Banjo Patterson Park, Bedlam Point, Gladesville Hospital, Looking Glass Bay: Our Tuesday Walk started on Punt Road in Gladesville which leads directly to the front of Banjo Patterson Restaurant, “Rockend” once home to eminent journalist, author, clerk, poet, Andrew Barton “Banjo” Patterson OBE. He lived there with his Grandmother while attending Sydney Grammar school. (and Wendy, our Archibald Guide “Banjo” Patterson’s portrait by John Longstaff was the winning portrait in 1935!
We wandered into the 1830 Cottage to look around. The cottage/restaurant along with the surrounding garden area is beautifully kept and well maintained. The house overlooks Looking Glass Bay with its attractive jetty from where we had views to Abbotsford with the Sydney Rowing Club in sight which brought back memories of another walk.
From Looking Glass Bay we followed the path leading towards Bedlam Point which is adjacent to the grounds of old Gladesville Mental Hospital. Here we found a less pristine area with morning glory spreading its vines, asparagus fern digging in everywhere, weeds of every description entangled with the shore natural bush overlooked in places by massive shadowy Fiscus lining the old stone walls. A thousand inmate ghosts swirled silently, sadly in the darkness of the branches above, wafting, watching us.
Checking the map once again in an attempt to follow where our footsteps had led us it seems we saw little of Gladesville Mental Hospital complex itself While we saw some of the old buildings, there are yet many more to be seen in this sprawling space. What we did see though were some rather neglected and shored up old buildings while many other buildings have been taken over by a variety of medical and care related organisations. We came across part of the old sandstone wall which is heavily impressive. Many of the buildings are, glad to say, on the National Register.
While researching this area I found a wonderful Picture Essay of the precinct which also informed that there is a mass grave of over 1000 unnamed inmates buried there, downed out of sight. This seems a tragedy since we now know that people were often institutionalised unnecessarily.
We wound back to Punt Road having peered over the old walls, found the old gate, stepped over intrusive weeds while earlier we had appreciated the well built steel walkway which guided us safely along the lower cliff walk above the little bays.
To sum up - it was an excellent exploratory walk, so pretty with clean clear Parramatta River water in the bays below, a couple of tiny almost hidden beaches, oyster encrusted rocks, wrens and willie-wagtails adding delight.
We chose to drive to Hunters Hill “la Village" for coffee, a cafe which was more or less on the way homewards.
Walkers: Moira, Pippa, Marie-Claire, Carolle
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