By MICK ROBERTS © BREAKING that unwritten rule of never discussing politics and religion at the pub can have dire consequence. Some people learn the hard way: like, Bulli bullocky James Robinson. Robinson was a new arrival to the little… Read More ›
NSW hotels
Dicey Riley’s: Wollongong’s iconic Irish pub story
By MICK ROBERTS © THE history of Wollongong’s last main street pub, Dicey Riley’s can be traced-back to when James Cosgrove was granted a publican’s license for the site almost 165 year ago. Like all good pub yarns, the colourful… Read More ›
Crown Hotel gas explosion killed Surry Hills’ newspaper vendor
By MICK ROBERTS © FATE dealt an elderly pensioner a cruel and fatal blow outside a Sydney pub just three days before Christmas, 1948. Like today, Surry Hills at the corner of Crown and Cleveland Streets, outside the Crown Hotel,… Read More ›
Discover the Royal Hotel Singleton: A historic family pub
LOCATED in the NSW Hunter Valley, the Royal Hotel at Singleton, is one of the region’s oldest pubs, established in 1859, and offering hospitality for over 165 years. Today the pub provides bistro dining, a large beer garden, motel rooms,… Read More ›
Unravelling St Kilda Hotel’s legacy in Armidale
By MICK ROBERTS © Ever wondered why there’s a pub Armidale, a city located in the New England region of northern NSW, named the St Kilda Hotel? We did, so we did a little research. The St Kilda Hotel was opened… Read More ›
Controversy surrounded opening of Whitfield’s Thirroul pub
By MICK ROBERTS © REGULARS at Thirroul’s Ryan’s Hotel can thank pioneer baker George Whitford for his persistence in establishing their local watering hole. Whitford was determined to have his bakery opened as the village’s first pub, trying for almost… Read More ›
The haunting history of Bald Nob’s Junction Hotel
By MICK ROBERTS © A NEGLECTED, ramshackle survivor from our pioneering past, the old Bald Nob inn possesses all the ingredients to conjure up tales of troubled spirits with unfinished business. Under its roof, fortunes were lost and life’s ruined…. Read More ›
The true story behind Tooheys’ brewery blacksmith icon
LIKE Victoria’s Sam Knott, who proclaimed ‘I allus has wan at eleven’, NSW also had a famous brewery pin-up-boy by the name of Sam. He was well-known for most of the first half of last century. Although, there’s some debate… Read More ›
Publican unlucky in love: Wealthy hotelier murdered by cheating wife
By MICK ROBERTS © PUBLICAN Roy Ferguson could be said to have been unlucky in love. The wealthy hotelier had at least three failed relationships with women who would eventually betray him – one fatally. Roy was no saint. In… Read More ›
Berrima’s Surveyor General license lapsed in 1895: Title to Australia’s oldest ‘continuously licensed’ pub challenged
By MICK ROBERTS © THERE’S no doubt, Berrima’s Surveyor General Inn, on the NSW Southern Highlands, is one of Australia’s oldest trading pubs. Claims though that the pub is Australia’s oldest continuously licensed pub has come under a shadow with… Read More ›