Narrated by Helen Lewis

Have you heard of Dawn Fraser, Australia’s swimming legend?

She was voted Australia’s greatest ever female athlete in 2013. She won four gold and three silver Olympic medals at the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956, Rome in 1960 and Tokyo in 1964.

Dawn Fraser
Image credit: National Archives of Australia

But what’s her connection to Henley Beach? She trained right here in the Henley Swimming Pool in preparation for the 1956 Olympic games.

Although swimming in the sea was good fun, a pool was a necessity for top competition and the Henley pool opened in 1934 right here on the foreshore as a private venture. It was an open air saltwater Olympic pool with eight lanes and a depth of 4.8 meters at the northern end. It had 3 metre and 10 metre diving towers and spring boards were also provided. The water was pumped from an inlet out at sea and frequently emptied and refilled.

The pool however was hammered from time to time by severe storms and high seas and following one episode of severe storm damage, after it had been closed for two years, it was taken over by Henley and Grange Council in 1955, made shallower to rectify the damage it had suffered and the 10 metre diving tower removed.

The pool closed and was demolished in 1985.

The pool was the home of the Henley and Grange Swimming Club, Australia’s oldest registered swimming club and continues to conduct an annual swim from the Henley to Grange jetty which began in 1917 and is steeped in history, legend and tradition. Neither inclement weather nor the occasional appearance of a shark early in the day has ever caused the event to be cancelled.

But, swimming costumes have changed a lot since these photos were in taken of swimmers competing in the event in 1922.

Image credit: State Library of South Australia B 69378

Ron Jones, who was born in 1915, lived in Grange since he was two years old. In this audio interview recorded by George Willoughby in March 1988 he recounts a personal story of boys at Grange Primary School swimming in a nearby creek in the 1920s.

Over by Mr. Fisher’s place, beyond it, where the river came through, was rather a picturesque little spot, with lots of Teatree’s and other trees, and there was quite a nice deep hole where you could swim. Mr. Fisher had built a wooden bridge across the creek, so he could get across beyond. They used to grow things out there for his house.

Well, we as kids, at lunch time, would get out and sneak over. It wasn’t far, just down there and across the railway line. And we would have a swim. We had no bathers; we just stripped off and went in for a swim. And we used to strip the bark off the Teatree’s, tie it round our waist, and paint our bodies with black mud.

When the train came down it used to come through during the school lunch break and us kids used to get out there and dance in full view of the train, with no clothes on, just strips of bark hanging around.

Well, we got ‘dobbed in’ by some woman. She said it was disgusting that boys should dance in view of the train like that. Anyhow, she got in touch with the headmaster.

On this particular day, when we got back to school, there was nothing said till we had to fall in. In those days, we all wore those little skull caps – red ones, black ones, brown ones, all sorts of skull caps. When we lined up – we all had to line up to go into school – the headmaster told the teachers he wanted to address us.

He said: ‘Now I want all the boys to take their caps off.’

Well, we thought, we didn’t know what this was, so we took our caps off; and he walked up and down the lines, and everybody that had wet hair, he gave them a belt with the cane. Then he got up in front of us, and told us off for going over to Fisher’s, and dancing in view of the train. He didn’t object to us having a swim, because it was pretty hot in those days, but he said: ‘I don’t want you to go dancing in view of the train like that, offending the ladies.’

So, the next time we decided to go for a swim, we went and had our swim; and, when we came back, we got every kid in the school and wet his hair. And so, he lined us all up again, and told us to take our hat off. Because every lad in the school had wet hair, he belted the lot of us. 

(As told by Ron Jones, to George Willoughby, in an interview in March 1988. Ron, who was born in 1915, lived in Grange since he was two years old.)

Editor note:

During the much longer interview, Ron Jones gave a great deal and valuable information concerning the history of Grange. This audio recording was edited and  digitised by the H&GHS from an audio cassette tape and the accompanying transcript is from an article in the H&GHS Journal 9 [1988]. Other reminiscences of Ron are found in Journal 10 [1989]. There will be additional audio recordings of Ron’s interviews published on the website during 2024.

Image credit: State Library of South Australia B 8162 [public domain]

Did you attend Grange PS? Did you ever go swimming in the nearby creek? Please share your memories with us.

Narrated by Quenten Iskov

Do you remember what Saltpetre is?

From the 1930s until the late 1970s, a kiosk operated on the beach in front of the hotel, at the end of Henley Beach Road and was open for summer and school holidays.

Local resident Noel Newcombe [portrayed by a voice actor] remembers ….

“In the mornings Jim my brother and me would load up two wheelbarrows with stock from our shop on Seaview Road, pulling them over the sand hills to the kiosk. Dad would boil a copper in the Kiosk and sold trays of tea. Drinks, lollies and ice creams were stored in a huge ice chest and Jim also went around the beach selling lollies from a lolly tray. Woodroofe’s drinks were delivered by horse and cart to the shop as well as ice and saltpetre for the ice cream chest and it all had to be carried over the sand hills. One of the biggest sellers was hot water. It was for people on the beach who had no way of heating water for their tea and coffee.”

Yvonne Penno (nee Newcombe) and [portrayed by a voice actor] remembers:

… “At one time there was a huge westerly storm and at high tide the kiosk was found to be surrounded by deep water. Mum ran home, pulled down her clothesline, and raced back to the beach, giving it to a lifesaver, who swam round the kiosk securing it, so it would not be washed away.”

in May, 1953 a great storm severely damaged the foreshore at Henley Beach. ‘The Advertiser’ newspaper reported:

” ….. sections of the sea wall hundreds of feet long, together with steel and concrete electric light poles were reduced to a twisted mass.”

Sadly, the kiosk was undermined, causing it to partially collapse. Many bathing boxes and beach shacks at Henley South were also washed away and beach shelters and playgrounds destroyed.

Image credit: Henley & Grange Historical Society

Did you ever visit the Henley South kiosk? Please share your memories with us.

The Henley and Grange Council decided to build a Town Hall in 1919 and used £1,500 in funds raised through the 1921 Henley carnival to begin the build and another £6000 as a loan.

The foundation stone was laid with a silver trowel by Mayor Beck as school children filed past, each one tapping the stone three times with the trowel. A bottle containing newspapers, coins and a list of Council members was placed beneath the foundation stone.

It was opened for use on June 22nd 1922, and has been used since for both large and small gatherings. It has seating for 300. The Hall was used as the Odeon picture theatre for many years and is currently being used for classes in Tai Kwando, computing and dancing.

Image credit: State Library of South Australia PRG-280-1-34-20

Did you ever watch a movie in the Henley Town Hall?

Narrated by Quenten Iskov

Pioneer aviator, Bill Smith was born in Norwood and after serving in World War I returned to Adelaide in 1923. During the next two years he took passengers for joy flights in his Avro ‘Skylark’ aeroplane using the beach right in front of the hotel for take-off and landing.

Usually there was a good strip of beach for taking-off space for the flights and often he made fifteen trips each day, with two passengers each time.

On one day however, at 6 o’clock as he prepared to make the last flight of the day, he noticed the tide had risen considerably and narrowed the strip of beach. The crowd which had assembled to watch the proceedings had become quite large. It was mainly composed of children who did not heed Smith’s warning to stay clear as he began to taxi along the beach.

Instead of giving way, the crowd surged forward as the Skylark started to move, and to avoid a collision Smith deflected his machine slightly and ran it into the shallow water. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but had it not been for the coolness and resourcefulness shown by the pilot there might have been a very different ending to the affair.

He told ‘The Advertiser’ newspaper reporter that:

“……. he knew he would damage the machine when he drove it into the water, but it was the only thing to do. It was a case of an accident to the machine or the crowd.”

After serving in WW I and suffering Spanish Flu another pioneering aviator, Horrie Miller, returned to Australia. He worked with an aviation barnstorming group, most of whom were ex-WW I pilots. Horrie operated a Curtiss Seagull Seaplane which also included joyrides on the beach.

Image credit: State Library of South Australia PRG-280-1-33-63

“The heyday of Henley and Grange would have probably been from 1900 to 1920 when it was a very traditional seaside resort with promenade, a merry go round sideshows, trams running there as well as the train, lots of refreshment places, hire of deck chairs, people selling what they call beach trays, which were your made up sandwiches and something to nibble on the beach because you couldn’t bring everything down on the train if you’re coming from some of the outer Adelaide suburbs and lots of stalls for hot water because back then everybody had their cup of tea on the beach and they’d put up their Canvas awnings for the day and probably stay all day.”

Image credit: State Library of South Australia B 4388

Edna Dunning lived all her life near the tram viaduct or in later years near the former site of the viaduct in Hazel Terrace, Henley Beach South.

Edna reminisces about flooding that occurred in the viaduct era.

“Few of the modern generation know what you are talking about when you mention the tram viaduct. So that the electric tram service to Henley Beach from Adelaide could begin a wooden trestle viaduct which at first was eight feet off the ground was built across the Reedbeds to carry the tram track over the normal winter floods.

During the 1920s periodical flooding of the Torrens river would cover much of the Reedbeds and surrounding countryside. It was almost annual event. When the floodwaters came down, as they used to do in those days, my first job on arriving home from school was to take off my shoes and socks and go down to rescue the chooks off their perch.

They would be put on the back verandah. Everyone had a few chooks in the back yard in those days. If the floodwaters were half-way up our back yard, then the Grange was under water, the trams would have to be stopped, and out would come the old drays, pulled by horses, to get the people home.

After the floodwaters had receded, and the sun came out, half the population would be out in the paddocks gathering mushrooms. They were very plentiful in those days. Now all that land is built on.

They were good old days in Henley Beach – the beautiful, clean, long beach, along which you could walk for miles. The crowds that used to hang on the trams on a hot night to get to the beach to get some relief from the hot days.

I love the place, and I never want to leave it, or live anywhere else.”

Image credit: State Library of South Australia PRG 280-1-41-327