Stories by author "Adelaide Park Lands Preservation Assn": 31
Stories
35-20 Urban Woodland in Victoria Park
Way back in 1889 this urban woodland (in what was then Park 16A) was the site of the inaugural Arbor Day in Australia.
This was a predecessor to the Landcare movement. The first Arbor Day featured a massive communal act of tree planting.…
35-19 South Park Lands Creek and wetlands in Victoria Park
The creek is not a natural watercourse but an artificial drainage channel that was built in 1917 to channel water away from the Greenhill Road - Fullarton Road intersection, and through the South Park Lands.
Over the following century, the…
35-18 River Red gums and OIives in south-eastern Victoria Park
Some of the trees in this avenue (both red gums and olives) date from before 1880.
From here walk across to the lake or wetland which was under construction in early 2021.
35-17 Rare butterfly habitat in Victoria Park
The native grasses here have survived in this small patch, despite more than 180 years of European settlement. They include species such as Spear grass, Early Nancy, Tiny Star, and Garland Lily.
This is one of the very last places on the…
35-16 Central area for sports fields in Victoria Park
Dog off-leash area
The central area of Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi is also a popular off-leash dog walking area. But canine association with Victoria Park has not always been so genteel.
Back in the 1800's “coursing” matches were held…
35-14 Dragon Blood tree in Victoria Park
This tree is native to a small island off the horn of Africa in the Arabian sea - the island of Socotra, where the species is endangered.
The island is part of the war-torn country of Yemen which is hundreds of kilometres away to the north, …
35-13 Britannia Roundabouts next to Victoria Park
This place is known locally as the Britannia roundabouts – the name coming from the hotel that overlooks the busy intersection.
There are few roundabouts within the City of Adelaide. Most major intersections have traffic lights instead. But here,…
35-12 Gates, RAC building & turnstiles in Victoria Park
From left to right (looking from inside the park), they are the the former offices of the Adelaide Racing Club (built 1954) the turnstile building (built 1926) and the Grandstand Entrance Gates (built 1954).
The turnstile building, erected in…
35-11 Victoria Park grandstand
It is constructed of bluestone with red-brick dressings, timber-framed openings (including some stained-glass windows), corrugated-galvanised-iron roof, and timber and cast-iron detailing in typical Victorian era style. This building was State…
35-10 Horse racing history in Victoria Park
The white concrete planter bowl you can see here was previously the centrepiece of a rectangular garden, which was itself at the centre of the former stables area.
If you look around you at the arrangement of ash, cedar, elm, plane, and Norfolk…
35-09 Motor racing in Victoria Park
Motor racing came to Victoria Park in 1985 and annual events were held in most years up until 2019.
Despite the popularity of motor sport at Victoria Park, there were also many people who questioned the disruption and alienation caused by these…
35-08 Olive grove in Victoria Park
By the 1860s, due to the effects of grazing and clearing for firewood, most of the Park Lands had become bare dust-bowls in summer and quagmires in winter.
Concern over the aesthetic degradation led to an increased public demand during the…
35-07 Equestrian jumps in Victoria Park
This structure plays no role for most of the year, but it becomes very important during three very special days,
Horse racing left Victoria Park after 2007. However the Kaurna name of the Park - Pakapakanthi - is still relevant during…
35-06 Stone-lined Botanic Creek in Victoria Park
This waterway doesn't flow all year, but after rain it channels water through the eastern Park Lands and eventually drains into the Botanic Gardens lake about a kilometre north.
It is unclear from City Council records exactly when the…
35-05 Sweat Track in Victoria Park
The sweat course includes opportunities for running, step-ups, bar dips (for triceps) a sit-up station, pull-ups (i.e. chin-ups) for biceps, log-lifts, and hurdles.
There are also other, more recently installed exercise stations which create a…
35-04 Petanque Piste in Victoria Park
Other parts of Victoria Park are well used for a wide variety of intensive sports and recreation - from running and cycling, to equestrian activities.
However not all of the sporting activities here require physical strength or fitness.
This…
35-03 The "Green Corridor" in Victoria Park
This so-called "green corridor" for commuters extends from Halifax Street right across the Park to Fullarton Road.
It provides pedestrians and cyclists with an attractive passage between the city and the eastern suburbs.
While this…
35-02 Kaurna history, and naming of Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi
Prior to European settlement, Victoria Park would have resembled a large flat of blue gums and grey box gums.
Oral history of surviving Kaurna elders indicates that this area was used for corroborees, burials and camping.
In 1980, indigenous…
40-13 Electric Light Cricket in Park 20
Day-night cricket is very popular with the Big Bash League and one-day internationals played under lights.
But most people don’t realise that an earlier form of night cricket was invented here in Adelaide and played by hundreds of people on…
47-13 Aboriginal connection to Park 15
To the Adelaide people of the late Victorian era, one of the few aboriginal people who was well-known was a so-called ‘fringe-dweller’, Tommy Walker. He frequented and camped in the Eastern Park Lands in the second half of the 19th century.…
47-12 Wooden bridges and water “race”
The first decade of the 20th century was an economic boom time for South Australia, and the State was relatively wealthy.
Beginning in 1905, the City Council approved a series of recommendations from Mr Pelzer to improve this Park as well as…
47-11 Sports Fields and Major Events in Park 15
The first sporting oval was set up by City Gardener August Pelzer in 1906. The other two closer to Dequetteville Terrace came much later, after the 1930's.
The sporting fields are used for cricket, football and athletics. They're…
47-10 Cricket nets and pepper tree avenue
A few steps past the cricket nets, at the top of a gentle rise, a dirt road rolls away downhill, towards the west. The road is lined with about a dozen mature pepper trees.
One of the lovely things about this Park is that it's not flat. …
47-09 Early 1900's eucalyptus plantings, south-east corner
Despite the constant hum of passing traffic, this is another lovely area to walk around and keep an eye out for a variety of birds and possums that may be living in tree hollows – so-called “habitat trees”.
The shared-use walking and cycling…
47-08. Park Lands Trail in Park 15
There are two bitumen paths that both traverse King Rodney Park from north-west to south-east. One crosses Botanic Creek and links up with Bartels Road and Rymill Park to the north. The other stays on this side of the creek and links up with East…
47-07 Basketball courts
These facilities were previously used for tennis as well, but tennis was moved out to accommodate a temporary skate park, that was built here in 2016.
The temporary skate facilities were built here as a stop-gap measure after a different skate…
47-06 Disc golf
In recent years the sport has been growing rapidly in popularity but it’s still not widely known.
Players use the term “disc” although most people would know a flying disc as a “frisbee”. “Frisbee” is a trade mark. It’s just one brand of…
47-05 Botanic Creek
The creek is bordered by dense mature vegetation and provides lovely areas to rest sitting on a log or to enjoy a picnic.
Botanic Creek doesn’t run all year. It’s an “ephemeral” creek; meaning that it flows only after rainfall.
It channels…
47-04 Olive Grove, 1872
Within 20 years of European settlement, most of the Adelaide Park Lands had been stripped bare of trees. By the 1850’s the early settlers used almost all the existing trees for firewood, fence posts, and to allow sheep, cattle and horses to…
47-03 Glover East Playspace
The first Glover playground was on South Terrace (Park 20) – in December 1918. The second Glover playground was (and is) on Lefevre Tce (Park 6).
This one was proposed by Mayor Glover in 1924, for the benefit of children in the east of the…