Memorial, Granville (Jan 18)

On January 18, 1977, a packed commuter train from the Blue Mountains was derailed and crashed into the bridge across the railway line at Bold St, Granville. 83 people died and scores were injured. The accident was blamed on poor rail maintenance.

On Jan 18th, 2002, twenty-five years later, a Day of Roses was held to commemorate the event. 83 roses were thrown onto the tracks by relatives and friends.

This modest memorial commemorates those who died in the disaster.

The memorial and the railway bridge in the background.

Public Buildings, Granville

I was reading the paper and was interested in this article by Elizabeth Farrelly, discussing the fact that the major architectural prize for public buildings was not awarded this year, as none was deemed to be up to scratch. Farrelly discussed the decline of public architecture, and the decline of buildings which assert the importance of the public domain.

Farrelly asks: "Why are we so loath to embellish the public realm in which we spend so much time and by which we are all affected? Traditionally, time, and energy and money - love, if you will - were lavished on built institutions because they meant something. They said something significant about aspiration and civilisation.

"A post office was a declaration of a society's beliefs, its public systems and its intention to endure. Now, a post office is just a tacky and badly stocked stationery shop that happens to carry stamps and passport forms, inhabiting an office building like any other; the cheaper and more anonymous the better."

What better than these side-by-side examples from Granville? The old Town Hall dates from 1888, which the foundation stone reminds us was the Centenary of foundation of the Colony. The more prosaic library next door looks to be a 1950s or 1960s effort.