Coastal Changes at Henley & Grange

Coastal Changes at Henley & Grange

Along the coastline of Henley Beach and Grange, low vegetated sand dunes separate the beach from the adjacent footpath and road. In some locations, the land is only several metres above sea level. For thousands of years, natural sand movement has continually shaped...
Badenoch’s Beach Bakery

Badenoch’s Beach Bakery

Cover Photo and Disclaimer Found beneath floorboards, this weathered and fragile fragment of a Badenoch’s bakery paper bag (c. 1926) is a surviving relic of a long-vanished business and the local community it faithfully served.(Kindly donated to the Henley &...
TRAGEDY AT HENLEY BEACH – A Divine Revelation?

TRAGEDY AT HENLEY BEACH – A Divine Revelation?

THE DROWNING At about 4 o’clock on Saturday January 6, 1906, Mr. William Strapps went for a sail at Henley Beach in a canvas canoe 14 feet (or just over 4 metres) in length taking with him his two sons, Claude, aged 16 years, and Frank, aged 10 years and their...
Surveyor, Soldier, Servant –                              The Charles Yeomans Story

Surveyor, Soldier, Servant – The Charles Yeomans Story

Early Life and Education Few men connected with South Australian municipal life have had careers as varied and fascinating as Charles Maddison Yeomans, who became Town Clerk and Engineer of the Henley and Grange Corporation between June 1923 and October 1931. Charles’...
When Henley Had a Golf Course!

When Henley Had a Golf Course!

From Sandhills to Fairways Before 1929, golf at Henley and Grange was more improvised than organised. Local boys, including Ron Jones, fashioned clubs from boxthorn branches and played across the West Beach sandhills, planting flags on dunes to mark their holes. Later...
Hooves in the Sand: Horses at Henley & Grange

Hooves in the Sand: Horses at Henley & Grange

Saddles, Sand, and Survival In the earliest years of the colony, reaching Henley or Grange was a real challenge. Military Road and parts of what became Grange Road were little more than sandy tracks, often impassable in wet weather. Most visitors came either by boat,...
Bruce Gray (alias Saltbush Bill)

Bruce Gray (alias Saltbush Bill)

Bruce Gray was born in 1889 on ‘Frogmore’ at West Beach. Growing up among horses, cattle, and sheep, he often watched Sidney Kidman’s mobs of cattle pass through the district. At eighteen, Bruce joined Kidman’s empire, working across the outback and developing his...
Bob the Wonder Dog

Bob the Wonder Dog

Bob was a black and tan Kelpie sheep dog. While still a young pup he became the pet and constant companion of Albert Ide, a blacksmith and general tradesman of Grange. Bob was beside Albert every day. Early in his life Bob began performing at the Henley carnivals and...
The Henley Line

The Henley Line

Did you know that there was once a ‘street railway line’ right next to Military Road that ran all the way from Grange to Henley Beach terminating at Kent Street just past where the Henley Police Station is today? Both steam locomotives and later (from 1956) Redhen...
Henley Beach Swimming Pool

Henley Beach Swimming Pool

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...