DOCUMENTING CHANGE . . .

Much of the way that I walked to high school each day is now gone forever. This change was seen as synonymous with progress. In 1964, my final year at school, I completed what was then the Leaving Certificate at North Sydney Boys High School on Falcon Street. On one of my final walks to school I took my camera with me and photographed parts of my changing suburb.

My desire to document change can also be seen in some of the pen and ink drawings I did of my district. Three of these I was fortunate enough to have published in a Sydney weekend newspaper's section for children. One of these is a drawing entitled "High Street, From My Window". It was drawn in 1962 when I was thirteen and published in the Sun-Herald on June 10 of that year. I received a pound for my efforts.

The MLC building, with its beacon, dominates the skyline in my drawing but it is interesting to notice the construction of another office block in front of it. The scaffolding to the left of this new building can be seen. In the right of the drawing is the first stage of the Lelani high-rise living apartments. They were built on the old council site on High Street during the second half of the 1960s. In the bottom right-hand corner is Clark Road. This road was later extended, cutting across High Street and joining McDougall Street, an example of how the Warringah Expressway was to change existing thoroughfares in North Sydney. The North Sydney Post Office clock tower can also be seen just to the left of the MLC building.