#trendification

"Be Prepared". 1st Leichhardt Boy Scouts hall. Officially opened by His Excellency the Rt. Hon. Lord Forster, P.C., C.C.M.C. - no less - on 10th May 1924. There was a yoga class going on in there when this was snapped. Leichhardt.

"The Rose". Rose of Australia Hotel (1932). There's been a pub on this site since 1879; the original building was demolished to make way for the current boozer at the height of the Great Depression. Long gone are the days of wild dancing on the semi circular front bar with a very loud thrash band squeezed in the corner. Just before the Pandemic, the joint had a swanky multi-million dollar extension and interior fit-out over two levels, with three new bars and bistro. Now, oh-so bourgeoisie. Erskineville.

Gentrification in progress. Rear of a couple of late 1880's era terrace houses being stripped out for what will no doubt be a split-level über-luxe total rebuild. The street-facing front facades have already been restored to their original condition. Newtown

Formerly derelict late-Victorian era produce store. Used to be cement rendered like most of them, now entirely stripped back to original brickwork. Architect's studio & showroom at ground level, top floor modified and extended as an über-lux private apartment. Gentrification proceeds apace. Marrickville.

Contradiction in terms. Newtown.

Rear lane access. New Brutalist apartment building. Chippendale.

Public House Hotel. This nondescript pub is one of the oldest in the Inner West opening in 1858 as the Stanmore Hotel. Later changed name to the Do Drop Inn, but known for most of the 20th century as the Newington Inn Hotel. Interior entirely rebuilt and became the Public House Hotel in 2015. Large beer garden out the back now boasts a boutique brewery. There was a contract killing in the  front bar here in 1974 when standover man and illegal bookmaker John “Ratty Jack” Clarke was shot dead with a single .45 through a window while enjoying an after-hours beer. His suspected killer was himself gunned down two weeks later. Petersham.

With the proliferation of new apartment developments in the Inner West comes the rise of the apartment dog, and the pooch parlour - unknown in these parts until the pandemic - expensive pampering so those cool canines can continue to look cool. (The lovable ol' mongrel dog who chooses to hang around with Vanishing Sydney is ten years old, ugly, smells bad, and would be refused entry outright for not being cute enough. That's life). 1. Petersham. 2. Newtown. 3. Hurlstone Park.