Print this page Balmain: Workers, Talkers, Strife and Sandstone

Wander the hilly streets of Balmain and step into more than 150 years of Sydney life. One of the city's great conservation areas, alongside Glebe, Hunters Hill and Paddington, Balmain is full of sandstone grandeur, iron lace and humble weatherboard cottages, each with a story to tell. On this relaxed walking tour, we'll meet the people of the past in the places they lived and worked: Premier Sir Henry Parkes, the workers of Mort's Dock and the rough-and-tumble street gangs known as the Pushes. Balmain is where the union movement grew strong and where the Labor Party is said to have been born. Later, artists and writers gathered in its pubs, and in the late 20th century the suburb changed again as old industries gave way to cafes and harbourside homes.

There'll be plenty of time to chat, ask questions and share your own Sydney stories, with a break for lunch in the village. We meet beside the Balmain War Memorial and finish at Balmain East wharf. Please note the walk includes some steep hills. Come and discover how a working harbour suburb became one of Sydney's most loved neighbourhoods.

DELIVERY MODE

Face to face

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Meet beside the Balmain War Memorial 10 minutes before tour starts.

• Time will be included for lunch
• Finishing at Balmain East ferry wharf and the 442 bus stop.

This walk will go ahead whatever the weather, except where the guide deems there to be a threat to health and safety. In this situation you will be contacted with an alternative date. Please ensure your mobile phone number is up-to-date with WEA before enrolling and make sure you take it with you on the day in case the tutor needs to contact you. 

COURSE OUTLINE

• Proceeding down Darling St Balmain (up and down many slopes) to look at
• Unity Hall Hotel and the site of the Working Men’s Institute
• Mort’s Dock
• Gladstone Park, and Balmain Hospital
• St Andrew’s, St Augustine’s, & St Mary’s
• Watch House (a National Trust site usually open on Saturday afternoons)
• Site of the Colgate Palmolive factory
• Clontarf Cottage, Hampton Villa, and a view of White Bay Cruise Terminal
• Bell’s Store and Illoura Reserve

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Outline the history of Balmain
• Identify significant heritage buildings and sites in Balmain
• Describe the lives and significance of several important residents from the past