Derham Groves

Travel

  • Francis Birtles & Alec Barlow

    A.G. Barlow, the proprietor of Barlow Motors, was one of A.W. Purnell’s best and most interesting clients. In 1926 Barlow Motors sponsored Francis Birtles, an Australian adventurer, and Barlow’s son Alec (a.k.a. Alex), an adventurer in his own right, to drive from Darwin to Melbourne. They did the journey in eight days and 13 hours, Read more

  • The Monkees in Melbourne

    That much maligned pop group The Monkees toured Australia in 1968. The cost of a ticket to see them at Festival Hall in Melbourne was only $2.10. Inflation is a truly frightening phenomenon. Read more

  • Anna May Wong in Melbourne

    The American-Chinese actress Anna May Wong performed at the Tivoli Theatre in Melbourne in 1939. Currently I’m doing research on the actress and her time in Australia. Few movie stars can surpass Anna May’s beauty and style. ‘Knowing how much the Chinese believe in lucky charms, I looked around the dressing room for some sign Read more

  • Do you know the way to San Jose?

    Last week I attended the annual Popular Culture Association conference in San Francisco. I also visited San Jose to see the Sarah Winchester House, which was built by the widow of the gun manufacturer to appease/confuse the spirits of those killed by Winchester rifles during the Indian and Civil wars. It has 160 rooms and Read more

  • A.W. Purnell Exhibition in China

    Recently I attended the opening of an exhibition and symposium on the work of the Australian architect Arthur Purnell at the Museum of Generalissimo Sun Yat-sen’s Mansion, which Purnell designed in 1907, in Guangzhou, China. It was a very formal affair involving a ribbon cutting ceremony (I’m at the end on the left). I think Read more

  • The Travels of Peter E. Sayers: Nandi to San Francisco

    More from Peter E. Sayers’ travel diary: Saturday 14 February, Nandi, Fiji We had about 1 1/4 hours at Nandi then we took off and landed at Canton Is. just before dawn next morning. (Date still 14th.) As Canton is just below the equator (2º) we found that at this time of day it was Read more

  • Men in Hats

    So far I’ve managed to contact two of the nine young men who travelled to the USA in 1959 with Peter E. Sayers. Apparantly their fathers had travelled to the USA in 1929 on a tour that was organised by the Young Australia League (YAL). Thirty years later they tried to revive the YAL, but Read more

  • The Travels of Peter E. Sayers: Melbourne to Nandi

    From time to time I’ll transcribe Peter E. Sayers’ travel diary: Sunday 8th February 1959, Melbourne At 2.30 am (about) I took leave of Midge (80th time out) after spending the night before (Saturday 7th) at the Comedy seeing The Summer of the 17th Doll (4th season) and after at Scot’s supper dance with Hans Read more

  • Wart Goo

    Earlier this year I bought a little notebook for $1 at a flea market in Geelong, which had belonged to J. Davies, a student at the Gordon Institute of Technology. Davies had used it to record information about a trip he made to Western Australia in 1965. He made several extensive and very puzzling lists, Read more

  • The Mickey Mouse Club in Australia

    In 1959, seven members of Walt Disney’s The Mickey Mouse Club — Jimmie Dodd, Doreen Tracey, Bobby Burgess, Sharon Baird, Tommy Cole, Karen Pendleton, and Cubby O’Brien — toured Australia along with the pop group, The Diamonds. Many people were very surprised that ‘dorky’ Doreen, as seen on the early episodes of the TV programme, Read more