I Historian's Report

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Historian's Report

Brick Manufacturing and the Boral Site at Woonona, NSW. /999

Dr PauIa J. Byrne

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Contents

1. Industry History ................................................................ 1

2. Pendlebury's Occupation of the site ........................... .4

~p "t ,. hb'k" 4 J. _ enme ury s m t1 e flC_ maustry .............................. -

4. Pendlebury's and Labour ............................................... l1

S. Pendlebury's and the Modern World ....................... 17

6 .. r. • "h ",', < 8 . l'i'lappms I, e Sue .............................................. ·.··· ............ 1

Conclusion ................................................................................. 2 4

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'Many thanks are due to the following persons, Graham RoUinson, David Kelleher's office at Boral, Michael Organ who was most helpful with 'maps and information, Kerrle Alexander from Wollongong Library who sent me all the information she had and Bruce Scott who brought the site alive and

whose work is included in the appendix.

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1. Industry Histor"v e

Until the 1870's brlckmaking in Australia was carried outby small family concerns locatedclose tociayfields. The brlckfieldsat Alexandria, Newto'\J\.n and St Peter's were located there because of theavailabillty of clay. 1 The building boom of the 1880's resulted in greater demand for bricks and from this period We find reference to the 'quantities' of bricks produced by a m...anufacturer, how many thousand bricks were produced per day. Larger concer-us were favoured, ne\'\!, speedier technology w~ vallled.2

We find an ex-qmple of an expected building boom atWoonona in an advertlsenlentfor land sale in 1889. 'Yrlddletown', is located south of the Bornl Site. The Advertisement stressed the proximity of 'Kenny's paddock' to the mines at Woononai SouthBulli and Brooker's Nose and a small diagrrun illustrated this and also showed the path of the Bellanlbi tramline. Such real estate ventures would have encouraged the manufacturers of bricks.

1 w. Gemmel1, And So We Graft From Six t.o Six. Sydney, 1986, p.il. 2 ibid. p. 21-2.

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2. Pendleburv's occupation ofh1.e site

It is not difficult to see why this piece of land adjacent to the Bellambi tral1iline was attractive to Thomas Pendlebury. He had years of experience in hrlclonaking and was regarded in the industry as 'a firer with a reputation second to none'. 3 He would have realized that coal seam no. 6 would result in clay with qualities of silica and alumina suitable for the production ofbricks with fire resistant qualities- 'firebricks'4.

3. Pendlebury's in the brick industry

The 1890's depression resulted in consididerable decline in the brick industry. Snlall family concerns closed. They were replaced by 'partnerships or combines in which the shareholders contributed to the bulk of the capital for an expensive new plant'. 5 The industty streamlined andnlechanized.

In 1901 the plant set up by Pendlebury atWoonona was described as 'up to date' .. The plant will include a 25 h. p. engine with Cornish boiler, a Sands pan which has a weight alone of 15 tons a brickmaking lnachine known as the 'dry process' with all the necessaty hauling and welding gear incidental to a first class plant. 6

3 111awarraMe.rcu.ry. 26 January 1901. 4 G . l' '. .,; em.me 1, Op.CiL., p5o. 5 Gem..mell, op.cit., 13.14. 6 I1lawa,r.ra Met'cury, op.cit.


Of great importance to the plantwas the 'dry process' method.

The dry process is not dependent the least bit on the "veather, the bricks being compressed into shape by enormous pressure, and go straight froln the machine to thekiln.i

In 1903 the machinery of the plant was further described by the lllawarra 1Vlercury 1

7 ibid.

Visitors to Bulli should certainly not miss paying a visit to Mr Pendlebury's brickworks, where the proprietor is always ready to show 'them the ropes'. Mr Pendlebury is at present laying down a large new plant to make brlcl<s of all descriptions and shapes. At present, he has in operation a 25 h. p. boiler with a 30 h. p. engine operating a Blankets dry press brick making machine which stamps and processes 1000 bricks per hour. He also has a ChlUan lnill for grinding the shale, excavated from his 50 feet deep pit into dust at the rate of seven tons per hour. The Chllian wJli weighs 16 tons and has two grinding rollers operating over a seive, each weighing two tons. He also has a friction gear hauler and automatic carriage plant The newlnachine isa 'plastic'brickruaking machine capable of treating 1200 per hour and also making bricks and agricultural drain pipes. He has in addition to his

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other plant introduced a new systeln of open air burning, turning out an excellent seco11d-class brick for inside use.8

On the plant's establishment the most hnportantand innovative machine was the dry press, the new 'plastic' brlckmaking lnachille. An illustration from The Clay Products Journal of AustralIa shows this machine run by a 6 h. p. engine (see illustration).

Part of one of these machines remains on site .. There is a simj]iar machine displayed in a roadside park in south western Sydney.

8 Illawar1'a Mercury, 14 March 1904.


Such was the importance of the dry press machine that Pendlebury's was referred to in 1904 as 'The Bull and Woonona Dry Press Brick Works'9 and was listed as 'Pendlebwy T. Press . Brick Works' in the 1908 volume of Wise's New South WalesPost OftlceD1rectory.10

The mawarra Mercury stressed the word 'new' and Pendlebury not only supervised production but also gave tours ofhis 'state of the art' plant In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in Australia machinery was regarded as something accessible to ordinary people, there were competitions to invent fann machinery which anybody could enter and indeed many articles of farm machinery were invented in this way. I I Pendlebury's was not only a state of the art plant but a site where people were able to view what was new and exciting, see machines they could perhaps improve upon, where they could feel actively part of modernisation. . - -

When Pendlebury Park, Woonona, was named in 1943, after Thomas Pendlebury it was because he was he 'pioneered the silica brick industry in Australia'. 12At different times in Australian history different machines and products received greater attention. If we were to tour the plant with Pendlebuty hl1904 he ~ould point out to us the dry press machine and the Chi1ian Mill and perhaps ignore the kilns. In Terry Kass' HistoryofGoodletand

9 Illawarra Mercury. ibid. 10 Wise's New South Wales Post Office Directory. Sydney. 1908. I I D.W. Menig. On the Margins of the Good Earth. Adelaide. 1962. 12 South Coast Times. 16 Apri11843.

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Smith Brickworks at Granville itwas the Hoffman kiln which received the greatest attention as the most modern article on site.' 3 When we consider the history ofbrickmaking in Australia it does appear that the production of silica or fire bricks occurred at Woonona at a very early date and at a time when most frre bricks were being imported from England or Scotland. 14 Fire bricks \.yere hard fire resistant bricks used in bakeries and industry which required heat resistant buildings such as foundries. They were made from a special clay containing alumina and silica. In 1901 the IDawarra Mercury reported of Pendlebury's that

A splendid strata of fire brick has also been met with, and this will notbe the least of many branches of the trade which Mr Pendlebury will cater for. IS

Pendlebury's turned out its frrst lot of frrebricks in June 1902. 1GAt this time most firebricks available in Australia were imported and expensivetoobtain.t7 By 1904 Pendlebury's was a major producer of firebricks and orders were completed at Pendlebury's for

Sydney Electric Ughting Co. North Shore and Newcastle Gas Companies CockleCreekSulphideCorporation N.S.W GovernmentRailways DaptoSmeltlngCo

13 T. Kass, A History of th~ Goodlet and Smith Brickworks Granville, 1878.:.1989, April 1989, Mitchell Library, 0693. 210994/1. 14GemmelL op .cit.,p.56. . 15 Illawarra Mercury. 26 Ja11uary 1901. 16 IllawarraMercury. 2) June 1902. 17 Gemmell. op.cit., p.56.

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The latter received an order of 500,000 frre bricks and its manager pronounced the 'Bulli article equal to the very best English manufactures'. Tests by the North Shore Gas Co. proved Pendlebury's bricks better than those imported. IS Gemmell writes that Australian Firebrick production did not really develop llntil after the 1908 introduction oftarriffs on imported bricks19 and so Pendlebury's 1943 reputation seems accurate. This plant at Woonona was one of the earliest manufacturies of rrrebricks in Australia.

In 1972 the plant was remodelled by its new owners Clark Kilns. They held an 'open house' at its $2 -1/2 million brickworks at Woonona,

The function was a post chrls1Jnas sight-seeing party for .public trade representatives and relatives of employeesatthe plant .. T.he Woononakiln was completed in January last year and is the longest top fired tunnel kiln in Australia, one of four company plants in the state, the kiln is capable of producing 26 million bricks ayear.20

This tour was unlike one of Thomas Pendlebury's. It wfl.S for a s·pecific, specialised audience. However, the language used was similiar to the Mercury's 70 years before. Once again the plant was first, this time in the size of its kiln. '" '

18 I11awarra Mercury 16 March 1904. 19 Gemmell, op.clt., p.S6. 20 I11awQ.t't'Q. M~i.'cuL"Y, 22 J~ .... "-.,.. ~Q7;.


shows brick ~epress mochine for ... repressing bricks mode 'I'. both dry-press or plostic systems. Copocity:' 8,000 to 10,000. s· per day.' Power' required to drive>opproxi~otely 6 B.H.P.

GEO. FOS & I •

, -n Llu.

• Matl1lfacturers of all classes of

BRICK, TILE AND PIPE HINERY

SE;nd your inqui ries to:

GEO. FOSTER t::r SONS PTY. L TO.,

1-29 PRINCES HIGHWAY, ST. PETERS, SYDNEY, N.S.W.

Telephone: L 3341 (4 lines).

Telegraphic Address. ; "Fosterion," Sydney.


Ul1tll the construction of the Pendlebury's plant employnlent of local residents was restricted to the mines at Woonona and Bulli and to seasonal contract work picking blackberries orwaratabs. In 1910 Mrs Mott of Woo non a held the blackberry contract and in 1912 the trade was valued at one thousand one hundred and twenty pounds.21 There was little stable employment in the region. Coal mining had been carried on since the 18508. However, the WoononaNIine'sowner, Thomas Hale, becameinsloventin 1863 .and work did not recOmnle1)ce there until 1888 when the Bellambi Coal Company was fanned in Melbourne and leased 779 acres from the trustees of the Osbourne Estate.22 This and the sale of Hale's estate resulted in a commercial resurgence ofWoonona. Bayley ,,,,rites that 'houses and stores sprang up on every hand'.23 This expansion was immediately followed by the depression of the 1890's. The Woonona Public School's centenary volume says

During the 1890's enrolments at Woonona fluctuated between 300 and 450 as the growth of the district was interrupted by the depression,unemployment and strikes. These ll1ajor events brought into focus the problems which were an ordinary feature of life in mining COll1111unitles: accidents and illness, poverty and unemployment, the migration of miners between the Wollongong, Lithgow and Newcastle areas.24

21 W.A. Bayley, Black Dia.monds, Histot'Y of Bu11i Distdct New South Wa.1es, I1lawa.fra Historical Society. 1989 . .p. 78. 22 J. Jarvis, 'I11awaf'f'a: A Century Qf History', Part IV, JRAHS, XXVIII, 'p.291-~. 23 Bayley, op.dt .. .p.S4. 24 Woonona. Public School Centefiat'y, 27 November 1982. ANL.

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There \AlaS widespread industrial trouble accross the IDawarra in 1894. The miners from Kembla to Cllfton agreed to meet the citizens ofBulliand Woonona with a view to mediation. The vicar of St Augustine's Bulli was chosen as Chainnan of the mediating committee and an agreement was arrived at25

Strikes brought mining communities closer, and there seelns considerable unity among the 'citizens of Woo non a and Bulli' in this account The fomlationofthe Woonona Industrial and Cooperative Society Ltd in 1896 is a further demonstation of community solidarity. Its tAdvice to Members! is shown here. This is a language ofsoIidarity, unity.

Into such an enviromnent came Thomas Pendlebury's modem plant and its arrival was unnanounced. A pile of clay near Gray Street was thought to be a mine, the \Jvorkers had been brought from Sydney to construct the plant26

The plant's expansionfu1.d later provision of work for locals musthave been welcome. Its first accident occurred in Aprll1902 when a man was seriously injured while digging out clay. The

25 The Parish Paper ofSt Augustine's BU11i. 1962. ML 26 I11a:wai'ra, MercUi.''Y 26 Januai-y1901.

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f~); t.~ < (,<

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MVice to j'dembeJ1s of tbe Society?,

,l.,-Lut iutogrity. intdligcn" .. , Illld flhilily hI) illdi~plJn8iLlo qllnlifiontiollS, in 01IOi"., of offieers ILlld muungerH, ,md ,wt \\'cnltb ur distinctiou', -' '.

~: ',:::',: .' ",?y.Lyvk; Wllll after the money matters. PnuiHh frand, wh!!n dulyeslG11l'UtlIlC'<l; t, ,,-, " " ,'the immediate expulsion of IllA defllultElr. I

1~;,,'~,c~';,'N; d,p'", from tl. p",,'pl, of ""rh,. ~d ~Ili'g b READY =:V:'~.+~~;~~i::~,\~:~ f'.';;',":;;:: ;': ~'/F~~~yli~ 8nk" of security. always have the UCUOIUltcd ,"!thws of tht! Fixe<l; r.: {',.,;,r.,: ,:'" -: .-; ,:'.'. h.·aat ooa-thirti IElsS than its murketnble value. ' ' r"',,' ..... "'; ,

r..:.< :, I> ;"L:;tint!tnbers take caro tbat tbe accounts ure properly uudited "',.' , OWl' clioosil1g.

.~~. . , ' ,

:;i~~,~,: .§.:.....L\lt..!;be Comruittee of Maoagement always have the authority :;~:~: " , " before taking uoy important ~)r ~KpeiiHive st."l> .

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:.:i;\,' :::'J~~' iDi'-not court oppositioo or pubrcity, llor feal' it. wlleo it COUl.,S. ~_~:{~\I'::'~ '1 •• ,.'::l . I . . . ,:,::- ~: {I .. ",;,mi~9ile thuS£' only fur pur oflicers whom you

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ground he had worked on was undennined and he fell into the pit27 lVIick Robertst GreetlngsFrom Woonona 28 includes a photograph of workers at Pendleburj's circa 1902. There are three children in the photograph. In 1939 the Clay Industry Journal reported on juvenile labour in the Clay Industry. Persons under 16 were employed in the industry in England and Australia and this was considered a valuable apprenti.ceship.29Conditionsin the Australian industry were thought to be better than in England ... 'industrial trouble is practically non existent in the Australian Clay Industry'30

Bruce Scott, in an intelView for this report (see appendix) writes of people who worked atthe brickmill being there for many years

some lived with their families in small cottages behind the brickworks (see Bruce's diagram appendix) These families were the Maher's, WaIt on's and Longbottoms. These family men looked &-fter the draft horses that pulled the ca..-rts of day from the claypit to the clay mill to be processed. 31

These workers would have been provided with hOUSing by Pendlebury. The centenary report of Woo non a Public School describes 'retardation' or the presence of many children in classes for which they ,,,,ere too old. The reason given for this is the movementoffamiliesfrom coalfield to coalfield or recent migration fronlEngland. Children also supplemented "t1~eir income by selling

27I11awar1'a Mercury 19 Apri11902. 2&M. Roberts, Greetitlgs From Woofiofia, Thirroul, 1995. 29 'Workers in the Clay Industry', Clay Products Journal of Australia, Dec€lmbfH' 1 1939, p.23. 30ibid. 31Written re~po.nses to questions, Mr Bruce Scou, 30 July 1999.

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58. 'Brickworkers at Pend/ebury's'.

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ordellvering coal, milk or firewood before and after school. 32 To this list may be added me work provided by Pendlebuty, stacking bricks, moving clay etc.

Rather than simply ~eing a workplace, the site was also a home for a small number of families. We can see it populated by wives, children, horses.

That the site served: other purposes is also apparent from Mr ScO'~t's interview~ These were .a iocal food source. Ifi the 193(Js Bruce Seett!s mother -gathered watercress, blackberries and cape gooseberries. He caught crayflSh from dams on the mountainside. . a playground. Bru,ce Scottwould ride the tram, lOLGU children

, today ride their motorbikes there or go yabbying . . During the depression people llvedin shacks at the back of the site. -

There are several layers to the history of the site, the first is its relationship to all thatwas new and modem in the early nineteenth century, the second the labour history, a place of

, stable employment in a region noted for poverty, poor industrial relations and transient employment, and lastly this infonnaland perhaps illegal use of the site as a playground or, as Bruce Scott writes, the stripping of stolen cars.

Pendlebury's \vas sold to Clarke kilns in 1972, Clarke's was a larger concern having plants in Sydney. In 1982 the Woonona plant was

32 W oonona. Public School Centena.ry Volume.


closed along with six other plants for six weeks over Christmas. This 'holiday' was an 'effort to save jobs' said a representative of Clarke's and 50 Woononaemployees were affected.33 The plantwas then acquired by Roral, with multinational operations, and the brickplantclosedin 1985.

It is not diffi~ult to see why a sm~ family concern such as Pendlebllry's is remembered fondly in a community where there is high unemployment. This is an attachment a past where employers were thou.ght, at least, to have the interests of the local community at heart.

s. Pendlebury's and the modern world.

In 1943 the small park at the corner of Grav St was named _ J

Pendlebury Park after Thomas Pendlebury. This was the result of a petition by 400 electors. The park was named so because Pendlebury 'founded the silica brick industry in Australia', not because he was a significant local employer. This action by 400 electors is in keeping with the industrial history ofbricknlaking in Australia in that it values modernity 1 innovation, what was new and exciting. In 1943 Pendlebury's was stlll a major enlployer in vVoonona, by 1950 the plant 'could not keep up with demand' a11d

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produced 13 million bricks ayear.34 It would be impossible to see an end to such good times. Thomas Pendlebury may not have wished to be renlembered for the silica brlck1 he seemed prouder ofhls machinery, but he may also be remembered for being a significantlocalemployerwhen, todaY,multina'tlona!scanquickly move operations away from towns that depend on them for emploYlnent

6.lVlapplng the site

When the mound of clay thatlnarked the beginning of Pendlebul"'.I's in 1901 was seen opposite_ Gray Street the land was. described as part of the 'Osborne Estate'.55 Osborne was a large landowner on the lllawarra who 'was understood to be immel1sely wealt.~yt and was nlember for Dlawarra during the 18603.36 Jrulles Jervis writes

In 1888 work was recommenced at\t\'oonona Old Tunnel. This was the mine opened many years earlier by Thomas Hale. A new jetty one thousand feet long was completed in 1889, and a line three miles long was built by a new cOlnpany called the Bellalnbi Coal Company, which was privately fonned in Melbourne with a capital of 55,000 pounds. It leased 779 acres from the trustees of the Osborne estate.57

This possibly resulted in locals seeing the site of Pen dIe bury's as part of the Osbome estate.

34 South Coast. Times. 7 August 1950. 35 I11a.warra Mercury, 26 Ja.llua.ry 1901. 36 I1hwa.rra Mercury, 23 October 1902. 37 J.Jervis, 'I1lawarra.: A Centu1'y of History Pa,t't IV,op.cit., p.295.


Pendlebury's only obtained lots 113 and 83 in 195438 so the plant must have been involved in a leasing arrangement also. They obtained right of way over Lot 82 in 1951.39 Pendlebury's was in boom 1L111es when these lots were obtained.

From 1924 Harry Martin, a member of a local carpentering fanilly, was· the O\Wef of 30 acres of Lot 82 exclusively of 'all mines, veillS

Of seruns of coal lying in Of being in Of under part of the land abovedescribed'.40 This provision complicates the occupation of the land further because access to coal seanlS are leased to be worked. The coal seam underneath Lot 82 was coal sealn no. 6. (see dmgram). Tl$.$eanl passed through the Woonona PostOffice jn Gray Street 41 The Woonona mine had been worked from 1857 by Tholnas Hale. Jervis writes that

the construction of a trall1'VVay fronl Hale's nrlne was begun on August 8 1858. The rails used were of\vood with an iron face.42

In 1863 the Bellal11bi and \Noonona Coal Mines were advertised for sale in the insolvent estate of Thomas Hale and John McMullenand COlnpany. The lease, writes Jervis, entitled the holder to work the coal seams under Dixon's Gl'?--Jlt This was portion 133 Parish of vVoonona and it lies immediately behilldlot82 (seediagranl). There were mining cottages on the site.

38 Lot 113 Pa.1'ish of Wo.no.na, Certificat.e of title, Regist.er 6806, Folio 204, NSWLTO. 3~ Lot 82 Parish of Wono.na. Certificate of Title. Register 3621. Folio 107. NSWLTO. 40 fOld. 41 Jervis, op.cit,.p.287. 4')"' " " 2";-"'HW:i., p. ~t:!.

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As stated earlier, the seam. was worked again in 1888 by the Bellambi Coal Company and they built the Bellanlbi tramllile \ivhich seemed so attractive to Pendlebury in 1901 (see map.)

Before Pendlebury arrived on site landownership was complicated by coal seam no. 6 and the Benambi tramllne (seediagram).

Bruce Scott also provides u.s WiLh a diagram of the tramway and Pendlebury's works. He writes

I remelnber the tramline very well. A perso11, Mr Willianl Graham, who lived two doors froll1 us in Stanhope St was the loco driver who used to bring coal from South Bulli Colliary to Pendlebutyfs for the firing of the kilns ... 43

The tralnline was used by the Brickworks.

When '!\le consider Pendlebury's relation to title it seeIns very sL.111iliar to a nlinjng cOlnpany, and that is what Pendlebury was doing there, digging for clay, fora seanl of firebrick. They also provided cottages for some employees, as the Bellambi Colliery did.

7. The buUdingsonsite. In 1901 the lllawarra Mercurv described the erection of the l11ain .. building '46ft x 36ftx 30fthigh'.44 In 1903 the plant vias further

43 see appendix. 44 Tlt~'i\l!~'!rr-t! li!=t.r£611~\1 ?t~ l{intHt:'\," iqfli

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Portions 82, 83 113 P . ------2~:...' ____ ,anshofWoonona.

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Coal SeamNo. 6

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84

151

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described. There were four kilns, capable of burning 45,000 each. In the quany there was a good seall1 of fire clay, five feet thick, and also good seams of shale and a composite of rotten coal and clay. The water supply

is brought by a 600 yard of piping from a creek in the mountain, runnjng by gravitation. In case this should fail, a double set of steam pumps and a well are ready for instant use. By an ingenious device the water enters the boilers quite hot, in fact almost at boiling pOlllt45

A 1905 photograph reprinted by lvfick Roberts shows the bulldings in that year. The low building in front of the quarry would have been the 'storage rOOln for 80,000 bricks' .46Thekilns are at the back of the plant The tramway runs alongside. (see photo). A 1930 photograph ofa funeral procession, also from Mick Roberts' book, shows the chinmeys taller, as if they have been rebuilt (seephoto )

Brl1ce Scotfs diagram of the area (see appendix), shows tV'/O main buildings, one housing the clay w..ill and a larger one in front showing approxilnate kiln position. There are two large clay pits. His markings on the aerial photograph. show the kilns, the lnill and the sn1..w cottages at the back of the larger buildings. The f1' shaped bullding in the aerial photograph of 1998 is a result of the relnodelling done by Clarke Bricks in 1971, ''\Then the 11ew top

442,.!!~wa1'raMercury 18 Apri11903. '-'. !'I t{.


57. "Pendlebury Brick Works".

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firing kiln was added. 47 VJhatrenlains is t.lte floor of"t.lli new .., +"11' "I .. otluomg.

The 1901 photograph of workers (see back) shows them standing outside one of the ldlns. A photograph frOlll the 1960s shows four kilnsbeingloadedbyforklift(seephotograph).

The streamlined plantof1972 is shown in a newspaper clipping from 1972. A long conveyor carries bricks to the dryers and kiln. (seephotograph).

The 1982 photograph shows the stacks of bricks unable to be sold quickly enough, this is to cause the Christmas shut d0W11.

Conclusion The history of Pen dIe bury Bricks illustrates well the processes of Inodernization, industrial expansion and late twentieth century decline.

The plant was the site of cOlnnlunity interest and hlVolv€111ent in modern ll1achinety. It was one of the first bricknlaking plants to produce frre bricks, Pendlebury proudly introduced the dry press and the Chllian Mill. The modernitj of the enterprise makes it significantmAnstrallanHistory .

47 I11awai'ra Mercury 22 Januar-y 1972.


Itwas also significant to locals because of its modernity. The site provided steady employnlent for men and children in a region where transitory and casual employment was common.

The land also had other uses, it provided a food source, \'\Tas home to a small number ofbrlckworkers and itwas a place of recreation for local youth.

It produced blackberries, gooseberries, watercress, yabbies as "veIl asbricks.

Woonona nlay wish to reluember its history in nlallY different ways, but locals were always impressed with the modernity of the plant and the opportunities it promised them.

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LOCAL PICTURE fiLE

'I 1- SEP 1982

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Que~tion ,1. How early did you spend time on the site?

An.3wer I arrived in this wor~d on 9th ;'iay 1926. During the depression

years of 1930's my mother tooit m.e wf,th her when she gathered

watercress (stiZ~ there to-day and edible), to pick blackberries

or capegooseberries (a wild native fruit) these can sti~~ be

found to-day when in seaSon. Later on as a growing child I

used to go up the creeks of the mountain side to catch yabbies

(fresh-wCfter crayfish) aLso to fish for gold fish in a coup~e

of dams up the mountain side.

Question 2.

A) Can you draw m.e a rough diagram of the bui idings, hi In & pi ts

as early as you can recall them.

B) If the archaeoLogist came down could you show her where the

hi Zns were ?

C) Can you mark them on the photo suppUed ?

Answers

A)

B)

C)

See appendix" A'l and tracing a lso photocopies 1'& 2

Yes if time ts sui tab le for both Pt !.ts.

Yes, have drawn them. in at approx locations on your photo

now marked appendix "A" aLso see tracing.

Question .3. Do you remember the TRANLIilE and aLso did Pendlebury's

use it ?

Answer I rehtember the Tram Line vlBry we l Z. A person, Hr fli l Z iam

Graham, who lived two doors from us in Stanhope St was the

loco driver who used to bring coat from. South BuHi CoLZiery

to Pendlebury' s for the firing of the ld Zns.

Hr. Graham's grandson and I would sometimes get a ride on the

~oco goi,ng up to the brich.yard or bach down to the jetty at

BeUambi.

I can just remem.ber coa l being talten fl~om th,e Mode l Nine down

to the jetty at BeLLambi by the line.

See appendix /tC" for Rail trachs.

I do not know for certain but at Be llar:l.bi Point the Ha~e jetty

was the first:one there.

Coa l from the B lackba n Nine, (apoendix liD"), eou ld have been

transported via the !-lale 'l'ramUJay to that jetty. Then Later

extended and used from the Node L CaLl iery ,to the new Iv'ood Jetty

after the HaLe jetty was destroyed.

I can remember sone pile hoZes in the rocks where the Wood jetty

stood.,

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South Bun i jet ty was destroyed by a storn and heavy swe ~ Z on

23rd Aug. 1955.

See appendix "CII for location of jetties.

Question

a)

b)

c)

Answers

4.

How did people who worhed there regard their employer :?

Were the wages good P

fv'hat were their worldng conditions ?

This is a hard question to answer as the people that wor1ted there

have iong departed from this world.

But I do know that people that worJwd there had been there for

many years. Some Z iued wt t11. their famt i i es in sma Z l cot tages

up behind the bricltworlts.

These fami~ies were the ffuhar's, Walton's and Longbottom's.

These family men looked after the dra/thorses that puiied the

carts of c lay from the c lay pi t to the clay 7:d l i to be processed.

Conditions and wages were appropiate for the times --- ~ong hours

and if a person was not satisfactory or sui tab ~e then down to the

Office here is your money, there is the gate.

I saw this happen when working in an Iron Foundry in 1946.

Question 5. How important is the site jor community litem.ory ?

Answer In to-days community the elderly who were born and brought up in

the area would be the only ones to know of the history or have

any memories of the place. other than what is written.

The nar:tes listed below are of jamHies or people who Uued in

smal~ cottages or shacks on or adjacent to the land that Boral

now own. I would find it uery hard to pin. poi.nt where these

families or people actually liued.

Aub Downie~s farm was to the north of the worlts.

In sman cottages to the west of the works liued i1ahar's, flalion's

and Longbottom's.

West of Downie's farnt was Digger Round's shacJ~,near a dam with

several other shaclts further west up the s~opes.

By access up the BZack Road or l10untain Range Rd. (see tracing)

liued the fonowing famZies:- i'Jartin, Nartin, Hoberts,

RU8sells farm, Buchanan, Gha[mers, Horewood and some others

who lived in shaclts dttring the depression years.


','

The locaL ltids to-day use the bricl.site lan.d and any trachs for

their off-road scramble trac}ts on their unregistered m.otor bikes.

ALso some people use th~ area to dump and strip stolen cars and then

later either dump them. in. one of the dams or burn. them.

Some sm.aLl ldds I have found stiZZ go up the creeks having fun catching .. ~,.' ..' . . .,

the yabbies that are stiLZ there.

Questions asked by Dr. Paula J. Byrn.e of .19 Colbeclt St. Nawson 2607

Answered by Bruce Scatt of 11/- Nonie St. fioonona 2517

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1 1 11

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I I

1 1 I: 1 1 I: I, 1 1 1 1 1

57. "Pendlebury Brick Works".

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Bibliography

The l:lnd title doCUlnents for this research were provided by BoraL

Newspapers lllawarra Nfercury South Coast Times

Prl...nted Sources Bayley, vV.,BlackDiamonds, Wollongong, 1982. Genunell, W., And So We Graft From Six to Six, Sydney, 1986. Jervis, J., 'illawarra: A Century of History' Journal of the Roy~l Australian Historical Society, xxvm. Kass, T., A Histoty of the Goodletand Smith Brickworks, Grativille, 1878-1989, Sydney, 1989. Menig, n.w. On the IVIargins OfThe Good Earth, Adelaide, 1962. The Parish Paper ofStAugustlne's Bulli, 1962. Roberts, 1\1., Greetings From Woonona, Thirroul, 1995. Woonona Public School Centenary Volume, 27 November 1982.

Documents

I Historian's Report