Royal Melbourne Show- 1970s
Вставка
- Опубліковано 16 вер 2017
- Family Super 8 film of the Royal Melbourne Show from the 1970s, roughly between 1974 and 1978. Some background notes (from Scana1979):
Start - Ferris wheel looking down at the 1970's ANZ Bank and (later) Westpac branches which were located within the grounds in Plummer Avenue near the RASV Administration Building. All demolished with the 2005 redevelopment.
0:14 - Flemington Racecourse and Members Car park. No stands seen so can't date.
0:22 - Main arena which at the time was the home of trotting in Melbourne post WWII with the establishment of the Trotting Control Board until being gradually transferred to Moonee Valley from October 1976 with the last Saturday night meeting in December 1980. The overhead lighting system seen facilitated night trotting in Melbourne from November 1947. The stand in the background was the AG Hunter stand completed in 1956 which was Members stand located at the winning post. Named after the former chairman of the Trotting Control Board and president of RASV Alexander George Hunter it was demolished with the 2005 redevelopment. Hunter himself died in 1953 before commencement of construction.
1:09 - To the left can just be made out the Art and Craft Pavilion entrance - Built in 1904 it was one of the oldest buildings on site and was destroyed by fire in 2001.
1:57 - Note the sign at the Showgrounds hotel for Courage Breweries - a British-based brewery that tried to break into the CUB pub monopoly in Victoria establishing a plant at Broadmeadows in 1966 which ultimately failed selling out in 1978.
2:01 - The Mad Mouse which was operated by Wittingslow amusements. It was built in 1962 an an elevated steel and concrete structure with sideshow alley amusements on the lower level. Demolished around 2003 with the roller coaster operating for a brief period at ground level.
2:40 - Under the chairlift can be seen the old 1911 Dairy Pavilion which was destroyed by fire in May 1979 (this puts the film as 1978 at the latest). The replacement structure was built on the same site which was a steel and concrete structure housing the Dairy Pavilion below rooftop car parking. At the northern end was also built a giant milk carton promoting Big M flavoured milk which was introduced in 1978 following abolition of the Victorian Milk Board and replacement with the Victorian Dairy Industry Authority. Both the pavilion and milk carton were demolished as part of the 2005 redevelopment.
3:20 - The Government Pavilion built during WWI was later used for dog judging competitions with the former Dog Pavilion located alongside Epsom Road with government displays moving to a new purpose built pavilion in 1977. The former Government Pavilion survives outside the Showgrounds with the Epsom Road end of the site sold off for a shopping centre anchored by a Coles Supermarket as part of the 2005 redevelopment. This involved demolition of the dog pavilion which was the base of the Victorian Canine Association (now Dogs Victoria) which relocated to a purpose built facility in Cranbourne. Ironically the 1977 Government Pavilion was also demolished for the redevelopment.
3:43 - A Harris suburban electric train at the Melbourne Showgrounds station - first introduced in 1956 with UK-built rolling stock subsequent orders in the 1960's were built locally. Most were disposed by burial at quarries in Clayton South in Melbourne's southeast due to asbestos lining in many for the carriages, particularly the first order ones which contained the more deadly blue asbestos. 55 carriages were refurbished and converted for use as V/Line locomotive-hauled trains for interurban services.
3:58 and throughout the film - the Melbourne Showgrounds chairlift which was installed in 1970. It had 112 chairs which ran over a length of nearly 550 metres, a distance which was covered in 7 minutes. It was removed after 2004 for the redevelopment. The Hall of Commerce seen below was refurbished as part of the redevelopment but the 1967 Mitchell Stand seen left was demolished.
4:25 - The back of the 1915 concrete Public Grandstand can be seen which was built following a major fire that destroyed many buildings at the showgrounds the previous year, including the previous grandstand. It still stands today heritage listed as the only stand remaining from the old Main Arena.
5:21 - The Wilson Stand was an 1960s era open air concrete stand on the north western corner of the Main Arena. Demolished shortly before the Hunter Stand for the redevelopment.
5:31 - The small A R Creswick stand was the horse trainers stand used during the days of trotting - demolished.
Many thanks to Scana1979 for providing the background
historical information for the description for this video. Check out his UA-cam channel here:
/ scana1979
This footage was filmed by my uncle Mario, and was digitised with a Reflecta Super 8 Movie Film Scanner. - Розваги
Favourite place to visit as a kid back in the 70s and 80s every September .. changed though now !
For the worse
Great video. Our family used to go to the trots every Saturday night in the late 60's and early 70's. Dad worked for a bookie. Every Saturday night, we would have dinner at McClures. I saw their sign on your video.
Amazing footage at a golden era of royal melb show. Thank you.
Glad you appreciate it- share it around!
You could buy a showbag for 50 cents now they cost $10
Great thank you for the memories
When life was worth living
True.
Well it still is if your fortunate enough to live in Melbourne or Victoria.
Try living in shitty adelaide with no quality of life and everythings super expensive.
Australia's largest Royal show.
Go the Vics! ✌️
before the internet people actually had fun
Complaining about the internet on the internet. Classic.
I went on that ski lift when I was a kid and I was petrified! Never doing that again....
Circa 1978
How can you be 100% certain of the exact year?
Im guessing that your dream of becoming a professional cameraman was never achieved?