| Cannot provide exact "Then'n'now" shots for Albert Lane, as most of the lane is beneath (blasted) Westfield. This top shot has an element of gratuity to it.This is my father on his Panther motor-bike at the end of 1942. He was a despatch rider in the Signals Corp, and was posted to New Guineau in the Autumn 0f 1943. The backyard he ius sitting in is Grandma's backyard, the shop that I featured on Monday. The shop is immediately behind the photographer.Florence Street is the right-hand fence, and the rear fence (which runs through the centre of the photo) is along Albert Lane. That gate over Dad's shoulder was nearly always open, and we shot in any time of the day or night. |
| This is what the remaining bit of Albert Lane looks like today. Too clean and elegant looking for mine. It is essentially a service lane although the suburb is now sewered, and was then from memory. The two black'n'white shots that follow are actually taken in Albert Lane at the rear of OUR property. The loaded truck was taken in 1950, and the Holden plus caravan was taken in 1953. Dad used to collect offcuts of lumber from anywhere and saw them and nail them until he had a load of seedling boxes to bring in a few quid. Note me and my big bro in the cab. The Holden was Dad's pride and joy. He walked down to Lindfield one Saturday to haggle over price with the bloke who owned the showroom, until the bloke agreed to just the amount of cash Dad had in his pocket. Dad made the caravan himself in his spare time. From memory it never quite got finished before we moved to the country in '56. But he flogged that, too, and made a few more quid. |