Links to Our Past

With the advent of a local swimming pool in the 1930s, residents had ready access to the refreshing coolness of water in the summer heat as well as having a facility in which to swim. And even many who couldn’t swim were not too self-conscious to simply walk into the water and splash around. In all honesty, in the days of rainwater tanks and when water-levels ran low, some were seen at the Lake cooling and refreshing themselves with the benefit of a block of soap! So it was that the younger generation of the time were often the first in families to be able to swim.

The Encyclopedia of Melbourne was published in 2005 by Cambridge University Press, and there is now an on-line version. The on-line version has all the original articles plus additional text and 'see also' links.

I have written before about some of my favourite local history resources, and Vision and Realisation : a centenary of State Education in Victoria (full details at the bottom) is right up there at the top of my list. It is a three volume history of State education in Victoria and consists of over 4,100 pages. It includes a history of education in the colony of Victoria from the denominational schools onwards, a history of secondary schooling, technical schooling and teacher education.

Berwick High School (now called Berwick Secondary College) opened on February 1 1977, with 110 students. Until the School opened, local children had to travel outside the town to attend a State High School.