City Centre

 Forrest Pl, Perth WA 6000, Australia 12am – 11:59pm Perth Campervan Hire

jealoussmaw (contributor)

I found Perth has quite an array of different architecture!

I saw quite a few Art Deco buildings that are now on the State Heritage list.

One I liked, was the Carlton Hotel at 248 Hay Street, not the original Hotel, but a newer version completed in 1928 in a horseshoe shape by prominent Perth architects, Eales and Cohen. At the time, this Hotel was little upmarket to the others, as it had car garages instead of stables for horses!
Over the years there has been many renovations completed on this attractive Art Deco building built in the Inter-war period.
Today, it’s operating as no frills Aussie pub complete with cheap beer and local original bands.

The heritage listed Gledden building, on the corner of Hay & William streets was another built in Art Deco style during the Inter-War period.. It is located between Devon House and the former Post Office building that are both Art Deco and heritage-listed. Perhaps you will notice a similarity in this art deco styled building to the American skyscrapers of the day in New York and Chicago. The Gledden building did remind me of similar buildings in the U.S.A. A little different, is the building has freizes of Western Australian flora and fauna.

Walsh’s Building situated on another corner of William & Hay streets, was designed by Talbot Hobbs in Art Deco style of the Inter War period. Different again to the other two buildings, this one was completed in 1923. It is listed on the National Heritage Registrar.

This is just three of the many scattered around the city centre and Perth suburbs.

selectiveburnt (contributor)

This was an interesting sculpture about a man I had never heard of!

Who was he?

Nobody real famous, but a street entertainer who put a smile on many faces. Percy Button was a Londoner, born in 1892 and raised by his grandmother on the Isle of Wight. It is believed he learnt his skills when working for a circus in England. When 22years old, he came to Perth and became a vagrant. At some stage, he began performing to bystanders and they responded by throwing coins into his hat. Sometimes the police arrested him for vagrancy, only so he could get a good feed and a warm bed for the night!
“Percy the Unwashed” as he was often known by, gave up the acrobatics and began playing the mouth organ. Sadly, a vicious attack by a thug in 1940, left him close to death, he never really recovered from a downhill spiral after this attack and passed away 3 years later. The statue was erected in his honour on the very location where he performed, probably still putting a smile on many faces!

The bronze statue is of Percy Button, dressed in a long tailed coat and hat and doing what he used to do, handstands!

Underneath the statue is a plaque with this written on it…..

“Percy button was a local street entertainer and one of Perth’s best known faces from the 1920’s to the 1950’s. Performing somersaults and handstands, Percy entertained people for a few shillings while they waited to see films, newsreels and theatrical performances at the theatres that were
concentrated in what is now the Hay Street Mall, the Theatre Royal, the Ambassador and His Majesty’s Theatre. Percy was renowned for his grubbiness and in November 1929 local newspaper, The Mirror, dressed Percy up in a long-tailed suit and ran a front page competition asking readers to guess the identity of the cleaned up man. The Mirror offered a guinea’s
worth of goods for the first opened letter giving the man’s name. The newspaper later asked Percy to write the 1929 Centenary Christmas Message.

This artwork celebrates the spirit of the street.”

boltropechaos (contributor)

The interior of this church has a lot of wood and is rather plain. The Pulpit is in the centre of the chancel, placed here as a memorial to the fallen in WWI. The Church organ dates back to 1908.

What I found very interesting, was the story of the Church pews. Back in the olden days, to find £3000 to have a church built was an absolute fortune!
The Wesleyans came up with a brilliant idea – A charge for obtaining a seat in the Pews!

The idea was to allocate the seating based upon how much cash you threw into the church building fund. Parishioners who donated £50 or more, were able to have the front pews which were the best, while the cheaper pews were down the back. This seating scheme was eventually abolished.

The budget pews can be seen and sat on, they are around the exterior of the building, that is unless your here on a Tuesday when seating is not allowed “No Pew Tuesdays”.

Opening Hours
8.30 to 3.00pm Monday to Sunday
Service times: Sundays 10.00 Tuesdays 1.00pm

rubplared (contributor)

The exterior of the Wesley church wasn’t one that really grabbed my attention, but perhaps it should have as there are some interesting things to note.

Before I go into detail, I will tell you this was one of three churches built by the early pioneers of the Wesley Mission, who came from Hull, England aboard the sailing ship “Tranby” to Perth in 1830. They had built three churches by 1870. The first Wesley Church was built in 1834, then a second chapel built in 1840, and the third Wesley Church built in 1867.

Of note, is the Flemish Bond brickwork, a decorative style of brickwork that this Gothic Revival style of church was built in. Appealing to the eyes, this style blends light and dark bricks and has rendering around the doors and windows.
Glance upwards to the tower and spire and zoom in with your camera, for perched high atop the copper cone, is a small weathercock, which since 1870, has been turning in the direction of the wind. Four smaller spires surround the base of the main spire, with another four on the adjacent corner.
The church bell has been removed and is on display outside the building.
When built, a bottle containing news of the day was deposited in the wall cavity and the Governor was presented with a silver trowel. I wonder when they will read what is in the bottle, should be interesting!

Since then, the church has been extended and had more galleries and porches added.

severnapparatus (contributor)

Forrest place was originally a street in 1923, today it’s a pedestrian Mall. I walked from Murray street Mall through Forrest Place to Wellington street and back again. Later in the day more people were were around, I guess because the Post office is here and a shopping complex. There was plenty of seating if you needed a rest or to each lunch.

What I didn’t like, was the $1 million tax-payer funded artwork, “Grow your own” or “The Green Cactus.” I could think of better ways to use one million dollars!
You will find this piece of artwork on the ART CITY WALKING TRAIL, so I hope you picked up your free copy from the Info centre.

The Twilight Hawkers Market is Perth’s biggest Street Food .

Market runs from October to April, every Friday between 4.30pm – 9.00pm

Also in Forrest Place, is the Tourist information Centre located next to the Post Office.
A free booking service is offered, they can help with accommodation, tours, transport and hire cars. As usual, there are plenty of free brochures and friendly advice is given.

If you enjoy walking, make sure you pick up one of the FREE WALKING TRAIL MAPS, these are great!

http://visitperthcity.com.au/sites/default/files/IconsOfInfluence_15.pdf

balmerwizard (contributor)

This was an attractive old building that I noticed on Barrack Street, later finding out it was the Heritage listed Weld Club, an exclusive Gentlemens club in Perth that has been around since 1871.
It was named after the then Governor of Western Australia, Sir Frederick Weld, who was the first patron of the Club. Interestingly, I had previously viewed a Monument of Talbot Hobbs, then saw this building and discovered it was designed by the same man!

This was no normal club which anybody could join, you had to be male and have a high social standing!
The Club ensured that the men who came here would not suffer from home-sickness, so it was formed along the lines of those in London. It had leather chairs where members could sit and discuss the politics of the day or read a British newspaper to keep them informed of news from London. There was plenty to do. Billiards, Croquet, Bowls and Tennis could be enjoyed, or perhaps a sail on the close by Swan River.
Members from outside Perth could come here and stay and be looked after by the Chinese servants who were Cooks, Waiters, yardmen, Butlers and more. The Chinese were here until 1927 when they were replaced by…..wait for it……women staff!

In 1995, it opened its doors to women members

juicyanalysis (contributor)

Mercedes College is a private, all girls’ high school located in Victoria Square, Perth. It is a beautiful old school made up of many stone buildings, one with a turret. it was founded in 1846 by the Sisters of Mercy, thus making it the oldest independent Catholic girls’ school in Australia, and the oldest existing secondary school in Perth.
At the very beginning, six sisters of Mercy came out from Ireland and established the pioneer teaching order in Western Australia, beginning with just one student! One of the original sisters died within 6months of arriving, her grave is situated among those of other pioneer Sisters in the garden below the Chapel on the Convent property.
The buildings from 1847 are still in use today.

cevaklutzy (contributor)

I looked at this large piece of swirling white art at St. George’s Cathedral, and wondered what on earth it was! In fact, I didn’t really like this modern contemporary piece of art beside the very old Cathedral.

The piece is named Ascalon after the lance used by St George to slay the dragon. What this art work is meant to do, is “to evoke a sense of righteous power and victory over a force of darkness and oppression.”
It didn’t for me!

The piece of art was dedicated on Sunday 3 April 2011, and is flood lit at night.

See what you think. Does it depict the story of St George and the Dragon, the triumph of good over evil?

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