Researcher Dawn Coleman has been in touch to ask what information we have about water skiing in Manly. As Dawn Bancroft, she was one of Australia's top female water skiers in the 1950s, and was Australian champion in 1952. She enclosed this lovely photo taken in January 1952. It shows Marie Higgs, Lyris McIntosh and Dawn Bancroft performing a stunt at the Manly Mardi Gras Festival, where they were one of the star attractions. Marie Higgs was Australian champion in 1953. Manly was also the home base of Betty Leighton, several times Australian champion in the 1950s, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Australian Water skiing and Wakeboarding Foundation earlier this year.

Both Manly Cove and Manly Dam were popular venues for water-skiers. We would love to hear from anyone who has memories of water skiing at either venue, from any era.

Changes of 50 years

How many changes have occurred in Manly since this photo looking over Sydney Road was taken in 1958! The boardwalk enclosing Manly Cove pool is the most lamented loss, smashed by storms in 1974. From the middle of the shot, the Hotel Manly has gone, and the bus terminus nearby. The Fun Pier carousel and amusements have gone. Further over, the Olympic Baths have gone, and at Little Manly, the Gasworks and Gasometer. The Coles site on the Corso has undergone more than one change over the period. And you may be able to spot numerous other changes.

Manly 16 Foot Skiff Club

Manly’s 16-foot Skiff Club has been active since the early 1920s, and its clubhouse is a familiar feature of Manly Cove. An excellent history of the Club, The Sailos, by David Hooley, came out in 1997, which tells that in season 1954-55, a works programme saw the Clubhouse fully refurbished, and a timber jetty constructed. This photograph, which Mr Don Douglas recently allowed me to copy, shows a group of members of the club enjoying the new sundeck in the summer of 1955. The Club President that season, Mr A A Marshall, was honoured with Life Membership at the AGM in August 1954.

Dating a photo

When was this photo of Manly Cove taken? There are several clues. On the right is Manly Art Gallery, opened in 1930. The boardwalk, constructed by the Port Jackson Company, was completed in December 1931. But there is no sign of the Dressing Pavilion (now the Manly Pavilion Restaurant), which was opened in June 1933. the boardwalk looks as if it might still be under construction, and there are none of the floating pontoons or slippery-dips installed yet. The likeliest date is the summer of 1931-32. The large crowd shows what an immediate draw the enclosed pool proved to be. When completed, it was widely regarded as the "finest pool in the Commonwealth."

Smedley's view

The architect John Smedley (1841-1903) lived in a house named Uyeno for several years in the late 1880s, located at the end of what is now known as ‘Smedley’s Point’. From Uyeno, he could watch progress on the construction of the Ladies’ Baths, on the opposite side of Manly Cove, roughly where Oceanworld now sits. He advised Manly Council on the tender process for the Baths’ construction, and may have had a hand in their design. A recent visitor to Manly Library Local Studies collection, Rosalyn Smedley, is a direct descendant of John Smedley, from a branch of the family now living in Canada. Rosalyn allowed us to copy this previously unseen watercolour in the family’s possession, of Manly Cove, painted by John Smedley in circa 1889-90. I think it shows the view from Uyeno looking across to the opposite shore of Manly Cove to what is now called Federation Point, with Fairlight beyond - I can imagine John Smedley setting up his easel on the lawn at Uyeno to pain the view. I am not sure what the contraption in the picture is – perhaps it is some sort of temporary crane for unloading building materials?