Lost Perth Mounts Bay to The Narrows

The Narrows Bridge , could have been called The Golden West Bridge is almost 60 years old November 1959.

[@greglyons3728]

Bloody bewty crew. My family's been here for 5 generations and ive watched Perth change since the 60's. Brings back some good memories of when i was a little fella and going to the Boans cafeteria with mum hahaha.

[@annettereynolds7457]

We lived in Newman until 1979 and then went back to the UK so I have fond memories of Perth. I went back in 2005 and was hugely surprised at the difference. I'm heading back there this year to see what another 19 years of change will have brought

[@edithsymmans3273]

I didn't like the music drowning out the commentary because that is part of the history of Mounts Bay then the building of the Narrows Bridge. I am grateful that my Daddy got to see this before his passing. Perth is still the most beautiful city in the world.

[@blisseth3103]

As someone who’s born in the early 90s I’m really starting to appreciate the city we live in and it’s history. Thanks for sharing your memories with us!

[@tonyw2808]

Brilliant compilation.Thanks for doing this stuff.I arrived in Perth in 1968, whilst all the Mounts Bay Road area was a huge sandpit.I thought at first it was the start of the Nullabor.

[@stevemarshall5249]

Thanks, this is great stuff. I have lived in Perth all my life, and modern history like this must not be forgotten.

[@niftytwo]

Thank you Steve. I was born in Perth 76 years ago. Schooled, worked, and only moved to work locations and National Service Army commitment. 1967/ 1969. Lot’s of travelling throughout Australia. Up the Old Red Rooster,,,,,, Nifty.

[@niftytwo]

Extraordinary. Perth is Home for me and Family. The Narrows was built as I was going through my Secondary schooling. No television but I knew something was changing. Too young to understand. Lots of memories. And I’m still here.

[@cmonkey63]

A resident of Perth since the mid-90s, I find these windows to the past amazing. Everything is changing all the time, and while change is unstoppable (except for a 12 Monkeys event) it's good to see where we came from.

[@celiamartins2680]

PERTH THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY IN THE WORLD 🇦🇺 IN MY OPINION

[@MakhalanyaneMotaung]

Its so strange seeing places I recognise, without any of the buildings I know. Great insight into the history of our city

[@raelenefrench451]

Love the old cars

[@inefekt]

I can imagine plucking someone out of one of those photos and showing them the Perth skyline as it looks now....just need to tell them not to roam the streets, especially at night..they would quickly want to go back to the 50s 😬

[@trig1900]

Blast from the past.. born in Perth in early 1950's. So the building of the Narrows Bridge was a reminder of my early life watching that happen; I remember mum and dad going on about the bridge opening and how it would open up the south side of the river to more development. Perth seems to grow more beautiful with each generation adding their own layer of flavour. From the Causeway Bridge to the Narrows to Subiaco and Northbridge each decade has left it's stamp on the face of the city. Some venerable old buildings have been lost, some not so venerable, but the pastiche of a lovely city is continually enhanced to make it better than ever. Thank you for the video.

[@freeman10000]

Well said from someone who moved to Perth in the mid Nintees.

[@elizabethblackwell6242]

Another outstanding upload. Thanks Warren.

[@johnbravo7542]

It makes me sad,and want to cry :(

[@silentdogfart4892]

Such a beautiful city.

[@bennyleong9520]

Wish all this footage and other old perth vintage films and photos would be stored somewhere apart from youtube.

[@martineyer5336]

I love Perth what a beautiful city....❤️ if only they built the bridges higher so we could all sail under...,

[@martinjenkins6467]

No thanks keep having nightmares Of the bridge collapse in Hobart.

[@marcos_music_channel]

Wow this place has changed so much!

[@one4320]

Let's build a city on the banks of this beautiful river, half fill it in and put a freeway there. Perfect!

[@martinjenkins6467]

The river is still great. Better than That overrated brown strip no Wider than a road that Melbourne Boast about.

[@kenchristie9214]

I do miss the Mirror Pond especially the reflection of the War Memorial.

[@trig1900]

The bridge was deemed essential to opening up the south side of the river for development. Before that there was only the causeway bridge, a congestion nightmare during the week, and the Fremantle bridge to the west and the Garret road bridge to the north. There was the rail bridge through East Perth but it was for trains only. So, apart from corridors of development which followed the Great Eastern Highway, the Albany Highway and the Canning Highway there was not much happening. With the introduction of the Narrows bridge and the Kwinana Freeway growth in the southern suburbs exploded, a much needed development for the ever growing population of Perth. So, yes, urban pressures dictated that the Narrows Bridge be built. And that's pretty much how a lot of the arguments for it went at the time.

[@bowser9960]

Would love to have heard the commentary instead of that awful music.

[@Shortcutguitlssns]

PJShumack Is that all you could come up with?

[@cmonkey63]

I actually like the music, gives a feeling of moving, as in moving forward. But to each his own.

[@trig1900]

He probably had to do it so copyright wouldn't have been breached.

[@macalacalan1175]

Consider this - it took 166 years (from 1829 - 1995) for Perth to grow to a population of @ 850,000. It’s taken only another 26 years (1995 - 2021) to grow to over 2,000,000. The addition of @ 1.2 million people - in only 26 years - has been an unmitigated disaster. And Sydney and Melbourne are even worse. No surprise that many people can’t even afford rent less alone own a house, that so many poor souls are homeless, we are now hostage to two desal plants, people are parked on the freeway all day, road rage, ambulances are queued up, the prisons and hospitals are chockers, more people need to live like ferrets in high rise flats (‘apartments’), billions of dollars are needed to build new infrastructure to satisfy an ever increasing population, loss of biodiversity ... So no wonder the increasing wave of refugees who are deserting our once beautiful cities and seeking a ‘sea/tree change. Unbridled human population growth, and especially in this, the driest of continents, and in the face of global warming, is a path to disaster - an upward spiral to a downward staircase. We have fast killed the goose that laid the golden egg .... and now live in a fool’s paradise.

[@pistolpete8539]

Cast blame upon the many faceless bureaucrats who advance the cause of mass immigration into our nation against the wishes of our citizens. Regardless of which bunch of incompetent dumb-nutted lackwits, whether it be the ALP or Coalition, are in power, these bureaucrats hold the power. There will never be a referendum presented to the Australian people to determine immigration numbers.

[@inefekt]

Humans need to stop breeding, pretty simple....way too many of us, we're like a mouse plague

[@peterweeden6203]

So well done, right down to the music selection. Made me sad and happy at the same time. ❤

[@cbisme6414]

I'd love to have been able to hear the voice commentary which is unfortunately drowned out by the music, is there any valid reason it was done this way? I did enjoy seeing the changes, thank you

[@mdisamadi]

amazing perth

[@tonysan2]

Bloody Awesome Warren!

[@CovidConQuitTheCensorship]

Is there any chance you can re-upload this without the music so we can hear the commentary?

[@sorissil]

and without the effect.

[@trig1900]

Not sure if he could do that without perhaps breaching copyright.

[@macalacalan1175]

PS - thank you for the great photos. 😊

[@Bellakelpie]

My Great Grandparents house on top of the hill at 0.31.👍

[@agent_soshi]

This is amazing to see, I’m studying urban planning and we’re looking parliament and the freeway and it’s so interesting to see the development of Perth

[@goransvraka3171]

For future reference can you please never again stick a freeway next to a River but build a Riviera instead so people not cars enjoy the river and nature! So dumb

[@markhuartson1871]

Wish we could have heard three commentary instead of the music and also you rushed through the images way too fast to really appreciate the photos.

[@trig1900]

Some comment below surrounds the filling in of part of the river to build the bridge and the Kwinana Freeway which runs off on it's southern end. There were reasons: The bridge was deemed essential to opening up the south side of the river for development. Before that, for connection to the south and east side of the river, there was only the causeway bridge, a congestion nightmare during the week, and the Fremantle bridge to the west and the Garret Road and Guilford bridges to the north. There was the rail bridge through East Perth but it was for trains only. So, apart from corridors of development which followed the Great Eastern Highway, the Albany Highway and the Canning Highway there was not much happening. With the introduction of the Narrows bridge and the Kwinana Freeway growth in the southern suburbs exploded, a much needed development for the ever growing population of Perth. So, yes, urban pressures dictated that the Narrows Bridge be built. And that's pretty much how a lot of the arguments for it went at the time.

[@olegnesterov1712]

It would be more informative for Perth lovers if all photos showed the year of shooting (at least approximately) Anyway thank you for compilation!!!

[@moniam1898]

... this music 😞 Almost all videos have too loud music. Great job, nice to watch in silent!

[@jasonswift7098]

It's 62 years old now.

[@MS-qd6bm]

Perth was a nicer place back then.

[@klytouch5285]

I am keeping an eye on the brewery..😊

[@lineyking]

I could hardly recognize Perth, the water of the Swan is actually blue!

[@goransvraka3171]

If only they kept it intact as nature intended....I mean who would stick a freeway next to a River? They could have made a nice river Promenade or a Riviera like in Europe! But instead a dirty polluting freeway

[@holdfast7657]

It's the Australian way to spoil a place by building a road between the Foreshore and homes/businesses. Much nicer to walk off a beach and into a cafe or restaurant.

[@steveparkinson25]

Music over the commentary is really annoying.

[@shirleyellis9708]

👍

[@mikecrawford5332]

Would be better if in time sequence. Maybe a re-edit. Thanks anyway.

[@fabianpatrizio2865]

also funny how probably the worst part of the whole river was selected to build a city on....a marshy, swampy area that had to be further dredged out...the Applecross peninsula would have been better, just an opinion :)

[@WarrenDuffy]

As you know Fabian, Applecross and later Heathcoate was the second option for the settlement. The headland of Mt Eliza I guess was a point for fortifications if ever required and the narrow neck at Milsons Point.

[@elizabethblackwell6242]

@@WarrenDuffy And it had fresh water? I thought I read that in some of Professor Bolton's work. Fantastic video, Warren.

[@martinjenkins6467]

Still looks great when looking down from Kings Park.

[@Sculpture269]

Lets make perth the envy of the world in our vision forv our future Friends of Redeveloping Langley Park

[@johnsmithschannel999]

Nothing changed much from 1900's. Roads are still the same narrow ones and tiny buildings. Horrible city to drive and the best place to walk.

[@stevenweiler1379]

I hate driving around in this place mounts bay is one area I will not drive in

[@fabianpatrizio2865]

They had the chance to build an iconic Sydney Harbour-like bridge there, but built the narrows instead...a 'nothing' bridge...ah well

[@WarrenDuffy]

There was a sketch of what Perth might look in a century done in 1929 with a massive bridge attached to Mt Eliza and a Freeway running throughout Kings Park.

[@itemzaudio8053]

Fabian Patrizio and start charging every vehicles going through it? I don’t think it’s a Perth thing.

[@stephenvelden295]

I think the Narrows Bridge is a modern looking, attractive bridge. It doesn't need to be iconic! Everyone in Perth knows they live in the best city in Australia. We don't need flashy icons. We have quality!

[@rgrndu]

Seems like they went in the wrong direction & made a pretty area ugly all in the name of progress.

[@Tomm9y]

Like many a coastline, ruined by overdevelopment.

[@RVF7501]

Loose the music bloody annoying