Warraweena Hotel destroyed by fire twice
The Warraweena Hotel was located at Dry Lake, about 35km north of Bourke, on the road to the Queensland border town of Barringun. The pub was a stop-over for the mail coach, and popular with drovers, boundary riders and other… Read More ›