Burswood was once an island? 

Having a beer at every appropriately named pub was a great bit!

Lol this feels like it was a sneaky excuse to go around a few local drinking spots and write it off on tax as "research" haha

So Im old enough to remember the rubbish tip, the cement works, the coming and going of the old dome, Hamburger hill and the later golf course. But I had no idea about the canal and earlier history. So when I "accidently" park at the casino and walk accross the park to the footy stadium. Those bodies of water are the remnants of the canal? Another wonderful snippet of WA history I never knew. Thankyou so much.

I remember 1970s and 1980s train trips from Armadale to the city, through such scenic delights as the sparkling blue ponds at the Hardie works, the car bodies and discarded fluoro tubes (all that mercury!) at the dump, the clouds of cement dust at Swan Portland, and the lovely black river sludge from the fly ash (and probably PCBs from the transformers) at the power station. The area really has taken a hammering over the years.

I'm always impressed with the old footage you manage to dig up and often rewind or pause to get a better look it's that good! 😊

Brendan, out of 10 i'd give your research an A+

Sorry to see you had to go south of the river for some of these shots.

The toxic garbage, cement and asbestos are still more appealing than the casino

G'day Brendan, just wanted to say that I reckon your research, production values and narration is fully on-point. All power to you dardy bruz.

Great video, I can shed more light on the Rubbish Dump area, There used to be a racetrack on the Peninsula where the Rubbish Dump was. We used to go dirt bike riding there in the 70's Also, when they built the now Crown Casino, the pylons where 40 feet tall, and when they went to drive them into the ground they would go down maybe 5 feet, then suddenly drop 30 feet into the sludge, until 5 feet was showing out of the ground. This is from living in Norwood Rd Rivervale from 1970-1991

I'm old enough to remember the rubbish dump at Burswood. I first noticed that canal when I was redrawing a tram map for my Sweetheart.

Excellent research and some interesting photos. Note the realignment of Great Eastern Highway at 9:22 which formerly went straight over the railway line via a level crossing into now Burswood Road. The current railway bridge over Great Eastern Highway was completed around 1969. Also looks to be a railway siding into Swan Portland Cement factory off the main Armadale line. Also 9:29 you can see preparations being made for the proposed Burswood bridge in the middle of the island which was to link to East Perth. This was abandoned in favour of the now Graham Farmer Freeway route.

I grew up in Perth and can remember when Burswood opened. Big line up from the door right into the car park on a Friday and Saturday night. Great place to go as a young 18/19 year old with mates. Dressed up and into the cabaret lounge with live entertainment. Great times.

I remember a lot about area. I lived in that area in the 1950's and 1960's,The canal opened up to the river opposite the Maylands aerodrome (yes I remember that too) there was a small wharf and a sunken abandoned barge. The Red Castle Brewery the stinky cement works and the adjacent Chinese market gardens way before the rubbish tip where the casino is now There is such a lot of history about that area that you have missed. To be fair very little of that area was documented as it was an industrial area.

Video idea! Could you make a video about Perth’s old diesel trains were sold to Auckland and used on their commuter rail network until 2022.

I remember when it first opened being called "Burswood Island Resort and Casino"

Absolutely love the research, rich history and dedication you have to this channel, Brendan. It's a complete breath of fresh air and I wish you all the success for the future. Thank you for everything you release and do.

Fantastic history and research. You really have a knack for it. Having a beer at places named after things you've discovered... priceless.

Just joined. Good to support a local channel. Great content.

Awesome video as always Brendan - love to see local history and you do such an amazing job at presenting it 👌

Another great nostalgic trip. I remember riding dirt bikes on burswood through the ash dumps from the east Perth power station.

Really enjoying your vids mate. Keep up the good work

I grew up in Victoria Park. Used to swim in the Swan River daily in Summer. Usually at the "Fisheries" Jetties which had a bit of the Barbed wire enclosure peeled back so we could get in. Often swam over to Heirisson Island and back. Sundays at Crawley with the family.

Hey that was a great story, we used to go to that tip when we’re were kids, we thought it was a big day out, years later we rode our mini bikes “XR75” on Herrison Island, and rode our pushies at a location near the rail bridge call sinders 🇦🇺🤙

Bewdy Ocker! a "heritage listed drainage ditch". Only in Western Australia! The area you covered was near the site of Perth's second airport - on the Maylands peninsula; the first strip ran north-south across what is now Langley Park.

Love your mini docos on Perth. Keep up the good work, Brendan.

Checked it out today. There are two handrails on each side of the block paved walkway in line with the canal, near crown towers, which look like the sides of a bridge. A depression runs in line right into the crown towers underground carpark. On the other side is a pond. It's interesting to look around these sites if you have an idea of what's happened there. Look forward to the next one.

Did you know: Maylands used to be called “Pineapple”

I love all the old pictures Brendon, your research is impressive I remember when the casino was being built them saying about asbestos problems and other rubbish related issues I had no idea James hardy was on that site so close to the city 👍👍

Love these, will definitely keep watching to learn more about ‘boring’ Perth 😂

Very nice work! Though I have never been to Perth this was still very interesting. It looks like we create the same type of content. Hi from Brisbane.

Great stuff mate, never knew about the canal or where those pubs got their names. Keep up the great work, cheers

I really like your channel, good to see some local Perth content. I did not know until this video as well that Maylands had an airport.

Thank you Brendan! Great research and production! Could you do a video about the lakes just north of the city, inc. the one under the city rail station?

Another excellent video, great style too ;) As a former surveyor and Perth native, you're doing great work creating this historic video catalogue. Hope you enjoy making them for many more years. Any desire to look in to the Kent Street weir, Wilson, Riverton bridge are? City of Canning is pretty good at historical signage eg Ferndale Sihk cremation site

Necking a beer at every significant pioneer-named pub. Approved, I do recall the area being named Burswood Island, but thought that was some wanky retconning of the area for the casino. Didn't know its earlier history. I only ever knew it as a dump area

loving these history lessons!

Loving the channel and the deep dives into Perth history. Would love to see one of Maylands airport at some stage. Keep up the good work mate, appreciate the time and effort you put into these. I hope it takes off for you!

I did a lot of different environmental work on and around the stadium area. When we were installing groundwater wells and doing other soil bores in the area we had to avoid the mapped canal area and if any wood fragments were found we had to contact an archaeologist. Never found any. Groundwater near the tennis centre still has a really high pH (~10) due to the buried lime remnants of the cement factory. There is heaps of asbestos buried deep (~3m) in that general area too. Great video, pleasantly surprised by the amount of research and accuracy of this video, great job mate 👍

well done man, critical work you're doing before the vanishing disappears. Burswood was a great swamp for a few years after they wound up the dump. I miss it. I don't miss the cement works, what an eyesore it was.

Ahhh the memories. So back in the early 70's, around 1973, my brothers and I would go hunting for rabbits on Herrison Island, not Burswood Island. Yes it's very hard to believe but it's true. My dad was the best crane driver in WA back in the day, and had a lot to do with many buildings in Perth being built and a so much of the North West with building a lot for the iron ore industries. Dad with one other crane driver, put up the lights at the WACA, it was called a 'duel lift. Sadly they were taken down I think this year which to me was heartbreaking as it always reminded me of dad every time I went into the city... plus I liked to brag about it, who wouldnt right lol. He was also the crane driver when building the Perth Entertainment Center, the QV1 building, Hillarys Boat Harbour, and many other places. I wish he was here to see the skyline with now so many cranes in it, nothing like it was back then. It's mind blowing the changes to Perth over the last 50 years. When I was going to high school, Carine High, Marmion Ave didnt go further than Warwick Road. Wanneroo Hospital, now Joondalup Health Campus, was in the middle of nowhere. There would be kangaroos on the front lawn when you went there. Now as many people know, there are so many suburbs up here and its mind blowing to me every time Im there. So hard to believe there was nothing, now its completely covered. My mum, also back in the 70's, was the housekeeper for Mr Frank Tydeman, the person who Tydeman Road in Fremantle was named after. Now his life is a very interesting read indeed. Perth has grown so much over 50 years, its scary to think what it will be like in another 50.

History lesson on Perth to make benefit next shindig. Great success!

Nice work mate, I'm getting into your vids and sharing them. Good on ya.

You discover some really cool stuff to investigate. Yet another thing I was completely unaware of. It is amazing just how much of Perth is built on top of swamps and lakes but the really early canal seems to be the reverse of that 'progress'.

Excellent job once again Brendan

Excellent work

make a video about the brickwork in Ascot and Maylands mate

Cool old footage man!.Where do you even start to dig for that?.Gold.

These videos are so interesting and well researched! Well done

Great work mate

There's something comical about the river just being labeled "Perth Water" in those early maps 😆 Great video as usual, mate!

damn rode past a lot of this on my Bike this morning

I grew up around the spearwood coogee area, seems to be a lot of heritage sites with not much information. Plus just 1900s bungalows mixed in with 1970s builds throughout the suburbs. Could be a good video idea..

I never knew that part of the canal was still there. When my grandmother's family immigrated to Perth from Scotland in the 1930s, almost all the men in the family worked in the cement works at Burswood when they first arrived.

So good Brendan! I've been wondering about this for years? Excellent presentation.

Just stumbled across this channel - absolutely awesome effort mate, looking forward to binging and sending to all my other Perth mates. Great local content!

Great videos Bren. My son and I really enjoy them.

Great video Brendan. Very informative 👏

Fun fact the fella who owned Rivervale Hardware sold $70,000 worth of trades tools during the Cass construction and we shop assistance have never seen more beers at any site since. Luckily I could walk to work , back when times were real ezy

My Pop worked at Swan Portland Cement until he retired in the 80’s.

great vid!

Fantastic history video, great work, i was born in Perth and love learning about its history, cheers

Another great video mate. Anychance of a video about the old parkerville amphitheatre? It's a cool spot to explore... the tavern is close by also 😅

Do we have a theory as to what caused the river to turn that milky brown colour in the landgate aerial photos from 1981?

Damn i lived on whatley. What a road. My god

Lol naming pubs after dudes from history has its perks for history buffs 😂

Really interesting video! I wonder if you could submit an FOI request to the relevant Department to try and get hold of the archeological report?

I think he may be out with his dates for the tip. I also remember and we used to ride our trail bikes there as teenagers. We called it The Bunner or The Cinders back then. I remember the tip as a kid...maybe closed 1974 not 1984? I remember when Shelly bridge was a tip too. When it shut down, we were only left with the Gossy tip.

In the 80s we use to call it The Bunna, was a big mudflat good for ripping bongs and playing real life Frogger and scream around on dirt bikes, then they built a casino.

Pretty sure when it first opened the casino was called Burswood Island Casino.

In the 80s everyone referred to Burswood as Burswood Island. I was a bit confused and asked a parent who said it wasn't actually an island but it was just called that. And was more of a peninsula. I suppose I envisaged an island in the middle of the river that I wasn't aware of. It was the time leading into the Burswood casino being built (now Crown).

I've just found your site and put it on my list for binge watching. I'm near Armadale and perhaps we could meet sometime. I'll email.

Great stuff! I hope they have cleared up that Hardie's site properly.

"Freemantle" 'Fre-mantle'

This is great, and highlights a few issues with the V8 Supercars trying to build a street circuit in the area. Which hopefully won't ever happen. (I am a massive Supercars fan though) Just not here ;)

So they removed the rubbish tip and built a casino? So nothing changed?

Damm I never knew that!

I had heard it's original name was "Burwood" no "s" and it was a typo when the train station was created forever changing its name. Is this true?

Awesome! Where is the video from for 00:40? - that's a great shot of a river barge in operation

Just found your channel and I love it. I’m local and run a video company, if you ever need a hand, let me know. (For the love not the dollar) Would love to help you make a video about the East Perth Power Stn site. It was supposed to be a Media Hub / Film Studio at one time, if I remember correctly. I’ve got a few drone shots if you need.

Hey Brendan, is there a way to DM you regarding information sources. I know people in WaterCorp. Also I had my first driving lesson in 1976 in a brown HX Kingswood as we drove from Great Eastern Highway alongside the river on sand tracks through the dump to get to the racecourse

Its funny how they renamed Burswood station to Rivervale station because it was becoming a bad name, but eventually, Rivervale had a bad rep because of the crime, and then renamed it back to Burswood which was more prestigious by then.

Woah another youtuber with odyssey in their name

🍺 🍺🍺🍺🍺 for research purposes 😉

Fun new drinking game: mentions colonialist -> names pub -> drink!

heloo

Perth who??

Careful. All that history will make you a drunk.

Deepo not depot... Great inga... . Fail