Looking Back Network

The Enchanted Forest, Illawarra Escarpment taken back in 2010.

Here is a list of some of our Illawarra Escarpment peaks and their elevation above sea level:

Bald Hill - 180 metres

Mt Mitchell - 300 metres

Sublime Point - 415 metres

Bulli Mountain - 350 metres

Woonona Mountain - 440 metres

Broker's Nose - 442 metres

Mt Ousley - 350 metres

Mt Keira - 464 metres

Mt Kembla - 534 metres

Mt Nebo - 252 - metres

Hill 60 - 71 metres

B**g B**g Pass, Huntley - 550 metres

Mt Murray - 768 metres

Stockyard Mountain - 301 metres

Knights Hill - 709 metres

Bells Hill - 803 metres

Mt Noorinan - 666 metres

B**g B**g Mountain - 644 metres

Saddleback Mountain - 600 metres

Berry Mountain - 387 metres

Cambewarra Mountain - 678 metres

Wedding Cake Mountain - 712 metres

Drawing Room Rocks - 600 metres

See more landscapes @ www.chilby.com.au

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Men enjoying a beer and a smoke on the northern verandah of the Family Hotel, Bulli, June 1950.
The picture was taken from Stokes Lane, and shows the side entrance door and verandah of the pub, today known as the Heritage Hotel.
'Jumma' Brown, who drank in the pub right up until his death in the 1990s, can be seen standing on the extreme right, looking back towards the camera.
Jumma was the father of Kevin 'Big Bird' Brown, who also called the Family Hotel his local pub.
We sadly lost Big Bird recently... RIP.
So many characters and identities have called the Bulli pub their local.
For those who drank at the Family Hotel during the 1990s, that dog may bring back memories of Poppy, the pub dog that also enjoyed basking in the sun at that exact same spot!
Picture: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, courtesy ACP Magazines Ltd.

This image, looking south from Woonona towards McCabe's grand two storey residence and Brokers Nose, is a gem.
McCabe's home would be in the paddocks of South Bulli Colliery.
You can see the "Bulli Road", today's Princes Highway, winding its way towards "Black Cutting Hill" and Corrimal.
Titled, "Russell Vale, Near Wollongong", the image appeared in the Australian Town and Country Journal on Saturday 23 August 1879.
* Coloured and enhanced from original newspaper lithograph. The original is in the comments.

Mr. W. Buckett is now running a four-horse coach between Bulli and Hurstville, via Clifton.
- Illawarra Mercury Thursday 26 March 1885.
* Hurstville was the terminus of the South Coast Railway at this time. Travellers from Sydney to the Illawarra would catch a train to Hurstville, where they would board a coach.
* Picture enhanced and coloured with AI technology.

From humble innkeeper to one of Australia’s first millionaire publicans, George Adams’ rags-to-riches story centers on Sydney’s legendary Tattersall’s Hotel. Born to English farming parents in 1839, Adams immigrated to Australia in 1855, working as a butcher and Cobb & Co driver before running a quiet weatherboard inn on the NSW South Coast.
An imposing man with flaming red hair, "The Man in the Hat" harboured a deep passion for horse racing. In 1878, his dream came true when three punting mates bought him Sydney’s O’Brien’s Hotel on credit. Renamed Adams’ Tattersall’s Hotel, he launched the famous Tattersall’s Sweepstakes there in 1881, which quickly spread nationwide.
By 1892, his immense success allowed him to build the spectacular Marble Bar. Costing a fortune, the opulent saloon was hailed as Australia’s grandest drinking space, cementing Adams' legacy as a titan of Australian racing and hospitality.
Read the full story at The Time Gents website. The link is in the comments.

Strange Sights at Bulli
The People Puzzled
In common with residents in other parts of Australia, the people of Bulli, New South Wales, are not behind the times in seeing and marvelling at the mysterious lights which appear suspended in the eastern and western skies. The people of Bulli, however, go one better than the average sightseer. They saw two of these lights in the western sky, they came into violent collision, and the impact was so great that the sound could be dis- tinctly heard like the distant roar of jailing waters. On Monday night several inquisitive residents of Bulli proceeded to investigate the lights by means of a telescope, and on their authority it is stated that it looked like a distant world, on which they could plainly see a group of gigantic creatures illuminated and adorned by a celestial radiance quite foreign to anything on this earth. They appeared to be trying to signal to the earth, and one in particular, who seemed to have control of the others, was so enthusiastic about it that he wanted to jump right off to this planet, whilst the remainder of the group were doing their best to restrain him. Then a dark bank of cloud crossed over the sky and the silent watchers went home.
It is believed locally that the nocturnal illuminations were caused by the Martian peoples who have got word that the American astronomers are about to establish communication with them by signalling. It might be mentioned that this is the district recently subject to the tiger scare.
-- Barrier Miner (Broken Hill) Friday 20 August 1909.

Fishers showing off their catch at Sandon Point, Bulli.
Jacob Glass, who owned one of the Bulli boat sheds and organised fishing competition, is pictured third from the right in the front row.
Picture: Wollongong Library.

Bulli Bulletin
Horse Drowned
"Three men hired a valuable horse and sulky from Mr. H. Mant's livery stable (at Bulli) on Saturday. Returning from Wollongong they were caught In a severe storm.
While crossing a gully the horse was swept away and drowned. The men escaped."
- Sydney Evening News, September 15, 1914.
Lithograph created with AI technology.