Barry Cable at the Pascoe Vale Pool

I've now found another image taken at Pascoe Vale Pool, this time taken on 22 January 1974 and published in the Coburg Courier. 

It combines two great Aussie loves - summertime swimming and wintertime footy.  

Sorry. I cut off the final paragraph. It says that 'during the winter months he will join Coburg Council's surveying department.' 

Cable, a West Australian, and considered one of the greatest rovers ever, had already played one season for North and was about to play three more seasons, including the Premiership seasons of 1975 and 1977. He later returned in the early 80s to coach the team. Even I, who know next to nothing about footy, know about Barry Cable, probably because most of my family are mad, keen North Melbourne supporters. 

There's another great photo of Cable at the Paco Pool in this Sydney Morning Herald article from 13 June 2016 when he was named the 24th Legend in the game's history at the Hall of Fame Induction Dinner held in Melbourne. 

There's a fantastic gallery of photos, including photo 19 at the Pascoe Vale Pool. Photo 5 shows him on a training run in Coburg with his sons. I wonder whether anyone recognises the location?

I would love to hear your memories of Barry Cable at the Pascoe Vale Pool.

Pascoe Vale Swimming Pool

Courier, 5 February 1974. Mayor Alan Lugg

chatting to Robyn Tunchon of Sefton Street 

and Michael Hinton of Wicklow St., Pascoe Vale.

The article goes on to say that the pool manager Mr Mal Parker held swimming classes every summer and more than 1,000 youngsters had attended that summer.

This is the only photo I've ever seen of the Pascoe Vale Pool. I don't have any of my own as I only ever went there for school sports in early 1965 when I was in Form One at Newlands High School. After that the Coburg Olympic Pool was built in Murray Road and the days of venturing over to Pascoe Vale for a swim were well and truly over.

Don't suppose anyone out there has any photos they'd like to share? 

What's in a (street) name? Olive York Way

'Olive York Way' is a street off Albion Street in West Brunswick. But who was Olive York? Why did the Moreland Council decide to name a street after her?

The York family (Olive, Loreto and Barry) shortly after their arrival in 1954.

During her second period as Mayoress of Brunswick, Olive York began to write a column for the local newspaper, the 'Brunswick Sentinel'.

She continued to write a column for a number of years. She and her husband divorced in 1990 and eventually they both moved to Canberra where son Barry still lives. Although divorced, they remained close.

Olive died in 2003.

Barry York has produced a 20 minute YouTube documentary paying tribute to his mother Olive. She was born Olive Turner in London in 1916, came to Melbourne in 1954 and settled in Brunswick with her Maltese husband Loreto and son Barry. She lived in the same house in Shamrock Street, West Brunswick for 40 years and was deeply interested in community affairs.

You can see the documentary here.

Note: the images and text in this post all come from Barry's documentary. Thanks for sharing, Barry.

If you are interested in reading more about Brunswick's past through Barry's eyes, you can find his Facebook page 'Memories of living in Brunswick, Melbourne' here. 

Loucas and Christoforou boomerang, Lygon Street, Brunswick

If you're heading north along Lygon Street and have just crossed Blyth Street, you might have noticed the Loucas and Christoforou boomerang sign on a now empty shop front. It's on the left hand side, just before you get to the Abruzzo Club - 367 Lygon Street, Brunswick.

Some not-very-good photos I took on 30 July 2012.

Disappointingly, the sign (and the shopfront) is covered in graffiti now and with developers moving in all over Brunswick East, I wonder how long this evocative echo of the suburb's past will survive.

Photo taken 1 February 2018. 

I've been trying to track down more details about the shop and about Loucas and Christoforou. I think they might have been Cypriots, but I'm not sure. Perhaps someone reading this can set me right. They certainly embraced Aussie culture, choosing the iconic Aboriginal boomerang for their logo - hoping that their customers would always return to their shop, perhaps? Or suggesting that they should return!

What I have been able to discover is that 367 Lygon Street was once a neighbourhood grocery shop and from 1967 until at least 1980 it was run by Michael and Terry Christoforou, who had previously lived in Traralgon. 

I would love to know more about the shop, the people who owned it and the people who shopped there, so please get in touch if you can  help.