Author: Rod Kemp

At long last we can announce that our History Centre in the Coventry Library has re-opened for business and you will be able to visit our Archives and consult with one of our volunteers on any day that the Library is open between 2 and 4 pm.

And while we were closed, our team have been steadily adding articles to the Gateways section of our website, so remember to visit it regularly.

Here are a couple of pictures with links to some of the latest articles:

While COVID-19 has had its challenges for us all, even here in lucky South Australia, it has also given some of our authors the opportunity to produce more stories for the Gateways section of our website. Elisabeth Anderson, Chris Chardon, John McGregor and others have been busy researching and bringing to light more interesting stories for us all to enjoy.

One of the joys and frustrations of historical research is the uncovering of an unexpected and apparently unsolvable mystery. Read about one of these in the new article about Crafers Primary School

Do you remember Dragan Miljanovic or perhaps you’re unfamiliar with him and his contributions to the district?

And have you ever heard of Felix House, one of the many guest houses which took advantage of the desire of Adelaideans to escape the city for some cool and refreshing country air?

Keep up to date with all of these stories and more by checking in to the ever expanding content of the Gateways section of our website.

Just In!

Several new articles have been added to the Gateways section of our website today.

You can learn about Crawford’s Store at Mt Lofty as part of our Industry and Business topic or discover the story of an Adelaide Hills WWI serviceman, Edward Mullin in our War, Peace and Memorials section.

This is just a taste of what is available to pique your interest and perhaps inspire or entertain you, through our local and garden history Gateways so have a browse and learn more.

Our History Centre and Archive are still restricted at present but we do hope to be able to announce resumption of normal hours before too much longer.

The 1st September is of course the first day of Spring, but do you know it is also “Wattle Day” in Australia?

Read about the history of Wattle Day in one of our recent Gateways articles and don’t forget to do some browsing to see what else is new on our website.

If you are a facebook user, you can also check out our facebook page for more interesting local and garden history and a multitude of contributors.

Our writers continue to make the most of their time at home to generate articles for the Gateways section of our website. Quite a few topics have had new stories linked to them, so have a browse and enjoy the articles.

We welcome comments on the content and particularly additional information you might have which can enhance both the articles and contribute to our Archives, so please respond if you can.

And don’t forget Coventry’s Corner for the young and young at heart; there are all sorts of interesting articles there.

Some of you will remember that some time ago we had a Bear Gathering at our History Centre and many special bears brought their owners in to see their friends. Some of the Bears liked it so much that they stayed and have popped up at subsequent events to entertain our younger visitors.

Although our Bears have all been in isolation during the closure of the library, some of them can still be seen through the window.

One of our special Bears is “Coventry”, and we will introduce him to you soon, but in the meantime, we have created a special place on our website for the young at heart which we have called “Coventry’s Corner”.

Look for this picture at the bottom of our web pages and click on it to see the articles that have been posted so far, which have focussed on ideas to keep our young people safe and occupied during this unusual time.

And don’t forget to subscribe to our website using the “Subscribe” button also at the bottom of each page, so that you will receive an email whenever a new post is added.

Some of our members are finding that isolation is inspiring them to take up past skills, explore new ones, work through the backlog of tasks at home or in this case, write an article for our Gateways or other web pages.

Some of these newly created stories are already online, so make sure that you check out our Gateways topics, including “Gardens & Gardeners”, “War, Peace & Memorials” and “Our Migrant Heritage” to see the stories of our Local or Garden History.

Here’s a link to our Gateways Topics page if you haven’t been there before.

And don’t forget to subscribe to our pages to receive an email whenever a new post is added, so that you don’t miss anything. (Scroll down to the section marked SUBSCRIBE TO SEE OUR LATEST CONTENT at the very bottom of the page, enter your email address and in a few simple steps you will be connected.)

In our time of forced isolation due to the COVID-19 virus we might find ourselves reflecting on past times and events and even finding the time to write them down. We welcome your contributions on topics of local or garden history or of general historical interest.

Click here to make a contribution to our website

Here is one memory that surfaced and although it’s not about the Mt Lofty Districts, we offer it for your own reflection. With Cruise Ships seemingly constantly in the news at the present time, one of our members recalls a journey from Australia to England in the 1950s, when the default travel mode was, of course, an ocean voyage.

Click here to read the article

In line with recommendations to contain the COVID-19 virus, the Coventry Library which houses our History Centre and Archive is now limiting access to the public until further notice. We have closed the Archive and History Centre until public access is restored to a workable degree. Please refer to our website or facebook page for continuing updates and to participate in our virtual events programme.

The library has alternative arrangements in place for borrowing items. Please see their information here