Harbour Bridge to Manly via The Spit: PART 1 Walk Notes Graham Spindler 2012 Page 1

Detailed Maps and Background Notes for the

HARBOUR BRIDGE TO MANLY VIA THE SPIT WALK

Notes written by Graham Spindler - This edition 2012

For convenience, the walk and notes have been divided into 3 parts - 1: Harbour Bridge to Ben Boyd

Rd; 2: Ben Boyd Rd to The Spit; and 3: Spit Bridge to Manly. Part 2 is divided into 2a (Harbour

East Route, with four sub-sections) and 2b (Middle Harbour West Route).

Total Distance: 21-30 km (depending on route)

Total Walking Time: Approx. 7-10 hours (depending on route) PARTS Distance Time

Part 1: Harbour Bridge to Ben Boyd Rd 3.5km Approx. 1hour

Part 2a: Harbour (East) Route 16.3km Approx. 5 hours 30mins

Part 2b: Middle Harbour (West) Route 10km Approx. 3 hours 10mins

Part 3: Spit Bridge to Manly 8km Approx. 2 hours 40mins

Harbour Bridge to Manly via The Spit: PART 1 Walk Notes Graham Spindler 2012 Page 2

PART 1: Harbour Bridge to Ben Boyd Road

The Walk Other or Connected Walks

Distance: 3.5km Time: 1hr Level: Mostly Easy – some inclines and steps. Mostly paved.

Transport: Trains and buses - Circular Quay, Milsons Pt;

Ferries - Circular Quay, Jeffries St, Milsons Pt (Luna Park) Wharves.

Facilities: Toilets: Circular Quay & Milsons Pt Stations; Milson & Anderson Parks.

Shops or hotels: Circular Quay, Milsons Pt / Kirribilli.

If starting from Circular Quay: From the eastern end of Circular Quay (beyond Wharf 2) take the lift up to the

Cahill Walkway. Follow the Walkway west above Circular Quay and George St. It turns right at the Bridge

approaches. The high level walkway ends with Steps down to the continuation of the Bridge Walkway. Cross the

Bridge, passing through the South East and North East Pylons before ending at steps down to Kirribilli and Milsons

Point Station.

When Sydney’s Harbour Bridge opened on 19 March, 1932, it was the fulfilment of more than a century of dreams and

plans. In 1915 the NSW Government approved the scheme of the Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, J.J.C.

Bradfield, for an underground city railway and Harbour crossing. Work began in 1923 after the English firm Dorman, Long

and Co won the tender and the arch design was adopted. Credit for the design became controversial but, in effect, it is shared

between Bradfield, and Dorman and Long’s consulting design engineer, Ralph Freeman. Dorman and Long built the 39,000

Harbour Bridge to Manly via The Spit: PART 1 Walk Notes Graham Spindler 2012 Page 3

tonne, 503m span steel arch and the granite-faced concrete pylons, while the 3km of approaches were built by the Department

of Main Roads. The arches - held in place by banks of cables anchored into the ground behind the rising pylons - were built

simultaneously from both shores with 600 ton cranes creeping out along them and hauling the steelwork into position beneath.

The two ends met in August 1930. By then, Australia was in the grip of the Great Depression and the 1,600 workers engaged on

the project were doubtless glad of the work, despite hard and dangerous working conditions. Sixteen workers were killed and

many injured on the project.

The opening contributed to the romance of the Bridge when former military officer, Francis de Groot, rode forward from the

Governor’s mounted escort and slashed the opening ribbon moments before Premier Jack Lang was able to officially cut it. De

Groot was arrested and fined, but his action underscored serious political tensions in NSW at the peak of the Depression. A

member of the New Guard, a militant right-wing organisation, De Groot’s action was intended as a protest against the radical

Labor Premier. On the day, however, the incident was a small blip in the celebrations which featured a 2km long parade, fly-

and sail-pasts and a walk-across by more than a million people.

Originally, the Bridge had two rail and two tram lines, as well as two walkways and the equivalent of six road lanes. The Cahill

Expressway road lanes replaced the tramlines in 1959. Immediately after the start of the walkway from the stairway, the closed

off entrances to former tramway tunnels can be seen under the road deck. The Pylon lookout is accessible from the walkway,

offering extensive displays and views from its 87m high parapet. In 1932, this was by far the highest viewing point in Sydney.

This Pylon’s opposite number on the north side is used as an exhaust stack for the Harbour Tunnel which crosses under the

Harbour east of the Bridge.

Immediately beyond the Pylon, grey clad Bridgewalkers are usually clambering up through the roadway to climb the arch itself

to its summit about 134m above water level. At least these climbers will come down slowly. On average, every three or four

days for the seven months after its opening in 1932, someone suicided from the bridge, a figure that must have been fuelled at

least partly by the economic depression. These days, traffic accidents average about one a day, but there were many more in the

first year, despite the small number of motor vehicles on the bridge. This was mainly because there were no lane markings and

cars wandered about so that drivers and passengers could take in the view. After September 1932, when two policemen were

killed by a wandering car, the first centre line in NSW was painted (in white) on the bridge roadway.

Milsons Point is named after James Milson, a Napoleonic Wars veteran who arrived in Sydney in 1804. Given a land grant for

this part of the north shore he built what was probably the first house in the area. He prospered until a bushfire destroyed almost

everything in 1826 including his title deeds. This proved unfortunate as it transpired that a later Governor had granted the same

land to others and the protracted argument resulted in Milson retaining only a small part of the land. Nevertheless, his family

(whose descendants are still here) dominated the early development of the area. Milsons Point was a small maritime village

until late in the nineteenth century when ferries, trams and the railway made it a commuting centre. The construction of the

Harbour Bridge cut a swathe through it and Kirribilli, with over 500 properties and whole streets disappearing and it was not

until the 1970s and ‘80s that massive commercial development began changing its appearance again.

From the Bridge steps or Milsons Point Station, step down into Broughton St and turn left and walk down past the

Hotel and turn into Willoughby St. Take the first left, Winslow St, following it downhill and down the steps at its end

to cross McDougall St into Milson Park. Cross to Hipwood St, climbing until it drops again and turns via Kiara

Close into Clark Rd. Continue downhill until Anderson Park is reached. Cross the pedestrian bridge into the Park

and take the pathway across to steps leading up to Kurraba Rd. A short way uphill on Kurraba are the traffic lights

at its junction with Ben Boyd Rd where the Harbour (East), and Middle Harbour (West) Routes diverge.

Winslow St is a pretty little street of terraces giving way to Federation style cottages. No. 6, Fern Lodge, was built in stone

around 1840 for James Milson's son, John.

Down the steps, Jacaranda-lined MacDougall St is a blaze of lilac around November, and leads across to the formal,

Federation-style Milson Park – named after a former mayor and member of that prominent family. The park was reclaimed

from Careening Cove, the name coming from the practice of beaching (‘careening’) boats for repairs on the mudflats. In 1789,

the little First Fleet warship, HMS Sirius, put in here for repairs in 1789, and gunner's mate John Mara got lost for 4 days in the

'woods'. Later Francis Hill, a master's mate was put ashore here to walk around to Mosman Bay, where Sirius had re-located,

and was never seen again. The Cove is still lined by boat houses and the Sydney Flying Squadron, Sydney’s oldest 18 footer

sailing club, founded 1890. Also on its waterfront is the Ensemble Theatre, established by Hayes Gordon in 1960.

In Hipwood St, note the fine Victorian house at No 11, Newton, built in 1870 for the Loxton family. The lane next door, Kiara

Close, leads up to a unit complex occupying heights which once housed the North Shore’s first Gas Works. Coal gas was

manufactured here from 1877 until production relocated to Oyster Bay, Waverton. The waterfront buildings became a torpedo

factory in WWII and later a submarine base. The upper level gas company buildings were demolished in the 1980s so that the

redevelopment could take place.

Anderson Park, off Clark Rd, was created from 1898 to1928 by reclaiming part of 'Neutral Harbour'. There is a memorial to

aviators Kingsford-Smith and P.G. Taylor, who managed to take off from the park in July 1934 in their new Lockheed Altair

aircraft which had been shipped in to Circular Quay on the liner Mariposa. They had planned to take off from Macquarie St but

Harbour Bridge to Manly via The Spit: PART 1 Walk Notes Graham Spindler 2012 Page 4

the City Council refused permission so they shipped the plane over here on a barge to fly it out to Mascot. Afterwards they

flew it back to the USA to complete the first trans-Pacific flight from Australia.

From here look into Neutral Bay, which gained its name when it was designated as the anchoring place for foreign vessels by

Governor Phillip in 1789. Its 'neutrality' was somewhat stretched when part of the Gas Works site became a torpedo factory

during WWII and in 1967 the RAN submarine base, HMAS Platypus. The submarines were moved to a Western Australian

base and the site closed in 1999 and transferred to the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust in 2005. After site remediation, it will

reopen for public use and access.

Ben Boyd Rd is named after Benjamin Boyd (1801-51), entrepreneur, large scale grazier and whaler, who established a

whaling station near Eden on the South Coast of NSW. In Neutral Bay he set up a ship supply depot which include baking

ovens apparently still on the site now occupied by the Australian Customs Service. Boyd’s entrepreneurship ran closer to the

wind than some of his whaling ships and in the economic depression of the 1840s he found it prudent to sail off into the wide

blue Pacific, disappearing, presumably killed, during a stop at the Solomon Islands. The bell of his yacht, Wanderer, did return

to Neutral Bay and is on display at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron in Kirribilli.

At this point, Part 2a - the Harbour (East), and Part 2b - Middle Harbour (West) Routes, diverge.