The A to Z of 2205: Arncliffe St Arncliffe to Wolli Creek

Arncliffe St is a street mainly of light industry and car workshops etc. Many of the car yards on the Princes Highway back on to Arncliffe St. It is narrow. Recently the Wolli Creek end has been re-developed with multi-storey apartments. At first I thought that surely the road must be widened to cope with the increase in traffic. No! Then there was a breakdown in undergound services uner the road (water and electricity, I think) and it was dug up for months on end. I think it is a case study in how NOT to undertake a development. I am not necessarily troubled by re-use of land for alternative purposes, but such developments cause unnecessary inconvenience and seem designed to benefit the developers more than anyone else.

Starting at the Wolli Creek end

Below: Looking from Brodie Spark Drive up Arncliffe St from the Wolli Creek end
Below: "Proximity" is the high rise development fronting Arncliffe St. The amazing thing is that this narrow road, which carries a large amount of the traffic into and out of Arncliffe is also a designated "cycle route" ! They have to be joking.
Below: Proximity, by developer Multiplex. Two bedroom apartments routinely cost over $400 000
Below: What is this? A Substation?
Below: Warehouse building currently used for indoor Go-Kart racing


Below: Looking towards Brodie Spark Drive at Wolli Creek, 'Proximity' on the left.


Below: Morris McMahon was the site of a prolonged industrial dispute in 2003
Below: There used to be houses, however, there are only two left, and they have been converted to other purposes. One is a sandwich and lunch shop servicing the factories in the area, and this one.
Below: Looking towards the Arncliffe end. On the right, the other house, now afood outlet, and across the railway line the Al-Zahra mosque
Below: Looking from the corner of Allen St
Below: On the station side of Arncliffe St, near Burrows St, looking along Arncliffe St. Allen St corner is in the middle. This is the station's commuter car park
Below: Looking in the oppositie direction from the previous shot.
Below: From the corner of Allen St. Empress resewrve is on the left. The green box near the letter box is a mail collection box for the postie to pick up from.

Below: The station from the commuter car park
Below: The park at the end of the carpark, behind Arncliffe Scots. The walkway extends from the end of Arnclife St where it meets Burrows St to the station overpass.


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Photos taken 03 and 04 August 2008

Arncliffe Railway Station

above: September 2000

8 Sep 2006 - the old indicator boards - soon to be no more.

above: Iron lace work feature, typical of Victorian architecture

The Illawarra railway line, linking Wollongong and the South Coast with Sydney was talked about and supported from the 1860s. At the 1874 election, the voters of west Botany Municipal District enthusiastically supported those candidates who supported the extension of the railway.
By 1878 the route of the line through Arncliffe was clearly defined, and in on 30 November 1881, was approved by Parliament. The result was a modest population explosion, and a lot of subdivision in the Arncliffe area.

The railway opened in October 1884.

Arncliffe station is a beautiful example of Victorian architecture.


Update 22 Feb 2008. Taken Jan 24, 2007 - The electronic boards arrived. Unfortunately they are almost impossible to read; as the light hits the screens they are illegible. That's progress.