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The most important things to say are those which often I did not think necessary for me to say — because they were too obvious.


Here is the face of an old quarry that can be found down next to Salamanca Square. A fair chunk of the Salamanca area itself is nestled into an old sandstone quarry itself. The demand for berths and storage saw the creation of new docks and sandstone warehouses in an area that had once been known as the 'Cottage Green'. The former row of original cottages were demolished for sandstone warehouses, and by the mid-1840s the bustling dock area had become known as Salamanca, in honour of the Duke of Wellington's 1812 victory against the slippery frogs in the Battle of Salamanca. [HOORAH FOR BLIGHTY!]

As I've noted before, the whole waterfront area is re-establishing it's credentials as Hobart's night-time entertainment capital (that is, if one equates the concept of 'entertainment' with 'getting on the piss and having a scrap').

This is only fitting, as early in Hobart's history, it had developed a reputation as a rowdy and debaucherous place. A mixture of crowded terrace housing, pubs, hotels, brothels, and gambling houses as well as various other forms of seedy entertainment for visiting sailors, cock-fighting [ohh-err missus] and dog fighting not least popular in the area.

Sadly, the brothels and gambling dens are gone, and all we're left with are drunk and angry teens shouting "nerfuckenpricks illfuckenkillya whatareyafuckenlookingat" before being dragged off by the police to the jeers of equally drunken girls.

Comments

Roddy said…
I wonder what your great, great, great grandfather would have said? He lived half a block away in Morrison st.
Do you think he would have preferred the yobs of yesterday or the yobs of today?
Kris McCracken said…
Roddy, the yobs today are not a patch on the yobs of yesteryear.
Anonymous said…
its a dolerite quarry...DOLERITE! nice picture anyway... inspired me in a key element of my school work

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