Beryl Roberts and Simon Cole of Coopers Plains History Group led a walk around part of Salisbury’s industrial area as part of the Chrome St Fiesta.
It was a small group as the drizzle seemed to keep many away, but it actually made it really interesting.
I’ll let the pictures do the talking, but much of the story is documented in “A Closer Look at Salisbury” by Beryl.
Many thanks to Beryl and Simon for braving the inclement weather. Here are few snaps of some of the sights…
Beryl Roberts, Simon Cole, and willing assistant with speaker.
Example of war-time camouflage to disguise factories as a street. From “A Closer Look at Salisbury” by Beryl Roberts.
Reload Cafe – one of the few brick buildings, originally was an oil store.
The only private park in Brisbane – owned by the RSL.
Dust extractors – not mentioned but look impressive!
Site of a WWII munitions factory. Granite runs underneath and each section was a solid cement bunker in case of explosion, to isolate damage. Women were the labour force.
Workers cottages surrounding the industrial area.
Sawtooth roof to let the light in.
Sawtooth rooves from a distance.
Looking through a factory window at the light coming in from the sawtooth roof.
The yellow armlike structure is a gantry crane from 1965. See details below.
One of the original factory buildings modified with verandahs built in and now home to multiple businesses including dance and art studios.
Beryl’s book – looks like a good read!
Post Update 2.6.2024
One of our readers, Craig Justo corrected the gantry information – that it was constructed in1965.
Here’s what he added:
“The Truss styled gantry that supported a sliding Chain Block was fabricated by the owner of “Skeltcon Engineering” in late 1965 to assist with the lifting and moving of the large steel fabrications that were being constructed on that site. The building that the gantry is attached to is located at No.571, Tarragindi Road, Salisbury North with the building itself being constructed in 1962. I commenced work with “A.J. Parkes & Co” at No.575 Tarragindi Road in February, 1965 and as this was next door to “Skeltcon”, I saw that Truss styled Gantry being fabricated, erected and then used regularly.”
Craig labeled and shared aerial images from Q-imagery of the area for years 1946,1956 and 1964 to show development of the area and Skelton Engineering.
