WHEN Thirroul’s Rex Hotel opened for business in 1953, it brought to a close a campaign lasting almost 30 years by brewery giant, Tooth and Company, to have a pub in the seaside town. Known today as ‘Beaches’, the pub,… Read More ›
PREMIUM CONTENT
Surry Hills’ notorious bloodhouse, the Sunbeam Hotel
By MICK ROBERTS © ALTHOUGH today you would be hard pressed to believe it, prior to gentrification, Surry Hills was home to some of Sydney’s toughest pubs. The pubs of the inner-Sydney suburb were haunts of the city’s shadiest characters… Read More ›
The story of Ann Jones, Ned Kelly and the Glenrowan Inn
By MICK ROBERTS © THE Glenrowan Inn where the bushranger Ned Kelly’s ‘last stand’ took place in 1880 is arguably Australia’s most infamous pub. While the history of bushranger Ned Kelly is well documented, the story of the Glenrowan Inn… Read More ›
Lanie, the Rock’s bawdy drag queen, reigned over her left handed pub for more than 25 years
Observer Hotel, The Rocks, Sydney By MICK ROBERTS © ALTHOUGH right-handed, when I drop into the Observer Hotel at Sydney’s Rocks, I like to drink a beer using my left hand. The gesture is in memory of a left-handed drag-queen… Read More ›
The ‘sign-board’ banter between Chippendale’s Broadway Hotel and Barnabas Church
The priest and the publican By MICK ROBERTS © THE friendly contest of chaffing – perfected and usually kept within the bar-room – spilled outside onto one of Sydney’s busiest streets during the 1980s. Chaffing – the pleasure of teasing… Read More ›
‘I allus has wan at eleven’: The story of Sam Knott who enjoyed his beer at 11
By MICK ROBERTS © Have you wondered about that old weather beaten bloke standing at the bar in those Carlton and United Brewery posters? You know, the one proclaiming ‘I allus has wan at eleven’? His name was Sam Knott… Read More ›
A pub named after a bush tucker tree: The Quondong Hotel: 1891-2000
“QUONDONG HOTEL, 33 miles from anywhere. Half-way house on the Menindee to Broken Hill coach line.” – The Sydney Mail, Wednesday, October 26, 1910. By MICK ROBERTS © ALL that remains in the arid outback surrounds of where the Quondong Hotel… Read More ›
Beware the grog at the Black Dog
By MICK ROBERTS © BEWARE the grog at the Black Dog, they warned. And for good reason! A short, but steep walk up Brown Bear Lane from George Street at The Rocks during the first half of the 19th century, would… Read More ›
Resurrection of Clifton’s lost pub: return of the Imperial
By MICK ROBERTS © We were invited to a ‘meet and greet’ at a derelict looking pub at Clifton, on the NSW South Coast in 2015 to hear plans for its restoration and transformation into an eatery and function centre…. Read More ›