I love the day-to-day contact with the past – the fact that when walking down these streets at dusk it’s not too difficult to imagine what it must have been like a century or more ago when the oil lamps would be being lit and workers from the city would be making their way home up the hill.
Tell us a bit about yourself, what you used to do….any interesting info about yourself?
I’m a writer specialising in pathology and science. I was formerly a journalist and worked in a newsroom but I’ve been lucky and I’ve been able to work from home in Spring Hill since the 1990s.
How long have you lived in Spring Hill and where did you live before this?
I’ve lived in Spring Hill since 1998. Before that I lived in St Lucia.
What drew you into the area?
Easy. The history. Spring Hill is Brisbane’s oldest suburb and the precinct around Gloucester and Thornbury streets, where I live, is among the oldest in the suburb. We have houses that go back to the 1860s. I like the sense of continuity. I love the day-to-day contact with the past – the fact that when walking down these streets at dusk it’s not too difficult to imagine what it must have been like a century or more ago when the oil lamps would be being lit and workers from the city would be making their way home up the hill. My house was built in 1879 and some of the windows still have the original panes– they’re bowed and have bubbles because the glass was cooled on ponds at York’s Hollow. In winter, we sit around a fireplace in which former families would have cooked the evening dinner. Just down the road between Cathedral Square (next to Woolworths on Turbot Street) and St John’s Cathedral was a large Aboriginal camp and as many as 100 families lived there. They’d been there since pre-contact days – who knows for how long.
Since you’ve been here, how has the suburb changed?
Many of the streets have remained unchanged thanks to the Spring Hill Local Plan which was introduced in 1989 and included buffer areas to help preserve the suburb from the encroaching CBD high-rise. The plan recognised that Spring Hill is unique and an important asset for Brisbane. It described protecting the suburb’s intact streets of Colonial-era houses. It worked very well. These workers cottages and merchants villas are what we have left of our past and we can’t afford to lose them. They remind us of who we are and where we came from. In 2016, the Spring Hill Neighbourhood Plan replaced the old plan. It removed the buffers and rezoned areas to 5, 10, and 20 storey high-rise. We’ve been holding our breath since.
What are some of your favourite buildings in the suburb?
This is difficult because there are so many. All Saints Church on Wickham Terrace is pretty special. It was built in 1861 and you can see it on many of the old photos in the State Library. When it was built, Wickham Terrace ran all the way through to Cathedral Square. Now Turbot Street has effectively shortened Wickham Terrace. In the early days, Turbot Street ran from North Quay and stopped at Albert Street. The rest was bush. The Theosophical Society Building on Wickham Terrace is charming – it was constructed in the 1860s as a pair of semi-detached houses, probably for the landowner Patrick Mayne. Also among my favourites is the pair of two stone cottages at the top of Gloucester Street which were built in 1867 for two Scottish families, the Lows and the Gregors. Spring Hill once had many stone-built houses but almost all are gone.
What are some of your favourite things to do in Spring Hill?
Staying home is pretty good in Spring Hill. But there are plenty of walks and we’re surrounded by a multitude of places to eat and drink.
What do you most like about living here?
We’re close to the city but there are still a few mango trees and big fig trees in backyards. At night, we hear the hordes of possums thumping across the tin roof and during the day scrub turkeys wander around the cars parked on the street. It’s very Brisbane.
What’s your favourite local place to get a meal or a drink?
For breakfast or lunch, definitely Holy Moly on St Pauls Terrace. Small, unpretentious, friendly. I’m not a meat eater but my partner says it does the best savoury mince outside of Dublin. That’s probably because the chef is from Ireland and the recipe is his mum’s.
For a special lunch or dinner it has to be La Cache a Vin on the corner of St Paul’s Terrace and Creek Street. And The Alliance has been our much cherished local for quite a few years – the original Alliance Hotel started operating in 1864.