This column's recent exposé on iconic Canberra bus shelters beyond our borders resulted in one of the biggest mailbags in years. It seems there are many more of these little pieces of Canberra dotted around eastern Australia than even the most devoted afficionados could ever imagine.
Several readers, including Lynne Staunton, report that many of these Clem Cummings-designed shelters are still used as bus stops on the Central Coast of NSW. In fact, Kylie Beer was so taken by seeing them on road trips there that she confesses to having "stopped the car to make my kids look at them out of their natural environment".
Melanie Snall reports that the half dozen or so strewn around the streets of Goulburn were the only reason she survived walking home from school during winter. "A brief stop in one of these to get out from the bone-chilling winds and you could go another 20 minutes," she reveals.
Even Jindabyne has a random Canberra bus shelter used as a school bus stop on the outskirts of town on Gullies Road, complete with a brumby-inspired mural.
Mark Dawson reports "it's amazing how every one of these located outside of Canberra isn't correctly oriented to allow commuters to see oncoming buses ... almost [every] one I've seen interstate faces straight on to the road instead of on an angle so you can see approaching buses." I agree, it defeats the purpose of providing shelter.
Closer to home, Celeste Aldridge reports "there is a random one at the weigh bridge in Pialligo", while Peter Jovanovic reveals "there used to be one lurking at the Tuggeranong Bus Depot tennis court, now a car park".
However, of all the Clem Cummings-designed bus shelters beyond our borders, the one which prompted most comment is perched on the corner of Captains Flat Road and Molonglo River Drive in Carwoola.
"Just how did it get there?" asks Benny Standen of Kaleen, while Samantha Smith of Queanbeyan points out "it's particularly perplexing as there is a standard bus stop right opposite it".
Some sleuthing reveals that it was installed in 1994 by nearby resident and construction worker Darrel Fleming to resolve a safety issue shortly after the surrounding rural housing estate was established.
"To get the school bus, our kids had to walk across the Captains Flat Road and stand on the edge of the road," recalls Darrel. "Cars would fly over the hill doing 100km/h or more, and the kids were getting peppered with stones.
"It was simply too dangerous. I didn't want any of the kids who caught the bus getting injured or killed so I asked the council about getting a bus stop installed in a safer location.
"We agreed if I levelled off the opposite corner where there was space for a bus to turn, they'd allow me to put a bus stop there - but first I had to find one!"
Darrel just so happened to be working for the ACT government at the time and by chance a broken bus shelter had arrived at the work yard as it had been smashed into by a car on Northbourne Avenue.
After pouring a slab with help from a neighbour, Darrel arranged for the bus stop to be transported to its new home where he fixed it, installed a seat and had another neighbour help install windows. It has now serviced the local community for 30 years.
"It probably cost about $7500 in terms of crane and truck hire, preparing and pouring the concrete slab," reveals Darrel. "That was a lot of money 30 years ago!
"A few years ago, the council installed a newer bus stop opposite, but it's a bit of a joke as not only does it face the prevailing weather but it's on the wrong side of the pull-in bay when the bus pulls up to pick passengers up.
"The council then put a 'for sale' sign on the original bus stop, but it's not theirs to sell!
"When I told them I'd paid to install it, they took down the 'for sale' sign and asked me to remove it instead ... but I haven't got around to it yet. If you can't do something for the community, why bother!"
Concrete bunkers
Barry Snelson of Calwell, who worked for ACTION buses from 1968 to 2004, reports that back then, everyone at work affectionately called the Clem Cummings bus stops "concrete bunkers".
Meanwhile, Stephen Wilson of Kambah reports that several bus stops in Brisbane were built as actual bunkers during World War II.
"Over 200 brick shelters were built as air raid shelters in case of enemy air attack," reports Stephen. "One of these designs featured a pillbox with single-cantilevered roof slab, so that the three brick blast walls could be removed after the war, leaving a concrete back wall and five brick piers at the front.
"Sadly, only two of these relics survive - one at Newstead and another at Newmarket."
Spike spotted
Finally, while recently watching From Woy Woy to Wagga Wagga, a 1987 travel documentary hosted by Irish comedian Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (1918-2002), this column's regular correspondent Matt Watts "wasn't expecting to see Spike waiting by a Canberra bus stop at the road-inaccessible Wondabyne Railway Station on the Central Coast". Well spotted Matt.
Did You Know? Milligan disliked his first name so adopted the name Spike after listening to a band called Spike Jones and his City Slickers. For the uninitiated, Milligan was also the co-creator, main writer and a principal cast member of The Goon Show.
The queen of big bakes
The revelation that Megan Jeremenko of Griffith baked a Big Trout cake for her fishing-mad brother's birthday prompted several readers to ask if she has attempted to make other 'Big Thing' cakes.
"I'm not sure how appetising tucking into the back end of Goulburn's Big Merino would be," muses John White of Crace. Meanwhile, Sean Dunn of Kambah reckons "the Big Prawn at Ballina would be a tricky one". Indeed.
Megan reveals that although she doesn't churn out the eye-catching cakes as a profession, it's a fun hobby.
"I'm not a registered business so I make them for family and friends," she reveals.
"I make at least two a year for my two sons who like to up the ante every year, but also lots of family birthdays and weddings ... the most unusual request I've had so far is a giant caterpillar."
According to the crafty baker, "the hardest to make is anything that is 3D and gravity defining ... you have to have good internal supports.
"One of the hardest I've made so far is a T-Rex for a birthday party at the National Dinosaur Museum."
While Megan has made only one other Big Thing (the Big Pineapple), she has temporarily immortalised several Canberra landmarks, including the infamous pear sculpture at the National Gallery of Australia, for various charity bake-offs.
Given this column's current spotlight on Clem Cummings Canberra bus stops, I think it might be time to issue Megan with a challenge. Can she make a Canberra bus shelter? Complete, of course, with graffiti and vandalised or missing windows. Watch this space!
WHERE IN CANBERRA?
Rating: Medium
Clue: I see red
How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to tym@iinet.net.au. The first correct email received after 10am, Saturday August 17 wins a double pass to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema.
Last week: Congratulations to Roger Shelton of Spence who was the first reader to correctly identify last week's photo as part of the former landmark Cusacks Store in Eyre Street, Kingston. The photo was sent in by Vince Condon of Kingston who remembers Cusacks as a prominent feature of Kingston when he started living there, staying at the Victor Lodge in Dawes Street in 1975. "I'd been sent to Canberra by my employer and as a green 20-year-old, everything about the ACT was fascinating. Such is youth!"
A caffeine high
The good folk at Troopers Rest in Braidwood recently answered an unexpected phone call. "A customer rang up to ask if we were open for coffee, and of course, we said yes," recalls owner Gavin Gillin.
"Amidst some mechanical noise in the background, the lady on the phone had a rather unusual request - if they could park a helicopter on the field at the back of the café."
It turns out the historic café's fleeting guests were after a coffee en route from Sydney to the snow.
Troopers Rest is also the cellar door for Hold Fast Distillery which I can vouch brews some of our region's smoothest gin, but I'm reliably informed the pilot sensibly kept his refreshments to a caffeine boost.
"They wanted even more gin to take home with them, but were limited by weight restrictions," muses Gavin.
Can you beat this?
Graham Carter of Ainslie recently noticed this icicle in stalagmite form, which he estimates was about 250mm long. I know we are in the last throes of winter, but have you snapped a photo of a longer icicle this season?
- CONTACT TIM: Email: tym@iinet.net.au/ or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, GPO Box 606, Civic, ACT, 2601
