Beez Neez now Chy Whella

SHB Pylon 2

Big Bear and Pepe Millard

Sat 27 Feb 2016 23:57

Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Visit – Up to the Top Level

We left the middle level with the model of a rivet being heated in the oven.

My bridge man.

Up the next lot of steps. This pylon staircase was built during the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The cantilevered structure and the figures added in 2003 demonstrate how the bridge was built. We looked at a model of a worker and then down on him as we rose.

Very dodgy dangling at great height in a pair of boots on a rope.

At the top of the next set of steps was another shop.

The grand opening, a big picture on the next half turn of steps.

Memorabilia in display cases.

Ceremonial scissors were used by the Premier of New South Wales J.T. Lang to open the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932. This replica was produced by Angus and Coote. The scissors were designed by Vambola Veinberg, Les Denham embossed them and Norm Neal engraved them in Angus and Coote’s workrooms. The scissors were made of Australian gold, hand-wrought with flannel flowers, waratahs and gum leaves set with six flame-coloured opals around a model of the bridge.

Australians greeted the opening of the bridge on the 19th of March 1932 with an outpouring of patriotism and pride. Economic depression was momentarily forgotten as the birth of the largest steel arch bridge in the world was celebrated in style.

Enraged that Premier J.T. Lang had been chosen to open the bridge, ex-army officer F. De Groot, a member of a disgruntled paramilitary group slashed the ribbon minutes before the opening ceremony. De Groot was arrested and fined five pounds – later he appealed and was given expenses........and a place in Australian folklore. At the time, the ribbon was quickly repaired and on things went......

After official speeches and ribbon-cutting, a two kilometre long procession flowed over the bridge. Decorative floats, marching bands, school children, WWI veterans, Scouts, Aboriginals and Harbour Bridge workers all played a part in the long parade. Hundreds of thousands of people attended the opening day celebrations, which were triumphantly broadcast throughout Australia, Great Britain and North America.

Finally at the top we found another load of information, this time in bits and bobs.

Photograph taken in 1931.

The Pylon Lookout has had a long and eventful history as a national and international tourist attraction. In 1934 an enterprising businessman called Archer Whitford converted the pylon into a popular tourist attraction. Attractions included a camera obscura, an Aboriginal Museum, a Supreme Cafe, a ‘Mother’s Nook’ [a place to write dutiful letters home] and a ‘pashometer’ on which visitors could measure their sex appeal.......... At the viewing platform a host of ‘charming attendants’ assisted visitors to use the telescope on offer. During World War Two all such activities abruptly ceased. The four Harbour Bridge pylons were taken over by the military and modified to include parapets and anti-aircraft guns.

From 1948 to 1971, the ‘All Australian Exhibition’ aimed to turn the south-east pylon into a ‘showcase for Australia’. Financed by government departments and private and public companies, it consisted of informative dioramas and displays on subjects such as farming, sport, transport, mining, banking, the Navy and the Air Force. Visitors could enjoy the viewing platform using an orientation table, a scenic wall guide and giant binoculars.

White cats resident in the roof-top cattery were another popular attraction, especially as they had their own cat-merry-go-round.... These belonged to exhibition manager Yvonne Rentoul, who also ran a souvenir shop and postal outlet from the pylon. Mrs. Rentoul’s lease expired in 1971 and for the next decade the Pylon Lookout was not open to the public.

In 1982 the Pylon re-opened, the occasion being an exhibition marking the Bridge’s 50th Anniversary. The pylon housed a Bicentennial exhibition from 1987 to 2000, and the Proud Arch Landmark Exhibition from 2000 to 2003.

Bear’s favourite factoid is that there were only five cars registered in Sydney when building began, a very forward thinking planning team decided on six car lanes, two tram, two pedestrian and two train lines. When the trams were withdrawn from service these lanes were converted to traffic, bringing the today to eight vehicle lanes.