Melbourne Circle Project

Melbourne Circle is an account of a series of walks around the suburbs of Melbourne by Nick Gadd.

Taken together, the walks form a circle around the city. Beginning in Williamstown in the south west, I walked in a clockwise direction, with very occasional brief detours into the city centre. The walk ended with a trip across the bay back to Williamstown, completing the circle.

As a reader, I found it to be extremely interesting, broad and includes some of the best ghost signs you will find anywhere.

Nick’s words: it’s a very personal tour, and that’s part of the point. Every suburb, every street, has millions of stories worth telling, of which I’ve only mentioned a handful. Anyone who took a walk like this would easily find many others. It doesn’t take much – just a bit of observation, curiosity and imagination. They are out there, waiting to be uncovered.

Nick Gadd is a Melbourne writer. He is not a Melburnian (although he should be), he writes essays about Melbourne, history, literature, music and suburban life.

Stories by Melbourne Suburb

Abbotsford

• The real and the fake in Abbotsford

Albert Park

• London calling

Ascot Vale

• The Temperance Triangle and the six o’clock swill

Avondale Heights

• Apocalypse Heights

Balaclava

• The diverse charms of St Kilda East (and Balaclava)

Braybrook

• Architecture and peanut butter

Brunswick

• Wandering Brunswick

Brunswick East

• A deco dairy and stories on walls

Carlton

• The American architect and the angry donor
• Italian films in 1950s Carlton

Carlton North

• Modernism and Victoriana
• A cuppa in Carlton North

Clifton Hill

• The bricks and stones of Clifton Hill
• Boots and all

Collingwood

• Footy, moustaches and electric girdles: it’s The Sportsman!
• The transformations of Collingwood

Cremorne

• The icons of Cremorne

Elwood

• The romance of Elwood

Essendon

• Mansions and monkeys
• Suburban drift on Buckley Street

Fishermans Bend

• Completing the circle

Fitzroy

• Architectural extremes on Nicholson Street
• Three ghostsigns, three stories

Fitzroy North

• Fitzroy North or North Fitzroy?

Flemington

• Functional fancy Flemington

Footscray

• A peek inside the Grand Theatre, Footscray
• So fine a place of entertainment – the lost theatres of Footscray
• The Hot Shot pool saloon
• Footscray revisited

Kensington

• Industrial reminders from Kensington to North Melbourne

Maidstone

• Three scenes from Maidstone

Maribyrnong

• Explosives on the Maribyrnong

Melbourne CBD

• An appointment with Dr King

Middle Park

• Designs for living

Moonee Ponds

• Fading signs in Moonee Ponds

Newport

• Death and resurrection

North Melbourne

• A walk along Victoria Street (part one)
• A walk along Victoria Street (part two)
• Layers of ghosts on Abbotsford Street

Parkville

• The strangeness of Royal Park
• Elvis and billiards in Melbourne cemetery

Port Melbourne

• Whisky on the rocks
• From the ocean to the lake
• Dream houses past and present

Prahran

• Memories of Commercial Road
• Turkish baths and oyster saloons: the story of Prahran Arcade
• Lost on Chapel Street

Richmond

• Squizzy Taylor in Richmond
• Wall of champions
• Lovell’s hairdressers to Loulou’s relaxology
• The Australian Mont De Piete
• Tales from Richmond Hill

Ripponlea

• The Top Shop and the pharmacy

St Kilda

• Many-layered St Kilda
• Spaghetti, coffee and drag: more from St Kilda

St Kilda East

• Three women of St Kilda Cemetery
• Diverse charms of St Kilda East

South Melbourne

• Bank Street stroll
• The lost names of Emerald Hill

South Yarra

• Hollywood on the Yarra
• Schnapps, emus and boots

Spotswood

• The West Gate Bridge disaster

Sunshine

• A flutter on the monkeys

West Footscray

• James Flood’s exclusive limousines
• Slugs and fonts at the Museum of Printing

West Melbourne

• Life wasn’t meant to be radioactive

Williamstown

• Changing spaces in Williamstown
• Skin deep
• Mr Vowles’ underclothing depot

Yarraville

• Growing up in the Yarra Coffee Palace
• The sinking village