There once was a creek

Uncovering Brisbane's lost waterways

Category: Feature essays

  • Uncovering Langsville Creek, Part 1

    Uncovering Langsville Creek, Part 1

    This page is part of a series: This is the first in a series of posts about Langsville Creek, which was Western Creek’s upstream neighbour on the Toowong/Milton Reach. I do not intend to research Langsville Creek fully at this stage, as I have too much still to learn about Western Creek. But I couldn’t…

  • The Waters of Milton

    The Waters of Milton

    I’ve expressed previously my enthusiasm for old maps. The older they are, the more they tend to reveal about the original landscape. Until recently, the oldest map that I had found of the Milton area dated back to 1859. That map (‘Plan of Portions 203 to 257 in the Environs of Brisbane, Parish of Enoggera,…

  • Backflow to the future

    Backflow to the future

    Backflow to the Future… or: How we learned to stop worrying and love the floods Angus Veitch — 12 January 2013 (updated January 2014) Duckbill season If you’ve walked along the riverside bikeway at Milton recently and paid close attention to the riverbank, you may have noticed one of these: This is not a piece…

  • Guppies & Geysers: Rosalie’s drains in the 1970s

    Guppies & Geysers: Rosalie’s drains in the 1970s

    Guppies & geysers: memories of playing around and under Paddington in the 1970s Steven Cowley, November 2012 This page was written by Steven Cowley on behalf of his friend Rhonda, who grew up in Herbert Street in the 1970s. After getting in touch with me and asking if I would be interested in a child’s…

  • Milton: Brisbane’s western frontier

    Milton: Brisbane’s western frontier

    The transformation of the Western Creek catchment began with the westward expansion of Brisbane into the area that became known as Milton. On this page we take a trip back to these early days of Brisbane to see how this development unfolded. Along the way, we learn about some of the first residents of Milton,…

  • Kids, cows and nuns: the story of the Couldrey Street Clearing

    Kids, cows and nuns: the story of the Couldrey Street Clearing

    The clearing at the bottom of Couldrey Street has intrigued me ever since I started retracing the path of Western Creek. This is where the channels running through the bush around Tristania Drive — the only remaining natural parts of the creek — converge, only to spill out onto a large, waterlogged lawn. Through the…

  • Red Jacket Park?

    Red Jacket Park?

    This page is part of a series: Angus Veitch — 2012 Of the many people who use or live near Gregory Park today, I suspect that few have ever heard of Red Jacket Swamp. Probably, few of them have heard of A. C. Gregory either, but if they care to look they will find not…

  • Gregory Park settles down (1945 – present)

    Gregory Park settles down (1945 – present)

    This page is part of a series: Angus Veitch — March 2012 After the war, there were no more drains to build, no more swamps to fill, and no more trenches to dig. Gregory Park could finally settle down. Competitive sports continued to be played at the district level and even interstate level at Gregory…

  • Gregory Park comes of age (1904 – 1945)

    Gregory Park comes of age (1904 – 1945)

    This page is part of a series: Angus Veitch — 2012 A reserve for recreation (1904 – 1916) For many years, the formal designation of Red Jacket Swamp as a ‘recreation reserve’ was at best ironic, and at worst insulting to the residents and school children who had to put up with its putrid condition.…

  • Best laid plans (1887 – 1903)

    Best laid plans (1887 – 1903)

    This page is part of a series: Angus Veitch — 2012 A tale of two shires (1887 – 1890) Until the formation of the Brisbane City Council in 1925, Western Creek flowed through two local government areas, these being the shires of Toowong and Ithaca. Toowong Shire fronted the river all the way along the…