From 1956 onward, Druid Avenue in Stirling was closed every year on a Saturday in March for Petticoat Lane, with stalls and entertainment as a fundraiser for the Mothers and Babies Health Association, local kindergartens and the Hills Community Toy Library. It was promoted by elite philanthropists such as Dr Helen Mayo and Miss Harriet Stirling, with involvement by young local professionals with rapidly growing families.
Petticoat Lane ended in 1998 because in later years the money raised had not justified the work involved. A spokesperson said ‘times have changed in respect of families’ time commitments and the competition of markets and garage sales has made it harder to continue’. A substitute, on a bigger scale, was the monthly Stirling Market, which had been founded in 1989. Initially held behind the National Bank and Organic Market, the Stirling Market moved to the Council Chamber lawns in the mid-1990s. It moved from there to Druid Avenue in 2006 because the new Coventry Library was being built at the lawns. Since that year it has been held on the fourth Sunday of each month and its stalls showcase local produce, plants, arts and crafts, and entertainments. ‘The popularity of the market is testified by the difficulty of finding a park for the car on market days.’
The initiator and original coordinator of the Stirling Market was Audrey Windram, a pioneer of the organic food movement who, with her family, had founded the town’s Organic Market in 1982. The bigger market could be said to have grown out of the smaller. Another notable figure was Inez Johnson. The Market is administered by volunteers, led since 2015 by Richard James, and the proceeds have gone to a multitude of local community groups engaged in projects from bushfire rehabilitation, to public art, to care of the aged. By its 30th anniversary in 2019 it had grown to almost 100 stalls.
A well-known figure at the Market for many years has been Quentin Jones. In autumn he roasts, in a brazier, chestnuts from his Nirvana Organic Farm at Heathfield.
Associated with the Stirling Market since 2014, and to a degree in rivalry with it, has been the Stirling Laneways, an initiative of the Stirling Business Association held during the warmer months of the year. Some local retailers had expressed concern at the Market’s effect on their own sales. The Laneways stalls populate the pedestrian lanes between the shops on the main street.
In 2015 Tin Lids Lane was introduced to enable youngsters to sell their creations and learn on the spot about the world of business.
For seven decades monthly markets in Druid Avenue and environs have been the focus of significant fundraising activities for local community projects and businesses.
Sources: Chris Chardon, Stirling, a personal view, 2nd edn. pp. 25, 190, 191, 263; Courier, 12 Feb. 1997, 31 Mar. 1999, 24 Dec. 2019; Adelaide Hills Magazine, Autumn 2016, pp. 54-55: Silvia Hart, ‘The Good Life’; information from Dr Ann Herraman.
https://www.facebook.com/nirvanaorganicfarm https://stirlingmarket.com.au/about-us/; https://www.stirlingadelaidehills.com.au/laneways/when-where
Photos: websites linked above; Under Mount Lofty 2nd edn. p. 215
If you have recollections, knowledge or further information that you would like to share about the people, places or events described here, then please contact us at mldhs@mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au
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