Balmain Peninsula, Sydney, N.S.W.

[@stpeterscooksriver1873]

www.youtube.com/@stpeterscooksriver1873/playlists Check out our play list.The videos are grouped such that, whenever possible those that are geographically close are together.

[@aussiebaz5363]

Once again, brilliant. I did lots of work in Balmain in the '70s and '80s and always enjoyed the atmosphere. In regard to wells for drinking water, as a plumber, I was using a jackhammer to dig through the sandstone for a sewer connection. We hit a shale seam and just below it, a constant flow of clean, fresh water, a problem at the time, yet fascinating. You people do a wonderful job, thank you so much. I'm forwarding this to my friend who now lives in White St, I'm sure she will jot down details and go for a walk.

[@stpeterscooksriver1873]

A great pleasure to read your response, and thank you for the compliment. I hope that others would be inspired by your references to your working life, and share them with others, such that we all have a much more focused awareness of the suburb. Let’s hope your contribution will encourage others to not only share their knowledge of Balmain, but any of the forty or so of the Sydney suburban videos we have on the channel. Thanks once again.

[@aussiebaz5363]

@@stpeterscooksriver1873 My pleasure, thank you.

[@gracecourtney8054]

Thank you so much for the time and effort put into the research and production of this video. I've just moved to Balmain and greatly enjoyed learning about the history of my new home!

[@stpeterscooksriver1873]

Thanks for your compliments. We have friends who live in the area. We walked around the area taking photographs of the area for our video, then had coffee and viewed the passing throng of people and dogs. Balmain always appears so alive. It is good to hear from someone who actually lives in the area, particularly a newcomer, who has got something from watching our video. A good many of our viewers have been previous residents, who wallow quite delightfully in nostalgia. How else could we know of, in particular, the previous smell of the place. By the way, I assume you know that we are in the same local council area.

[@longine5122]

Thank you, that was awesome. I had a home in Napoleon street Rozelle, formally Balmain West, and I intend to retire back there some day. I always loved walking the streets which I did every day, and wondered at the history of the place I called home.

[@stpeterscooksriver1873]

We also enjoyed walking the streets, whilst we photographed and of course sat and watched the people pass by as we had coffee. Pleased with the number of views our video on Balmain has. We are still searching for that mysterious clue which will allow us to predict what suburbs are likely to have many views. Is it a sense of identity some suburbs have? Is it an awareness that whilst a building is no longer used for its original purpose it is still there? Is it a memory of childhood happiness? We are still more than a little surprised with what attracts viewers. North Sydney, which we shall present in the next few days, has been an enormous challenge, largely due to dramatic change and the need to verify, not only dates but geographic locations. Thanks for you comment, it gives us a little more information as to who our audience are.

[@kremolaconia]

Really fascinating content. A great trip through Balmain. Thanks folks!

[@stpeterscooksriver1873]

We truly appreciate your comment. The Balmain video is five minutes longer than anything we have previously produced. As you are probably aware, there is a wealth of information on Balmain, and much of its fabric is still standing, in some form or other. Condensing the information available, even to this length was a challenge. Pleased with the response so far, particularly the average time people spend viewing. One curious feature, is that searching in KZbin using Balmain, brings up French fashion, however searching Balmain Peninsula, which of course includes Birchgrove, we top the listing. Looking forward to reading comments from residents and former residents, on their nostalgic memories of Balmain’s past.

[@trevorhare4238]

Nicely done - thank you!

[@LifeIsGreat7070]

Amazing history content, to think this history story lesson will be here for all of us to learn about the history lesson of Balmain is now here forever set in stone is really amazing to think about, you guys put in so much effort and read and work together very nicely as you read and share together the story of Balmain, thank you for this awesome history.

[@stpeterscooksriver1873]

We can only wish, that the audience for our other videos, was as interested in them as those from Balmain. Parramatta and a little surprisingly Concord are others that we are pleased with. Three or four of our recent videos have attracted little interest, including, the substantial suburb of North Sydney. We enjoyed our day in Balmain, the sun shone, the camera clicked, and there’s alway a place to have coffee and watch the passing foot traffic. Your comment on reading and working together, is very much appreciated. There is always a little tension between us, my loud voice, and her desire to curtail my emphasis on certain words, is something I’m working on. Having lived here since 1974, I’m still inclined to pronounce words, particularly place or street names in the accepted form in England, or indeed the whole of the United Kingdom. Its still a challenge for me, but one I have to accept. The script is entirely written by the woman, on the video. Thank you for your very encouraging remarks, for we are going through a fairly thin patch at present. Hornsby is our next video.

[@gdawwg1125]

Balmain and Newtown are like time capsules So interesting , thanks

[@AB-kx4nc]

Loving your videos, treating myself every evening

[@stpeterscooksriver1873]

@@AB-kx4nc Thanks for your comments, as for our videos, there are seventy so far, and an extra two if you should be watching one a night. I trust you are following them on our playlist, which can be reached by searching “Highlighting History of Suburban Sydney.” We have rearranged the grouping such that you should find suburbs that have common borders are grouped together. This means that you should find eight or so grouped together before you move onto another area. Hopefully this should mean a better understanding of how larger areas developed. Development of most suburbs have been dependent on transport be it roads, river, and the use of horse and cart, trams, and railways. Freshwater was another consideration as were churches both mention in real estate advertisements. We’ve always enjoyed visiting Balmain, particularly when we visited it on a sunny day to take photographs for our video.

[@AB-kx4nc]

@stpeterscooksriver1873 great work, I will try and watch the rest in order,I was just watching as they came up on my feed.

[@stpeterscooksriver1873]

@@AB-kx4nc I doubt if you can understand how encouraging your comment is to us. Do keep in touch. Are some suburbs in a place where you would prefer to overlook them perhaps? This would help us to reorder our play list. Not just, I might add because you would like your area to be at the top of the list. After I asked which areas did someone like viewing, the reply was “I like viewing the Inner West and then going onto the Bondi area.” I was a little surprised for I thought after the Inner West the next viewing should be the suburbs on Botany Bay that are across the Cooks River. We are still on a learning curve.

[@AB-kx4nc]

@stpeterscooksriver1873 I can understand that you have put a lot of effort into these videos I like the way that it's straight to the point and not drawn out , I can't say I haven't enjoyed 1 yet and I've watched around 15, just about to watch another 👏 thank you for making my winter evenings enjoyable

[@stpeterscooksriver1873]

@@AB-kx4nc KZbin give us a graph every day, which tell us when people are watching our videos. There is consistently a goodly number watching from what appears to be ten o’clock in the evening, we’re just hoping that our videos are being used as a substitute for sleeping pills. Thanks for the comment.

[@TCW1977]

Wonderful, thank you 😊

[@stpeterscooksriver1873]

Thanks for your encouragement.

[@haroldmclean3755]

High Praise , Very interesting indeed 👍

[@stpeterscooksriver1873]

May we ask the question, “what is interesting and why?” Is it for the period from 1900-1975, for recently KZbin Analytics tell us that people take more interest in this period. We are seeing this as the grandchild attempting to view some semblance of his father and grandfather’s life, given that most of our viewers are over forty five year of age. Having said that, any suburb with an interesting history, however large or small will always be considered. Though it does help if the period we’ve mention is something more than “orchard to suburbia.” We are of course outsiders to many of the suburbs we have made a history of. It is quite deliberate on our part to make the people mentioned in the history of the suburb, neither hero nor villain, unless it is painfully obvious that they are one or the other. Thanks for your comment.