Liz
The time lapse was noticed at the time we found the article; I was no student of such literature at the time but even I knew that 1930 was 'stretching it' for a review of any novel by Thomas Hardy. While Oz was sometimes a bit slow to pick up on some OS trends I suspect literature reviews would have been quicker off the mark. At this distance I can't recall any reference to a particular novel and two years after an author's death is leaving the obits a bit late. It was certainly too early for Frank Hardy so we just left it as one of life's little mysteries.

Your post in this thread coincides with our ABC broadcasting "Under the greenwood tree" last night. I had read your (and others') posts on the music used in it in an earlier thread, along with comments about faux playing of concertinas and the disappearance of west gallery quires. The thread came back to me as I watched and comments that had intrigued me became understandable.

John O'L
Thanks for the distinction; my experiences of Sydney, while mostly pleasant, have been as an outsider and the newspapers always term it as a cemetery. The closest I've been to it is flying over it as the plane approaches Sydney and you can't read the sign from an aisle seat.

John Gray
At last I've had that particular dimness of memory clarified. While the northern suburbs were my stamping ground in the 50s I didn't really penetrate the wilds of Royal Park until the 60s, by which time the relocation had occurred. I guess the shanty town's reputation had scarred enough people to make neighbours avoid highlighting it. In my mind, the earliest references to Royal Park were the Zoo, CSL, the mental hospital and, much later, the monument to Burke and Wills set up at the notional start for their expedition. Before "Netball" there was the "Women's Basketball Centre" where the 1973 National had its reception; great floor for dancing! It was there, in 1968 I saw my first urban fox in Melbourne.

Cheers, Rowan