Interesting snippets from Nilss ...
Below is a variety of quotes and links which might be of interest. Thanks to Nilss for sending them.
- I found this automatically generated internet description of Eaglemont 13 years ago - this is a very early example of artificial intelligence:
Eaglemont is a coastal locality just off the Upper Heidelberg Road in south Victoria, Australia situated 10km northeast of Melbourne. Eaglemont is about 57m above sea level. Eaglemont is just off the Yarra River. The nearest more populous place is the metropolis of Melbourne which is 9.8km away with a population of about 3.2 million.
- This description (on homely.com.au) is very current, dated 13th December 2024
"Where Heritage Meets Tranquility"
Eaglemont is a suburb I feel privileged to call home. Living on The Eyrie, I’m greeted each day by the soft rustling of plane trees and views that make it feel like a peaceful retreat. Yet, it’s wonderfully connected—Eaglemont Village, with its cozy cafes and friendly shopkeepers, is just a short stroll away, and the train makes city trips effortless.
On evening walks, I often wander down Charlton Road, where the beautifully preserved homes and lush gardens create a sense of timeless charm. It’s a quiet, tucked-away street that feels like a perfect reflection of what makes Eaglemont special. The Righi, with its wide nature strips and graceful elm trees, offers a different energy—calm yet evolving, blending heritage with new life. Each street in Eaglemont has its own character, but together they create a suburb that’s not just a place to live, but a place to belong.
The following quotes come from the yallambie.wordpress.com website:
Heidelberg and Eaglemont: “…I then threw out our anchor attached to its rope. It dragged along the ground for a long distance, and was brought up by a stump, giving us a regular jerk, and flinging my companion over the edge of the car, but he stuck to his rope. The balloon now lay along the ground bumping up and down while we tugged at the valve keeping it open. Two men came up and promptly laid hold of our ropes, acting in a very intelligent manner, quite indifferent to some English peasantry when I have encountered in like circumstances. We sprang out of the car, and also laid hold of the ropes, the valve lying open of itself. ‘Where are we,’ inquired my companion. ‘Heidelberg,’ was the reply, and indeed with all our ideas of tumbling along with the hurricane we had only reached eleven miles from Melbourne.“ (From the Melbourne Herald, page 4, 16 Nov, 1875) (This must be a different incident from the balloon photo above)
Heidelberg: As the colony emerged from the economic stupor of the 1840s, visitors to the Heidelberg district were astonished by the experience of travelling on a luxury road that boasted an incredible macadamized surface, the first in the Port Phillip District. In March, 1848, Bishop Perry wrote after travelling on this road that:
“Yesterday we drove to Heidelberg, which is the most settled part of the country. The distance from Melbourne is about eight miles, and the road is the only made road in the colony… Here and there we went along, were neatly piled up heaps of broken stone, ready for mending the road, just as you see in England; and at places we found men at work with shovels levelling, filling up holes etc.”
Eaglemont Dairy: There was a time years ago when non-homogenized milk was delivered to houses in glass bottles topped with foil. The magpies would peck at the top to get at the cream if you left the bottles out late in the morning. In the Heidelberg area milk came from the Eaglemont Dairy.
Harold Bartram of Viewbank Farm built the silos in the years before the Second War as fodder storage for his dairy cows, siting them at a prominent place overlooking the Banyule Rd and using plans he found in an Australian Home Beautiful homecrafts series, “Concrete and Cement Work”. Bartram’s farm supplied distributing dairies in the area like Gillies at Eaglemont until both the farm and Dairy disappeared with the spread of suburban sprawl.
Eaglemont: At nearby Eaglemont, where elm trees were once saved at the expense of those in Yallambie, the forester William Ferguson planted a great pinetum, the largest in the colony, on the summit of “Mount Eagle” for J H Brooke as a prelude to a grand estate envisaged for that place. The first curator of the Geelong Botanic Gardens, Daniel Bunce visited in 1861 and recorded that “under the skilful management of his gardener Mr Ferguson”, Brooke had accumulated “the largest number of conifers of any establishment in the colony”. The house was never built and Ferguson left the project in 1863 with Brooke himself leaving for Japan four years later. However, in the 21st century at least some of Brooke’s trees remain, hidden away inside the private gardens of wealthy Eaglemont homes, proof of the enduring nature of the grown landscape and especially the legacy of 19th century pinetums.
- https://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM00495b.htm This history of Eaglemont's development was written by Don Garden.
- See this Instagram post by @melbourne_ghostsigns: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1nKlLXh5BL/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
Architecture etc
This link takes you to the Victorian Heritage Database for Eaglemont
https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/search?kw=Eaglemont&aut_off=1
- Ivanhoe Views Estate 1920-1940: There are Heritage guidelines (adopted by Banyule Council in 2005) covering this estate, which surrounds the Village on the south-east side of the rail line. It is deemed significant 'as a highly representative Inter War housing estate demonstrating a way of life quite different to present residential living.' and it 'demonstrate(s) the range of popular housing styles of the 1920s and 1930s...'
The estate has been aptly named as the views from within the area across the railway, to the heavily treed slopes rising to the ridgeline of the Upper Heidelberg Road at Ivanhoe are a notable contribution to the character of the area. One area where this can be appreciated to good effect is at the junction of Charlton Road and The Righi.
If you'd like to know more, follow this link https://www.banyule.vic.gov.au/files/assets/public/v/1/planning/reference-documents/ivanhoe-views-estate-heritage-guidelines.pdf
- 1937 - when there were less cars in Eaglemont...8 Mount Street, Eaglemont, Vic 3084 has a land size of 763 m². It is a house that was built in 1937 with 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, and no parking space. (Found on a real estate website)
A Spotlight On: 3084 Houses – Heidelberg, Eaglemont, Viewbank and Rosanna - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9aF3YlwdQ0
- The 3 photos below are from the Public Record Office and are undated, but probably 1949, with the new station building nearly complete. The detail is amazing if you enlarge them
https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/4CCBD09A-F823-11E9-AE98-7577E057DB0A?image=1
https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/4CCA9819-F823-11E9-AE98-6F5B5E4FC509?image=1
https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/4CC986A8-F823-11E9-AE98-D19F1B10C0F5?image=1
- How a slightly longer train trip can pay off for Melbourne homebuyers (Herald Sun, 30.03.19)
The biggest savings are on offer for those willing to househunt one stop further down the Hurstbridge line, new Real Estate Institute of Victoria data shows.
The median house price drops $668,250 from Eaglemont station to Heidelberg station, and also $325,000 from Alphington station to Ivanhoe’s Darebin station, despite these stops being just two minutes apart.
Eaglemont station $1,725,750 vs. next stop Heidelberg $1.057m = $668,250 difference for two extra mins on the train
Alphington $1.725m vs. Darebin (Ivanhoe) $1.4m = $325,000 difference, two extra mins
Other rail matters
- Heidelberg Parish, St John's Catholic Church: In the early days, the parish boundaries extended as far as Lilydale, Healesville, Warburton and many nearby places, including Eltham, Hurstbridge, Bulleen, Yan Yean, Templestowe and Epping. Today’s parish includes the suburb of Heidelberg, and parts of Eaglemont, Heidelberg Heights, Ivanhoe and Rosanna.
And these walks from Banyule Council's website:
Eaglemont northern
Eaglemont northern walking circuit map (PDF, 620KB) There is also a description with photos on this link https://www.melbourneplaygrounds.com.au/eaglemont-northern-walk and a Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUDG1Czdo7M
This walking circuit is one of 2 based in the Eaglemont area. It is a footpath-based circuit approximately 3.5km long, starting at Eaglemont Village and taking a northern circuit of Eaglemont. You can begin at any local street, although you might like to start at Eaglemont Village to take advantage of local cafes.
The walking circuit is in some parts flat, although there are some gentle and steeper gradients along the route.
The walking circuit, if starting at Eaglemont Village and travelling in a clockwise direction, takes in Alandale Road, Odenwald Road, The Righi, Castle Street, Mount Street, Durham Street, Hawdon Street, Carlsberg Road, The Panorama, The Eyrie and returns to the Village and Eaglemont rail station via Eaglemont Crescent and Charlton Road.
You will pass Albert Jones park with playground equipment, picnic tables, seating and water fountains.
Leafy avenues, heritage houses and beautiful gardens abound. Look out for some beautiful leafy streets and heritage homes and gardens. Bicycle hoops and accessible parking are available at Eaglemont Village.
The circuit can be accessed by travelling to and from Eaglemont rail station.
(What's missing from this walk is the option of turning in the other direction at the junction of Hawdon St and Devon Street, and using Goats Lane to connect with Carlsberg Rd. This lane is a relict from the times when Eaglemont was semi-rural).
Eaglemont southern
Download Eaglemont southern walking circuit map(PDF, 4MB)
This walking circuit is one of two based in the Eaglemont area. It is a footpath-based circuit approximately 3km long, starting at Eaglemont Village and taking a southern circuit of Eaglemont. You can begin at any local street, although you might like to start at Eaglemont Village to take advantage of local cafes.
The walking circuit is mixture of flat, gentle and steeper gradients along the route.
The walking circuit, if starting at Eaglemont Village and travelling in a clockwise direction, takes in Alandale Road, The Eyrie, Glen Drive, Brook Street, Maltravers Road and returns to the Village and Eaglemont rail station via Locksley Road. You will pass and can explore Brook Street reserve which is unique in its free form greenery and planting.
Leafy avenues, heritage houses and beautiful gardens abound. Listen out for the Currawong and Eastern spine bill as you walk. Bicycle hoops and accessible parking are available at Eaglemont Village.
The circuit can be accessed by travelling to and from Eaglemont rail station.
- And for the poets Golden Summer, Eaglemont | New Australian poetry, contemporary Australian writers & poetry education | Red Room Poetry https://redroompoetry.org/poets/kate-middleton/golden-summer/
Member discussion