Volume 1, Issue 1. Early History of the Upper and Yarra Valley. "Welcome to the fist edition of the Yarra Valley historical, the aim of this newspaper is to remind us of the men and women who came here to mine, farm or harvest the plentiful and tall timbers, that built towns and cities..." Estimated date of publication 2010. The newspaper is full of potted histories of places with historical photographs, maps and timelines. Acknowledgment and citations for source material given. Advertisements for business's at the time of publicaion. Lilydale, De Castella family, p2. Mount Evelyn p6. Wandin [Anker family] p7. Seville [William Henry Smith; Mr and Mrs Thomas Payne; Duck family; Chandler family] p8. Woori Yallock p10. Yellingbo p11. Hoddles Creek p12. Launching Place p13. Yarra Junction p14. Reminiscences of Don 'Ripper' Reid p18. Wesburn p20. Warburton Village Settlement p22. Warburton p23. Big Pats Creek p26. McMahons Creek / Reefton [Brimbonga School] p27. Gladysdale / Gilderoy [Saxton family] p28. Powelltown p30.lilydale, mt evelyn, wandin, seville, woori yallock, yellingbo, hoddles creek, launching place, yarra junction, don reid, reminiscences, wesburn, warburton, big pats creek, mcmahons creek, reefton, gladysdale, gilderoy, powelltown, newspaper

"Who would have thought that a boy born in 1889 from the Victorian Mallee would become a successful artist on New York’s Staten Island? This finely illustrated, exhaustively researched and beautifully written biography on Leason features the artist’s entire career as a painter and cartoonist renowned for his depictions of Australian society in the 1920s and 1930s. Leason’s story is a poignant one tracing his beginnings as a cartoonist, to the bohemian Melbourne art scene in the early 20th century, to his involvement in the artists’ camps of Eltham, to his important series of portraits of Lake Tyers Indigenous Australians, and his eventual move to the US where he has been acknowledged as making an enormous contribution to the New York arts scene. This story, as yet untold, fills a gap in the history of art in Australia and offers a new perspective on Australian art in the first half of the 20th century." - Thames and Hudson website A NEW HOME IN ELTHAM Once they had settled back into Melbourne, Perry and Belle began to look for a place to make a permanent home. Having enjoyed the bush setting of Mosman, they decided to explore the rural fringes of Melbourne. Each weekend they packed a picnic and travelled to the towns in the nearby hills - such as Ferntree Gully, Sassafras, Lilydale and, of course, Cockatoo Creek. Eventually deciding these places might be a little too far from The Herald office, they searched closer to the city. The Heidelberg and Box Hill regions that had inspired his old teacher McCubbin, had become busy, urban areas but further east, towards Warrandyte and Templestowe, there were still large tracts of bush. Finally they settled on Eltham, an area Percy knew very well, having often painted there with Jock Frater. Perry's old friend Dick McCann and his wife Margery had also settled in Eltham. The township was fifteen miles from Melbourne and serviced by an electric train that went to the central Melbourne station of Flinders Street, near where The Herald offices were located. Eltham was a small village in 1925, separated from Melbourne by the Yarra River, and surrounded by orchards and large tracts of bush. Small farms dotted the landscape and the main businesses revolved around ironmongers, blacksmiths, and farming supplies. Of particular appeal to artists was Eltham Park, a large expanse of bushland bounded by the Yarra River on the south side and the Diamond Creek on the east. The park included a playing field that was busy on weekends with cricket or football matches, but for the rest of the week it was mostly empty and an ideal place to paint. The scenery there provided the inspiration for many paintings by Leason, Meldrum and other artists such as Colin Colahan and Peter (A.E.) Newburv. The Leasons found a rundown old farmhouse on four-and-a-half acres of land in New Street, now known as Lavender Park Road. The site was splendid, at the top of a gentle slope which gave panoramic views east to the Dandenong hills, south over the Templestowe orchards and north to Kinglake. The front lawn was taken over by onion grass (or wiregrass as Leason called it) and scattered about the property were many wattles and gum trees. Aloe cacti covered much to the front of the house, while old quince and lucerne hedges separated the house and out-buildings from a rundown apple orchard. Here they would build a new home. ·with financial assistance from The Herald, Leason bought the property and immediately commissioned an architectural firm to design a new house in the popular bungalow style of the time. The old farm house was demolished but Percy saved the siding boards, bricks and corrugated iron for the outbuildings of his new home. The new house was a two storey, triple brick with a large, gabled, terracotta tiled roof. It was situated at the very top of the slope. The paint and varnish were barely dry when the family moved in during the summer of 1925-26 and the fumes were overpowering in the heat. Despite the house being wired for electricity, power poles had not yet reached the area and initially the family had to rely on kerosene lamps and candles. When electricity did arrive, Leason reflected on the community's reception of electricity at the expense of the old growth gum tree corridors in his cartoon, Electricity comes to Wiregrass. The family had now grown to seven. Jack was nearly nine, Jean was seven, Marjory was four, Nancy was two and the baby Patricia was seven months old. Jack and Jean were enrolled in the local primary school down the hill. A retired farmer, Jock McMillan, came to live on the property and help out with the general maintenance. Jock built himself a shack and Belle provided him with meals. He was kept occupied building structures around the property·, such as the garage, the outside toilet, garden beds, trellis arbours and a number of ponds. The elderly, bearded Scotsman with his old hat and baggy pants also provided the inspiration for one of the characters Leason regularly included in his cartoons. Like Leason, Jock smoked a straight stemmed pipe. A neighbour was employed to help Belle with domestic chores, and so the family settled down to live comfortably in their new Eltham house. Two dogs, Maginary and Wodger, completed the large and vibrant household. “Percy Leason; an artist’s life” by Margot Tasca, Thames & Hudson Australia Pty Ltd, Port Melbourne 2016, pp 63-64 Hardback Bookpercy leason, margot tasca, biography, artist, landscape

Ron Bridger was an avid collector of items related to transport, predominately Trams. These items include newspaper cuttings, pamphlets, reports, timetables, fares prices plus special items relating to events. Items from Melbourne and regional Victoria, interstate - Adelaide and Sydney, plus overseas, make up this collection. A suburban train destination blind in miniature. Place names indicate the northern and eastern suburbs that the train travels to. Place names listed are Lalor, Epping, South Morang, Heidelberg, Macleod, Greensborough, Eltham, East Doncaster, Princes Bridge, City Circle, City Loop, Flinders Street, Spencer Street, Camberwell, Box Hill, Ringwood, Croydon, Lilydale, Coldstream, Upper Ferntree Gully, Belgrave, Alamein, Darling, Glen Waverley. List of station names on black paper written in whiteStation namestrain destination blind, northern area, eastern area, lalor, epping, south morang, macleod, greensborough, eltham, hurstbridge, east doncaster, princes bridge, city circle, city loop, flinders street, spencer street, camberwell, box hill, ringwood, croydon, lilydale, coldstream, upper ferntree gully, belgrave, alamein, darling, glen waverley

The Ringwood line was electrified in 1922 and extended to Lilydale and Fern Tree Gully in 1925An early black and white photograph of a passenger train heading West towards the city. Australian Tesselated Tile chimney in the background.electric trains, passenger trains, railways

In 1882 the railway from Melbourne to Camberwell was extended to Lilydale, Blackburn Station was then known as Blackburn Greek Station and was opened on 2 December 1882. At this time the Lilydale line had only a single track. On 12 August 1889 Blackburn was designated as a 'crossing station' as it had 2 platforms. In 1891 a second line was added between Box Hill and Ringwood stations. Service termination at Blackburn began in the late 1890's due to the large number of passengers visiting the Blackburn Lake Sanctuary. The Lilydale line was electrified to Ringwood in January 1923. Automatic signalling reached Blackburn in 19568. Boom gates replaced hand gates in 1970. in 1980, the goods siding was removed and the old station was demolished.Coloured photograph of the south side of the Blackburn Station. People using this platform are headed towards the city - 2012blackburn railway station

Produced as one of a series of 24 prints commissioned by Nunawading & District Historical Society -|Theme: Intersections of Mitcham and Nunawading 2000/2001.|See also Series by P. Simmenauer on the same theme.Black and white photograph - print and negative of Heatherdale Railway Station, viewed from the Heatherdale Rail Crossing. L-R West bound station platform for travel to City of Melbourne, next station is Mitcham. Right hand side Eastbound platform - next stop Ringwood, where some trains travel S.E. to Belgrave and some N.E. to Lilydale. Heatherdale is last station in fare Zone 2 and 1st station in Fare Zone 3. Note Telstra Phonebox on platformheatherdale railway station