Remember "Friday night is speedway night in Adelaide!"? And the cartoon "Almost everybody goes to Rowley Park on Friday nights" which showed everyone from a grandmother to ambulance drivers and a jockey all making their way into the speedway.

Ah yes, the golden era of speedway with Kym Bonython and his company Speedway Pty Ltd.

In its heyday Rowley Park Speedway was attracting crowds every Friday night upwards of 15,000. In 1965 a reported crowd of 20,000 "Pie Eaters" (Kim Bonython's nickname for the regular speedway crowd) packed into the speedway to see Australia's first Demolition Derby. The Police were called in to handle traffic and hundreds of fans were turned away as the 'House Full' signs went up. The derby itself had 100 entrants and lasted for over 75 minutes.

Bonython himself wasn't just the promoter and director of Rowley Park Speedway. He was also a speedcar driver who had considerable success winning the South Australian Championship on two occasions. He was also involved in some of the more spectacular crashes seen at the speedway though luckily he didn't suffer any serious injuries at the wheel in an era when driver safety wasn't a major concern and major injuries or even death was accepted as just part of the sport.

Regular posters and followers of the Adelaide Remember When Facebook page recently posted their memories of Rowley Park;

Leighton Rutt I went there on Fridays nights on many occasions, watching greats like Kim Bonython, Jack Scot (Scotty I think he was called) and many others such as the great Bob Tattersall, Bill Wigzell and Ray Skipper. Those were the days. Hence if you were near the fence I think the term 'Here's mud in your eye' was conceived LOL!!

Eddie Barbara Barton The early days of Rowley Park were great entertainment. Nicknamed the "Pughole" because of it's location and the texture of the surface that the cars, solo's', sidecars and the "old stockies" plus "TQ"s raced on. Those early day's had great "entertainers" on the track who gave there all with the likes of Jack Young (solo) 99 Joe Blow Schubert, Old Smokey, Kym Bonython plus many Interstate and Overseas competitors who judge Rowley Park as one of the best tracks to race at in Australia at that time!

Rod Harrison We used to catch the train from Salisbury to get to Rowley Park. You could often collect enough empty deposit bottles to pay for your entry ticket plus the train ticket home.

Shaun Oxley Speedway was never he same after rowley closed and moved to speedway park. At Rowley Park you were always so close to everything, I remember getting showered by stones and mud every time the cars sped around the bend.

Carol Shannon I remember standing right by the fence when I was a kid and

the clods of dirt would fly up from the track and you were smothered in wet 

clay. Your hair was full of lumps of it! I loved it and still love motor sport to 

this day. We used to go and watch "Jack Larritt" I think his son Jacky drove 

the car and the family were friends of Dads. Beautiful memories

Rowley Park Speedway's long-time Clerk of Course was Glen Dix, who would later become internationally famous as the man who waved the checkered flag at the Australian Grand Prix during its years in Adelaide from 1985 to 1995. 

Due to complaints from residents about noise and the on-street parking, as well as the track becoming too small for the faster cars appearing on the scene, the speedway was closed after the 23rd meeting of the 1978/79 season,

I often pass the housing estate where Rowley Park used to be, on Torrens Road, Brompton (on my way to the football) and I'm immediately taken back to those summer nights with the huge crowds, the smell of the petrol fumes, the cars flying around the track, the noise and the sheer excitement of Rowley Park Speedway.

Geez it was great!!!!

Any memories you would like to share?

Today’s ARW Blog looks back at an earlier post about drinking milk at school; In 1950 the Australian Government introduced a scheme for school children to receive free milk. I think the idea was that it would ensure that all Australian children would be getting fresh milk and a good dose of calcium each day. 

The idea might have been fine but in practice there were a few problems. The truck would normally drop the milk off at about 9.30 and recess wasn't until 10.45 (from memory) and on a hot Adelaide summer day the milk would go off. No refrigeration was available and teacher made you drink the milk, off or not. Put my wife off milk for years.

Some of our posters recalled the scheme had also been introduced in England; “I recall the rich (ish) kids at our school bringing chocolate powder to mix with their milk. I was promoted to milk monitor but was sacked after one day for locking the other monitor in the milk shed. And Maggie Thatcher axed the milk scheme for the over 7 year olds in England in 71 to save money - the press at the time labeled her 'Maggie Thatcher - Milk Snatcher'.

Another remembered; “lining up to accept the sunny boy type contained milk!! I often still remember that smell, I would run to the back of the line continuously until they were all gone!!!

One poster had happy memories; “I remember this but our milk was frozen and was always fresh we had to supply our own cups and we use to have milk monitors on a hot day our milk thawed out and was still fresh. During winter our milk was put in a fridge that some parents donated to the school so our milk was just right for drinking. In the end we used the fridge during summer time as well and didn't have frozen milk anymore”!

And to prove it wasn’t all bad, yet another person remembered; “Fond memories of the free milk for me at Cairns in the early 70s. Couldn't wait till little lunch. Always participated in risky sports and never broken a bone in my life. They should reintroduce this at schools. Might help the dairy farmers as well. Win win”.

The free school milk scheme lasted until the early 70’s and was scrapped.

Interesting thought by our last poster suggesting it should be re-introduced today. It would certainly be a big help to the local dairy farmers and I believe there are a lot of kids who don’t get much of a breakfast, might be a way of improving school kids general health.

What do you think?

There was some discussion on ABC Radio just recently about the 'flying saucer' building that was in Melbourne Street North Adelaide around the 70s and 80s. 

It was called 'Futuro' and was owned by Derek Jolly, entrepreneur and "larger than life" character who was responsible for much of the development of Melbourne Street in the early 70's. The building caused something of a stir among local residents at the time who felt it did not fit with the character of the area. (I think I see their point!) 

The Futuro site was eventually purchased for the construction of an apartment building. As a result the Futuro was then relocated to Provost Street.

Ed Briedis, the Chairman of The North Adelaide Society sent this photo to the ABC, of the 'Futuro' when it was in the carpark behind Deccas Restaurant.

Some of our readers remembered the space ship building quite well while others started to doubt that it ever existed because it was such an unusual building. One poster recalled; "Remember it well because I was a little girl and my father drove me past one day and told me that it was a real spaceship. I could hardly wait to go to school the next day to share this amazing news with my friends ... (remember when you did actually have to WAIT to tell people things?! We did have a phone, but definitely off-limits to the kids)"

Another commented; "Those were the days...people like Derek had a real sense of adventure....most of the developments these days are designed to keep the banks happy in order to get approvals...and as a conseqence...boring...."

And still another; "Remember it well and even went inside. My mum used to work at the Magic Flute and Derek Jolly was a good friend of the owner. He would often come around to the kitchen door from the car park to see if there were any leftovers to take to the flying saucer"!

Dave Wally, writing on his regular blog, Weekend Notes commented; The Futuro house was made in the 1960's and early 1970's and was a round prefabricated house originally designed as a ski cabin by a Finnish man. It was quite popular originally although ultimately only less than 100 were made.

It certainly polarised opinion at the time, but after Derek Jolley's death the house was sold and has now "flown" to a remote location at Deep Creek, somewhere in the Cape Jervis area.

Former Adelaide radio personality John Kenneally stumbled on the Futuro space ship just recently while hiking the Heysen trail. It's now located at Blowhole Creek on the Fleurieu Peninsula.

It's good to know that this little piece of Adelaide's recent past has survived and has a new home. 

If I had a ‘Time Machine’ I’d travel back to the 50s, 60s and 70s just to capture some photos of Adelaide in those years when we were growing up. 

So many images are missing and it seems not many people had cameras in those days and consequently so much has been lost. 

People love to remember the fun parks like the roof of Cox Foys in Rundle Street which opened in the mid 50s and closed in 1977. I’ve never found any photos of the rooftop fair except for this image taken from a film produced by Screen Australia in 1964, showing a glimpse of the huge Ferris wheel that was on the roof. When I posted this on Facebook originally, there were many comments posted of memories of a yearly trip to town, a visit to the magic cave to see Father Christmas, lunch in Coles Cafeteria followed by a ride on the Ferris wheel with dad while mum did the final bit of Christmas shopping. One poster remembered “mum and me getting all dressed up to go into town, shopping in Cox Foys, lunch was a cheese sandwich and a pineapple juice, it was such a huge treat. Kids today don’t know that feeling because they have so many more treats than we did”. 

Another remembered; “Dad took me for a few rides on the Ferris wheel. He used to say he was giving me a treat but I recall being quite scared. I think he enjoyed looking out over the city and I was the excuse". 

Do you have any memories or photos to share of the Ferris wheel on the roof of Cox Foys?  

Samorn the elephant was a much loved attraction at the Adelaide Zoo. According to the Sunday Mail from June 2nd 2013;
"Samorn's own story, with still so much feeling evoked from elephant sympathisers, everyone should go directly to Samorn's (auto)biography at the Adelaide Zoo Shop, telling her true story from her 1950 birth in Siam. She was a specially chosen Asian elephant, a royal gift to Adelaide, in 1956. Right from the start she was bright, very observant, curious, and rarely forgot.

She formed many staff friends and became very attached to Hero Nuus, her senior keeper, who effectively became her "mahout". Samorn made a Zoo society member friend who tape recorded her life story from start to finish, warts and all, in Sam's "own words". She was a jealous, working, clever and trustworthy elephant both up front and behind the scenes, and would not share her beloved jobs.

Rumor has it that Samorn drank a bottle of scotch whisky every day to keep her warm in Winter 

Her growing tonnage obliged her to rock to and fro to assist her heartbeat. It wasn't boredom it kept her healthy. Samorn's Adelaide career lasted through several eras and much change. Her scribe gifted the final edition copyright of Elephant in Our Zoo to the RZS, which is a charity, in July 2012 to last forever.

Samorn, Hero and the Adelaide Zoo are forever part of Adelaide and SA history"

Remember when as kids we used to pretend to smoke with the lolly cigarettes called 'Fags'. I can recall these, as I'm sure most can, in the tuck shop at school and the local corner shop. Dave Wally shared this photo and it certainly stirred lots of great memories, some posters saying that it might have actually led them to smoking the real thing. 

Back in the 60s and 70s smoking wasn't frowned upon as it is today and the cigarette companies had open slather, allowed to advertise on radio, TV, in the paper and any other form of advertising that was available! I started to smoke when I first got a job in the PMG but soon had to make a decision...the latest Elvis 45 or a packet of Viscount. Elvis won and I was never able to afford cigarettes spending all my available money on records. I think I got lucky!!

  

    

Back in April this year we posted an article about the end of analogue TV transmission in Adelaide;

At 7am this morning they switched of the analogue TV transmitters in Adelaide. TV started in Adelaide on 5 September 1959 when NWS-9 began broadcasting. John Doherty read the first news bulletin while other presenters included Kevin Crease, Glenys O’Brien and Ian Fairweather. ADS-7 commenced transmission on 24 October 1959, I can’t remember who did the first news bulletin but I recall Alec Macaskill was one of their early newsreaders with personalities such as Angela Stacy and Rick Patterson. ABS2, the ABC station in Adelaide began broadcasting on 11 March 1960. I can’t remember who their top presenters were (I wasn’t much of an ABC fan in those days). SAS-10 commenced broadcasting on 26 July 1965. Early names that come to mind include Noel O’Connor and Caroline Ainslee. Of course we had that weird switch in 1987 when Ch-10 and 7 switched broadcast channels. Can anyone remember the original line-ups and personalities?

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Remember before American food arrived in Adelaide? Hamburgers in those days were generally made at a cafe or fish'n'chip shop and one 'with the lot' consisted of a REAL mince meat patty, fried onion, tomato, beetroot, bacon, fried egg and tomato sauce. We never had McDonalds of course and I can recall on a Saturday night, as a teenager, we'd drive miles to go to the Burger King on Anzac Highway or the Blue and White Cafe in O'Connell Street (best hamburgers in Adelaide), to buy a Hamburger. The best chicken shop was owned by Chick Hansen out on Main North Road at Prospect and I reckon the first Pizza Palace opened in the early 70s

The Pie Cart on the GPO corner....I think it held the record for a while as the longest operating 'restaurant' in Adelaide. Working the midnight to dawn shift at 5KA in 1968, I'd stop on my way to work and buy 2 pies, eat one before starting work and eat the other one cold at about 3am. (No microwaves in those days). After a night out, the pie cart was a life saver!

Andrew Heslop - Commentator, MC and Community Advocate has shared a memory of growing up in Adelaide; "Seppelts Wine Vinegar was once on the counter at every fish and chip shop in Adelaide. The distinctive bottle provided a thin stream of vinegar through a tiny hole in the blue top, right on to your steaming fish and chips. With the advent of multinational fast food chains the shops - many owned by hard working first generation migrants - have slowly closed down. My favourite is still open - Sotos on Semaphore Road down near the beach. Many happy memories of being there with my grandparents during summer and taking our meal across to the (now closed) sideshows and summer carnival. Happy days"! Thanks Andrew. That photo brings back so many memories of fish and chips with salt and vinegar, wrapped in yesterday's newspaper, at the beach or to take home for tea (dinner). I reckon the newspaper was better at soaking up the oil from the batter than the white butchers paper they now use. Where was your favourite fish and chip shop growing up?

Do kids today still drink milkshakes? I remember as a kid growing up in the 50's and 60's going to the deli or corner shop with a mate after school or as a teenager with a group of other teenagers for a milkshake or maybe even a 'nut sundae'. As teenagers I can't ever remember going to a pub just to get drunk....we drank, mainly beer, and that was usually outside the dance so we'd get up a bit of 'dutch courage' to ask a girl to dance. Milkshakes were served in colored annodised cups and were really cold and if you drank them too fast you'd get "brain freeze". My wife remembers a 'blue moon' milkshake which was like a bubble gum flavour. Any memories about the local milk bar and milkshakes?

                                                

Remember when Mr Whippy first started to sell ice creams in Adelaide suburbs from his van? I reckon it would have been mid to late 60's? During summer school holidays or on weekends you'd hear 'Greensleeves' a few streets away and it would get louder as he came closer to your street. Then it was on to try and scrape a few coins together, then a sprint to hopefully catch Mr Whippy before he merrily made his way to the next street. You could get icecream dipped in chocolate, hundreds & thousands, or topped off with a flake. Come to think of it I haven't heard a Mr Whippy van for years. Are they still around?

While we're talking about ice creams and milk shakes, lots of posters comments mentioned Sigala's as the BEST place for a milk shake. Sigala’s was in Rundle Street – now Rundle Mall – Just opposite the Myer Emporium. They had all different flavoured milkshakes and ice creams. One of my favourites was their “Special” – which was served with a scoop of ice cream and then a flavoured syrup, followed by another scoop of ice cream and a different flavour syrup. From memory there was about four scoops of ice cream then a layer of mixed fruit salad topped with whipped cream, then crushed nuts, and a cherry on top. I think it cost about 2/6. They also had "American Milkshakes' and fantastic 'spiders'

In past posts on Adelaide Remember When we've remembered some of the TV shows and personalities we grew up with, here's just a few;

Remember Kingswood Country the Australian sitcom that screened from 1980 to 1984 on the Channel 7? Some of Ted Bullpit's sayings included; "The Kingswood! You're not taking the Kingswood!”, "Bloody woman! “Pickle me grandmother!", "Don't 'dad' me I'm your father!" Ted was the main character; he was a bigoted white Australian WWII veteran who loved his greyhounds, his garden statue of Neville the Aboriginal, his chair in front of the telly worshipped his Holden Kingswood and hated the 'bloody' nuns. The show centred on the conflict between the conservative sexist & racist Ted & his progressive children with his poor long suffering wife Thelma stuck in the middle. His daughter’s husband, Bruno, was the son of Italian immigrants and Ted objected to him completely; referring to him as that ‘bloody wog’. I'll bet they couldn't play it on TV these days, but it was real Aussie humor and a very funny show.

Mike Smith on ABC Drive last night had Mal Leyland as his guest, remembering the very successful TV series "Ask the Leyland Brothers". The show ran from about 1976 to 1980, and again from 1983 to 1984 and provided most Australian viewers with their first look at outback Australia. I seem to recall it was on Saturday or Sunday evening at around 5.30 and it was a great show for the family and of course educational for adults as well as kids. The format of the show was driven by people writing in to Mike and Mal and asking a question about a part of Australia which the brothers would then drive to and answer the question. They did their own filming and took their wives and children with them on most occasions. It was like watching a home movie and would probably never work on TV today but back in the 70's it was a huge hit with audiences of several million watching every weekend. Mike, sadly died a few years ago. 

Just recently someone asked for a photo of Winky Dink. This is from Adelaide's Channel 9 kid's Super Cartoon Show. It's 1975 and this is Winky Dink, a duck with attitude. The Show's hosts at the time were Helen Woods and Dean Davis

.Remember Channel 10 for years had Fat Cat saying goodnight to the children at 7.30pm. I can't remember when they stopped it exactly but it was the time when the channel drew a line and said the programmes after this may not be suitable for children. And from memory, the kids used to go to bed when Fat Cat went too

Apollo Stadium

Remember when we used to have all our big concert acts at Apollo Stadium in Richmond?

Apollo opened in 1969 and was first and foremost a sports stadium but I believe the first concert held there was Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong, probably in 1970, (not sure of the date). The beauty of it was that it was just 5 minutes from the city and there always seemed to be plenty of parking. The stadium had a seating capacity of almost 4,000 and was actually named after the Apollo moon landing that took place in July 1969.

There were many top class acts representing the best talent in the world at the time including Queen, Wings, AC/DC, Cold Chisel, U2, The Easybeats, Police, Ike and Tina Turner, INXS and Beach Boys, to mention but a few.

Right throughout the 70’s and 80’s Apollo Stadium continued as our main Adelaide concert venue but in 1991 it was superseded by the new 12,000 seat Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Port Road and in 1992 the new venue for basketball and netball, the Clipsall Powerhouse was opened with seating for up to 8,000 people

Apollo then became a church for a few years but it was eventually sold and demolished, with the site redeveloped for a housing estate.

Can you recall some of the concerts you went to at Apollo Stadium?

The Old Advertiser Soundshell in Elder Park

Shane Chinca shared a photo on Adelaide Remember When; "My father took this photo in the 50's. I don't know where it is and what it is called, Does anyone know?

Both Stevo Terry and Chris Warren identified it as the Advertiser Sound Shell in Elder Park. According to The Advertiser, the Sound Shell "was officially handed over at 3 pm  on 18th of December 1954 in front of 500 official quests and hundreds of members of the public. They then enjoyed a 45 minute concert by the SA Symphony Orchestra and the Adelaide Singers conducted by Henry Krips. Then, at 3.45 p.m., the chairman of directors of Advertiser Newspapers Ltd (Sir Lloyd Dumas ) formally handed over the Shell to the Lord Mayor (Mr.Philps), who accepted it on behalf of the council.

Right throughout the 50's and through to the 80's, Carols by Candlelight was held every year at the old Sound Shell and many of us would have spent that special Sunday night before Christmas, dressed in our pyjamas, with our family and friends, watching the flickering light of the candle and singing and listening to the performers presenting the carols. I think it was the only time, other than Guy Fawkes night, when we were allowed to be so close and to play with fire. So it was pretty exciting! 

There were also many other concerts held there throughout the years and Chris Warren has "photos of Zoot playing there in 1967 and Kamahl also sang there. It was just in front of the now Festival Theatre Ampitheatre. To the left was King William Street and to the right, the River Torrens, where the Popeyes were moored". Thanks Chris

What are your memories of the old Advertiser Soundshell?