Part of the Australian Heritage Festival
17 April to 30 April 2023
Shared Stories
For further information visit hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/heritagehobsonsbay or call the Hobsons Bay Visitor Information Centre on 9932 3016 Most events are free and bookings are via hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/heritagehobsonsbay Bookings required unless stated. Events correct at time of printing.
#heritagehobsonsbay
Council acknowledges the Bunurong People of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners of these municipal lands and waterways, and pay our respects to Elders past and present.
Shared Stories
Heritage Hobsons Bay invites you to learn the history behind the iconic spaces and common places of Hobsons Bay during the Australian Heritage Festival. This year’s festival theme is ‘shared stories’. Why not spark your curiosity for the past and for local haunts through a range of performances, exhibitions, tours, and virtual events.
Photography Competition
Presented by Hobsons Bay Libraries
Share and preserve the stories of local cultural heritage for future generations. Hobsons Bay Libraries invites young people to participate in a project that will capture and preserve stories of our local cultural heritage through their eyes. “Through Your Lens” will create a photo archive of local life. This is an opportunity to capture and share knowledge about local culture, history, and community with future generations.
This photography competition is open for entries from 7 April and closes on 21 April 2023. Finalists’ entries will be printed into a book that will be available for viewing in the Heritage Room at Williamstown Library.
Friday 7 April to Friday 21 April
Open for 12 to 25 years of age
Find out more www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/ Libraries/Children-Youth/Through-your-LensPhotography-Competition Free
Poetry Tree
Presented by Hobsons Bay Libraries
Explore the living history of Hobsons Bay. Use all your senses to explore our natural heritage. Imagine what Hobsons Bay was like in precolonial times, warm up your descriptive skills and contribute to our giant Poetry tree. The bravest among us can even try performing a walking poem!
Monday 17 April 10am to 10.45am
Altona Library
123 Queen Street, Altona 5 to 9 years of age
Bookings required: www.eventbrite.com/e/poetry-treetickets479686905447
Altona Homestead Guided Tour
Presented by Altona Laverton Historical Society
Enjoy a guided tour of Altona’s oldest residential building with one of the members who will talk about the Homestead, its occupants, a brief history of the area and the Homestead’s importance to the development of Altona.
Tuesday 18 April and
Tuesday 25 April
11am to 12pm
128 Queen Street, Altona
Free/Gold Coin donation
No bookings required
Proud to be a Nurse Exhibition
Presented by Hobsons Bay Libraries
Who were the nurses who trained at Williamstown Hospital from 1907-1993? Join with the curator, Wendy Cavanagh (nee Hem) a past trainee and view the contribution these nurses made to health care in our immediate community, nationally and internationally.
They arrived as strangers and developed friendships that lasted decades. The value of this camaraderie cannot be underestimated. It enabled them to work as a team, supporting each other caring for their sick and dying patients, during difficult and trying personal and clinical situations. The exhibition explores their many stories, photos and memorabilia.
Monday 17 April to Thursday 27 April Williamstown Library
104 Ferguson Street, Williamstown
During library hours
No bookings required
Step Back in TimeWilliamstown Heritage Guided Tour
Presented by Hobsons Bay City Council
Unlock the secrets of the historic Williamstown waterfront and seaport. One hour in duration and catering to all abilities, explore the historic seaport of waterfront Williamstown, as well as its hidden lanes, monuments and buildings.
Tuesday 18 April and Friday 21 April 11.45am
Tuesday 25 April and Friday 28 April 11.45am
Hobsons Bay Visitor Information Centre, Commonwealth Reserve, Williamstown
Bookings: hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/heritagehobsonsbay
Storytime in the Park: let’s discover where our families have travelled from!
Presented by Hobsons Bay Libraries
Explore where people have travelled to Australia from around the world with your tiny humans! Join us for a special Storytime in the Park where we will explore the theme of travelling. This program is for children 0 to 8 years of age where they will get to sing-a-long to Rocking Russell, as we celebrate our diverse community and heritage.
Wednesday 19 April 10am to 10.45am
Logan Reserve, Pier Street, Altona
*Alternate venue in case of rain is Altona Library, opposite Logan Reserve
Free
Bookings required:
www.eventbrite.com/e/story-time-in-theparkdiscover-where-your-family-has-travelledfromtickets-479702993567
Heritage HelpWho Lived in my House?
Presented by Hobsons Bay Libraries
Discover how to research the history of your property in this Heritage Help session. Ever wondered who the past occupants of your house were? Or interested in researching your house history? Come along to and learn how to use research tools to find the history of houses and properties in Hobsons Bay.
Wednesday 19 April 11am to 12pm
Williamstown Library, 104 Ferguson Street, Williamstown
Bookings: hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/heritagehobsonsbay
Williamstown Film Society - A taste of heritage
Presented by Williamstown Film Society
A B&W episode of Homicide ‘Peter’s Party’ (1970) featuring the Point Gellibrand Pile Light and ‘The Don of Trugo’, a VCA student short, which centres on the unique game of Trugo. Screened at Pirates Tavern, Seaworks, the maritime precinct on the Williamstown waterfront where the Pile Light now resides. Guest speakers on Trugo and the Pile Light.
Wednesday 19 April 7pm to 9pm
Pirates Tavern Seaworks, the maritime precinct, 82 Nelson Place, Williamstown
Bookings: hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/heritagehobsonsbay
Williamstown Town Hall Heritage Tour
Presented by Hobsons Bay City Council
Enjoy a guided tour of the Williamstown Town Hall and learn about the history of the building and the many roles it has played in the lives of the local community over the last century.
While on the walk you’ll explore the ornate grand ballroom, the wood panelled council chamber, complete with classic 1920s master craftsman made furniture and visit many more of the rooms that make up this important civic and cultural building.
Thursday 20 April 11am to 12.30pm
Williamstown Town Hall, 104 Ferguson Street, Williamstown
Bookings: hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/heritagehobsonsbay
Newport Archives @ The Substation
Presented by The Substation
Newport Archives is an audio walk created by Tamara Saulwick for The Substation, which contemplates the connections between time, place and memory. Inspired by The Substation building’s own story, the work draws on interviews with local residents to open small windows into a Newport of a different era… an era of ships and trains. Equipped with headphones and an mp3 player as their guide, participants walk unaccompanied through Newport’s streets immersed in a sound world that uncannily knits the present with the past and memory with imagination.
Wednesday 19 April to Saturday 22 April 12pm to 5.15pm
Wednesday 26 April to Saturday 29 April 12noon to 5.15pm 1 Market Street, Newport
Bookings: info@thesubstation.org.au
Postcards from the GardensMoments in Time
Presented by Williamstown Botanic Gardens with Friends of Williamstown Botanic Gardens
Using the historic postcard collection of the Williamstown Botanic Gardens archive, we’ll explore the early 1900’s craze for postcard sending and collecting.
Visitors will tour the 162 year old Gardens revisiting sites and views featured in vintage postcards as we discover what these images and intriguing handwritten messages can tell us about these moments in time. The talk and tour will be followed by a morning tea and a chance to write your own postcard from the gardens. Co-presented by The Friends of Williamstown Botanic Gardens.
Wednesday 20 April 10am to 12pm
Meet at the Williamstown Botanic Gardens gates, (corner of Giffard and Osborne Streets), Williamstown
Bookings: hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/heritagehobsonsbay
Spotswood Industrial Heritage Walk
Presented by Hobsons Bay City Council
This tour of Spotswood provides an insight into the people, industries and businesses that transformed this landscape from a dairy farm to one of Victoria’s most important manufacturing hubs. Take a walk in a group of likeminded curious people and uncover some of Spotswood’s secret history together.
Please note, this activity is not wheelchair accessible and takes place both indoors and outdoors. We recommend that you wear comfortable shoes.
Friday 21 April 11am to 12.30pm
Friday 28 April 11am to 12.30pm
Meet at the corner of Hudsons Road and Booker Street, Spotswood
Bookings: hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/heritagehobsonsbay
Ghosts of the Old City, Williamstown
Presented by Lantern Ghost Tours
Explore King William’s Town, the original capital of Victoria, by lamp light. Steeped with history, apparitions, alleyways and lager it was once a thriving maritime town. Visit an abandoned morgue, forgotten burial grounds and hidden laneways in Victoria’s most historic seaport.
Friday 21 April and Saturday 22 April
8.30pm
Friday 28 April and Saturday 29 April
8.30pm
Tour duration 2 hours. Tour departs from Hobsons Bay Visitor Information Centre, Nelson Place, Williamstown
Bookings essential: $36, Family $96 lanternghosttours.rezdy.com/85279/ghosts-ofthe-old-city-williamstown-victoria
St Eanswythe Heritage Windows
Presented by Hobsons Bay City Council
Visit the glorious stained glass windows of St Eanswythe Altona, commissioned by the church in 1979. The windows feature the ‘Creation Window’ and the ‘Trinity Window’, each panel is spectacular and intricate and a celebration of design, technique and colour. Join us for a talk by the artist David Wright and enjoy a moment to reflect on a hidden heritage gem.
Saturday 22 April 1pm to 2pm
7 Bent Street, Altona
Bookings: hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/heritagehobsonsbay
Ghost Signs and Palimpsests
Presented by Hobsons Bay City Council
Heritage Hobsons Bay presents Ghost Signs and Palimpsests- an evening celebrating the eerie, delicate imagery of faded advertising on the brick walls of Hobsons Bay. Join industrial artist and sign writer Tony Mead with author and social commentator Nick Gadd for an evening presentation exploring the origins of this artistic advertising and haunted hallmarks and discover the rich depth of what lies beneath.
Wednesday 26 April 7pm to 8pm
Altona Civic Centre
115 Civic Parade, Altona
Bookings: hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/heritagehobsonsbay
Sea Flowers and Lake Stories
Presented by Hubcap Productions
Heritage Maritime Art Exhibition
Presented by Royal Yacht Club of Victoria
An exhibition of historical maritime paintings and photos depicting recreational yachting in Hobsons Bay from the1850s to 1930 will be displayed at the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria.
The exhibition will have on display a print of a watercolour by G F Gregory, marine artist from the 1850s and a set of oil paintings dated from 1885.
Photographs of yachts sailed by past Commodores of Royal Yacht Club of Victoria will be on show.
Saturday 22 April, Wednesday 26
April and Saturday 29 April
11am to 3pm
Royal Yacht Club of Victoria
120 Nelson Place, Williamstown
No bookings required
View sea flowers floating in the waters of Cherry Lake with the industrial skyline in the background (just off the Millers Road carpark) from 1 April to 23 April 2023.
Bring a picnic to the lush grass next to the lake, then scan the QR code to reveal music and a host of voices telling stories about this spot and what it means to people locally. Discover the history of the lake from marshland to car racetrack to what is now home for water birds and other small creatures.
Join us at sunset on Saturday 22 April at 5pm for a special performance event. Bring a picnic dinner and rug, or foldout chair, and hear water inspired music, local lake stories as the sun sets. This event is free.
Saturday 22 April 5pm to 7pm
Cherry Lake, Altona
No bookings required
Sons of Williamstown
Presented by Hobsons Bay City Council
The Sons of Williamstown project involved the refurbishment of the Great War honour board in the Williamstown Town Hall and tells the stories of the Williamstown soldiers who did not return from the war. The honour board was put together by former Williamstown City Council Mayor Bill Henderson. Between 1917 and 1924, Cr Henderson visited the families of the men who died during the war, seeking photographs of the fallen soldiers. These are housed in a blackwood honour board. Visit the Town Hall to view the honour board between 10am-12noon,Thursday 27 April.
Thursday 27 April
10am to 12pm
Williamstown Town Hall
104 Ferguson Street, Williamstown
No bookings required
Secrets of the Pinetum
Presented by Hobsons Bay City Council and the Friends of Williamstown Botanic Gardens
Follow the historic, winding pathways of Williamstown Botanic Gardens through the recently rejuvenated Pinetum to discover the intriguing origins of the tree collection and the fascinating stories behind how they came to be here. Join us on this walking tour as we discover lost garden structures, the elegance of Edward La Trobe Bateman’s garden design and how the garden is preparing for the future while honouring the past.
Thursday 27 April
10am to 12pm
Meet at the Williamstown Botanic Gardens gates, (corner of Giffard and Osborne Streets), Williamstown
Free
Bookings: hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/heritagehobsonsbay
Williamstown Projection Tour
Presented by Hobsons Bay City Council and Little Projection Company
On 17 May 1919, Williamstown was proclaimed a city by the State Governor, Sir Arthur Stanley during a visit to the newly completed Town Hall. You are invited to join us on a night time tour of the surrounding streets to discover stories of Williamstown’s past.
Friday 28 April 6pm to 7pm and 7.30pm to 8.30pm
Meet at Williamstown Town Hall, 104 Ferguson Street, Williamstown
Bookings: hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/heritagehobsonsbay
Hidden Histories
Presented by Hobsons Bay City Council’s Better Places program
Join us in celebrating stories of this unique area captured through listening to and filming those in the know… locals. See this beautifully filmed gem that reminds us how a little local area can have a distinctive style and feel. Bring your photographs and memories to share over afternoon tea at a place of many memories, the Spotswood Kingsville RSL.
Saturday 29 April, 2pm to 4pm Spotswood & South Kingsville RSL, 59 The Avenue, Spotswood Free event.
For bookings please RSVP to hiddenhistories2022@gmail.com
Pier Street Pearls
Presented by New World Arts
The three burials of Lotty Kneen: In conversation with Kris Kneen
Presented by Hobsons Bay Libraries
In their 2010 memoir ‘Affection’ Kris Kneen introduced readers to their unique family and the towering matriarchal figure of their grandmother. Stern, domineering, fiercely loving, Lotty Kneen, born Dragica, was always tight-lipped about her early life and family history. When their grandmother died recently, Kris finally felt at liberty to explore the questions that had nagged at them for so long.
Thursday 27 April 6.30pm to 7.30pm
Online Free
Bookings: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-three-burialsoflotty-kneen-in-conversation-with-kriskneentickets-479712582247
Pier Street Pearls will be a multi-generational exhibition that celebrates the life of Pier Street in Altona. Using oral histories, images, and found artefacts it traces the history of Pier St from its humble origins of the 1900’s through to the modern mix of cafes, shops and apartments today. Community workshops will be an opportunity to contribute to the project, by either sharing your memories about Pier Street or by bringing old images of yourself in around the shopping precinct.
Saturday 29 April
10am to 12pm
Altona Homestead
128 Queen Street, Altona
No bookings required
Alfred Graving Dock Guided Tours
Presented by Tall Ships Victoria, BAE Systems, Port of Williamstown Action Group, Royal Yacht Club of Victoria & Hobsons Bay Yacht Club
A rare opportunity to explore the Alfred Graving Dock within the old Naval Dockyard in Williamstown with guided tours during the festival. Built between 1864-1873, the bluestone dock was in continuous service for the maintenance and repair of ships. Enjoy the tall stories of dock builders, shipwrights and dock workers and discover remarkable heritage infrastructure, usually off limits to the public.
Saturday 29 April
10am to 5pm
Tours leaving on the hour and the quarter hour *last tour 4.15pm
Meet at 10 Nelson Place, Williamstown
Bookings: hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/heritagehobsonsbay
Old Laverton School Heritage Open Day
Presented by Hobsons Bay City Council
Join us and visit the recently restored Old Laverton School, taking in the history of the historic site as an early school building and rural outpost of the developing city in Melbourne’s west in the late 1880s. While at the school, you will see the old classroom and hear about its varied history as a schoolhouse, private residence and now as a community and cultural facility, shedding light on the development of the Laverton and Altona Meadows community we know today.
Sunday 30 April
1.30pm to 3.30pm
Old Laverton School
43 Kiora Street, Altona Meadows
No bookings required
Sounds of SilentScreening Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Junior
Presented by Hobsons Bay City Council
The Sounds of Silent are a 5-piece band which recreates the movie going experience of the silent movie era when many bands performed in Melbourne theatres to accompany silent movies. This screening is of the 1928 buster Keaton silent comedy classic, Steamboat Bill Jr. The film is known for what Keaton’s most famous film stunt may be: The facade of a house falls around him while he stands in the precise location of open window to avoid being flattened. It’s an actionadventure comedy considered a Keaton classic. The Sounds of Silent have performed all over Victoria and interstate to sell out audiences. Join us for a great fun filled evening of action and drama for the whole family. Get in early since seating is limited in this charming heritage venue.
Thursday 18 May
7.30pm
Old Laverton School
43 Kiora Street, Altona Meadows
Tickets: $15
Bookings: hobsonsbaytickets.com.au
ACTIVITIES AND SPACES that can be enjoyed throughout the heritage festival and year around
Heritage Street Signs
The stories behind some of Hobsons Bay’s oldest street names have been acknowledged through the installation of heritage street signs. The signs provide a glimpse into the history of the city, the lives of political, business, cultural and community leaders and opportunities to showcase important elements of its past.
Created with input and advice from Hobson Bay’s historical societies, street signs across the city connect us to our past and provide clues into the origins of our neighbourhoods. Do you know what your street name means?
As you travel through the city, look out for these signs and find out more about the history of Hobsons Bay.
For more information visit
www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/Community/ArtsCulture-Heritage/Cultural-Heritage/HeritageStreet-Signs
Hobsons Bay Coastal Trail, artworks and interpretive markers
A great way to experience the city is through following the Hobsons Bay Coastal Trail, 23km that is sign posted with trail markers and artworks that allow the significance of the cultural and natural history of the coast to be revealed, reinforcing our sense of local place and community and enriching our understanding of the environment.
Interpretive signage and markers are also placed throughout the city, stories of people and places that make up the history of Hobsons Bay. Or download the Experience Hobsons Bay App to see and visit the Hobsons Bay collection public art, installations, museum and heritage buildings. For more information visit www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/visit/Experience/ Things-to-do/The-Hobsons-Bay-Coastal-Trail
Events correct at time of printing. Please visit hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/ heritagehobsonsbay for up to date information.
GETTING THERE
One of the real charms of getting to Hobsons Bay is just that, getting there!
Travel by ferry, get on your bike and take a ride, take the train or bus, come by car, or catch a seaplane. Phone the Hobsons Bay Visitor Information Centre for best travel arrangements. Whichever way you come, your adventure starts the moment you leave home.
EXPERIENCE HOBSONS BAY
Visit www.experiencehobsonsbay.com for things to do, see, places to eat and places to stay.
We encourage people to share their favourite pics of places they love in Hobsons Bay by using the hashtag #experiencehobsonsbay on social media.
Follow us on Instagram @hobsonsbaycc
HOBSONS BAY VISITOR
INFORMATION CENTRE
Nelson Place, Williamstown
Open Daily
Phone 9932 3016
NRS phone 133 677 and quote 03 9932 1000 www.experiencehobsonsbay.com www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au
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