What is better for a retaining wall, timber sleepers or blocks?

Treated timber is approved for in ground use and has a reasonable service life, however block retaining walls and concrete sleeper retaining walls are more durable having a greater life expectancy. This is based on suitable footings & good drainage. Both Blocks and concrete sleepers come in a wide range of colours, sizes and styles to create a more aesthetic landscape. Common styles of retainers walls to consider are timber sleep retaining walls, link wall or link block retaining walls and concrete sleeper walls

Should I pave or concrete?

While concrete certainly has its benefits, pavers give a more aesthetic finish to a landscape area. Pavers area available in range of colours, texture, styles and sizes. Larger format, 400mm and 500mm pavers have become increasingly popular with modern and contemporary landscape designs. Pavers are also commonly used for garden borders and edges for their straight line finish which is widely desired in modern landscape construction.

Do I need landscape design plans before I get a construction quote?

Yes. A landscape design will allow us to discuss the project with enough detail to allow for an accurate price estimate. This design process will also determine whether council approvals are required, which can impact cost and timing.

Call Our Local Landscaping Glebe Team

Unlocking Your Home’s Potential with Landscaping Glebe Services. A well-designed landscape enhances not just your garden but also your entire home. Importantly, landscaping goes beyond just visual appeal; it increases your property value. With All Green Gardening Services, you can turn your dream yard into a reality. We are just a phone call away, get ready to transform your outdoor space.

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Glebe Landscaping Services by All Green Gardening & Landscaping

We’re All Green Gardening and Landscaping, known for our skill in crafting inviting, organic landscapes that enhance the appeal of residential and commercial properties with our expert landscape design. Stay connected with us through our Facebook Page. Whether it’s backyard landscaping Glebe or a larger project, we strive to give the best customer service & outcomes through our professional landscaping Glebe service. We’re your go-to for residential and commercial landscaping, in partnership with our expert designers and installers.

Trust our licensed landscape designers for superior designs on your extensive projects. We’ll schedule a site consultation with our designers to delve into your project and determine the necessary tasks. After this, we’ll deliver a comprehensive landscape design consultation for you.

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Our team of professional landscapers has been serving people near you since 2010. Our company is the synonym to the best landscaping service in Glebe. With our gardening and landscaping services, your satisfaction is guaranteed 100%, ensuring your delight.

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Enhance Leisure Spaces with Turf Laying Services in Glebe. Furthermore, a well-laid turf can turn any outdoor space into a recreational area. Whether it’s for picnics or play, a grassy area enhances your quality of life. All Green Gardening Services ensures you get that luxury. Reach out today and upgrade your outdoor living.

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For gardens that resonate with health and beauty, trust All Green Gardening & Landscaping’s mulching services. Operating inGlebe, NSW 2037, we provide mulching that enriches soil, curbs weeds, and beautifies spaces. Join hands with us for landscaping that truly stands out.

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Our dedication to Glebe homeowners lies in providing first-rate panel and post concrete retaining walls, an affordable option to brick and limestone.

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For comprehensive tree care inGlebe, look no further than All Green Gardening & Landscaping. Our dedicated team provides services from pruning to safe tree removals. Prioritize your tree’s health and safety with us by your side.

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All Green Gardening & Landscaping is Glebe’s trusted name for weeding services. Our comprehensive approach ensures gardens remain vibrant, promoting growth and health. Engage with us for a garden that’s free from unwanted invaders.

Best Landscaping Services in Glebe NSW 2037

Frequently Asked Questions

{We offer a comprehensive range of landscaping services, including garden design, lawn maintenance, tree and shrub care, hardscape construction, irrigation system installation, and more. | We provide an extensive selection of landscaping services, including garden design, lawn care, tree and shrub maintenance, hardscape creation, irrigation system installation, and beyond.

Our focus is on improving your property’s visual appeal by crafting appealing outdoor spaces that elevate curb appeal and property value.

Crafting unique landscaping solutions is our forte, turning your outdoor space into a bespoke masterpiece.

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Sydney Sketch Club Meetup - 8 February - Badde Manors, Glebe
Another great outing with the Sydney Sketch Club. Mild day, overcast. It started to drizzle and my yellow umbrella came in handy. After a while the rain stopped again and just as we were breaking up for lunch, it started to rain again. We had lunch at "Badde Manors", a quirky vegetarian restaurant in Glebe, NSW. Nice meals and plenty of food on the plate! baddemanorscafe.com.au/ Strathmore Visual Journal, Watercolour, (140lbs) 300gsm, Spiral bound 100% cotton, cold pressed Medium to rough surface For the pencil work I used a 3B and 7B Caran d'Ache Graphite Line. For pencil work I think the front of this paper is a bit too rough and soft, and I tried to work into the tooth to get more even blacks. The back of the paper is smoother and may be better for graphite or coloured pencil.

Former Glebe Fire Station
Glebe NSW.

Bridge Lane
Glebe NSW.

Tram arriving at Glebe Pt Tram Terminus
Glebe NSW.

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"Sunrise" - Glebe - NSW - Australia

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Bidura – Chess Club 2022
Bidura Children’s Court – Glebe, NSW OlympusXA Kodak TMax100

Apartment in Glebe, NSW, AUS
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Glebe St Playground
Glebe NSW

Lake Northam
Glebe NSW

“Bidura”, 357 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, NSW, formerly a girls’ shelter and remand centre
Standing amid mature trees and palms and set back from Glebe Point Road in the inner Sydney suburb of Glebe is an early surviving example of the substantial middle-class homes which once occupied the Glebe Point ridge. The land on which the house was built was acquired in 1857 by the well-known ecclesiastical architect, Edmund Thomas Blacket (1817-83). He then designed a two-storey house (”Bidura”) in Colonial Regency style and had it built in about 1860 as his family home. It features rendered coursed brick walls and a slate hipped roof. The ground floor has French doors opening onto a single-storey verandah supported by cast-iron pilasters while the upstairs windows are shuttered. The interior was simple, with each floor divided into four main rooms with marble fireplaces. The basement contains a marble-paved kitchen. Edmund was born in Surrey, England, and after leaving school entered the family drapery business. After three years he rejected this occupation and joined the Stockton & Darlington Railway Co., training as an engineer. At the same time, he became a skilled draughtsman and surveyor and as a reward for his success, Edmund’s father provided funds enabling him to spend a year sketching and recording English medieval architecture. In 1842 Edmund married the love of his life, Sarah Mease, the daughter of his father’s former business partner. Apparently, the couple wed against both sets of parents’ wishes and shortly afterwards emigrated aboard the “Eden”, reaching Sydney on 3 November 1842. When Edmund and Sarah arrived in New South Wales it was in the midst of a depression but Edmund was fortunate to quickly get work from Bishop Broughton. Blacket’s role was to design Anglican schools, churches and rectories. The design of All Saints’ Patricks Plains (Singleton) being his first work. Edmund’s private practice grew and in 1847 he was officially appointed Diocesan Architect for the Church of England. In 1849 Edmund then became Colonial Architect, a position he held until he resigned to take up the Senate’s invitation to design the first buildings of the University of Sydney. This later architectural commission generated much more work and by the time Edmund bought the Glebe land his architectural practice began to grown vigorously with commissions for schools, colleges, banks, hospitals and commercial buildings, as well as numerous Anglican churches for which he became so renowned. In 1853 Sarah and Edmund moved from the city to Glebe, then described as something of a wild place! Initially the Blackets lived in rented accommodation but once Bidura was completed they lived there. It was in Glebe that five of Edmund and Sarah’s eight children were born. In 1869 Sarah Blacket passed away at the age of 51 and was buried in Balmain Cemetery. Edmund could not continue to live at Bidura and sold the house to an auctioneer, R. F. Stubbs, and moved to a smaller house he had designed in Darling Street, Balmain, which survives today as the Manor House Restaurant. Robert Fitz Stubbs (1828-1887) and his wife, Rosina Mary, lived at Bidura and at least two of their children were born there. From 1879 the house was owned by the solicitor, Frederick William Perks, until his death in 1905. Perks continued to call the house Bidura and it was probably during this time that the two single-storey wings were added, one of which was an Italianate ballroom with a fine decorative patterned timber ceiling and the other was a service wing. The year after Perks passed away Bidura, together with its 1¼ acres of land, was advertised for auction by the agents, Richardson and Wrench Ltd. It was described as “an attractive two-storeyed most substantial dwelling” comprising a hall, ten rooms and two dressing rooms. In the basement there was a pantry, pot room, bedroom, bathroom and breakfast room. The detached wings included a brick ballroom, timber billiard room, kitchen, and scullery. The property also had brick stables, an “extensive” laundry, man’s room, coach house, harness room, bush house and feed rooms. The house had a 130 feet (39.6 m) frontage to Glebe Point Road, and depth of 508 feet (154.8 m) extending through to Avon Street, was conveniently located on the tram route to the city with a fare of 2d (2 cents) and had potential to be developed into a private hospital, nurses’ home, “high-class boarding establishment” or “scholastic institution”. It was not until 1909 that the house secured a new owner, Dr Walter Charles Fitzmaurice Burfitt (1874-1956). He lived there with his wife, Esmey Mary Elliott (nee Mann) and family. Dr Burfitt was in general practice in Glebe between 1901 and 1912 and went on to a Macquarie Street specialist, gifted surgeon and later gynaecologist at Lewisham Hospital, St Vincent's, and various suburban hospitals. Dr Burfitt sold Bidura in 1920 to the NSW Government for use by the State Children’s Relief Department as a depot for female wards of the State up to the age of 18. The house was considered appropriate as its rooms could be easily converted into dormitories and it had a garden suitable for young children. The Public Works Department extended the house’s electric lighting, added hot water systems and improved toilets. The ballroom became a schoolroom and later still a dormitory while the billiard room was converted to a store. The institution was renamed the Metropolitan Girls’ Shelter in 1923, although this section of the institution moved into a new building on the site. Bidura became the first place “at risk” children were held after removal from their families, awaiting placements, children's court hearings or transfer to other establishments. The Girl’s Shelter was closed in 1978 and Bidura was redeveloped into the Metropolitan Remand Centre. The entire back garden of the Bidura property was taken up with the construction of a seven-level reinforced concrete building to provide short-term remand accommodation for 42 young offenders. Facilities included clinics and assessment units, kitchen and dining room, education and recreation areas, two children’s courts, Department of Youth and Community Services offices, reactional hall and an external courtyard pool. The old Bidura house was restored and converted again into offices and meeting rooms, a conference centre and training facilities for the Department of Community Services. The Metropolitan Remand Centre was officially opened in 1980 and closed in 2017. Bidura is currently (2022) in the process of a development application to demolish the remand centre building and erect apartments and terrace houses in its place and to repair and stabilise the historic house. www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/nsw/NE00405 Advertising (1906, February 10). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 23. Retrieved August 3, 2022, from nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14732858 Simpson, Margaret “Old Sydney Buildings : a social history”, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, NSW, 1995, pp. 123-4.

“Toxteth Park”, 2 Avenue Road, Glebe, NSW, part of St Scholastica’s College
The grand mansion dominating Avenue Road in the inner Sydney suburb of Glebe was built in two architectural styles separated by fifty years. It was originally an elegant two-storey Regency villa built between 1829 and 1831 for the solicitor, George Allen, and designed by John Verge. Not long after Allen’s death in 1877, his eldest son, George Wigram Allen, also a solicitor, engaged the architect, George Allen Mansfield to transform the house into a large and opulent, late Victorian mansion adding a third storey, a tower, various rooms and embellishments which were completed in 1881. G.W. Allen only lived in his grand house for four years until his death in 1885. By 1901 it had been acquired by the Roman Catholic Order of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan for St Scholastica’s Convent and school. George Allen (1800-77) was the son of a London physician who died in financial straits in 1806. Three years later George’s mother remarried but his new stepfather, Thomas Collicott, was convicted of failing to affix revenue stamps to medicine bottles and was transported to New South Wales in 1813. George, with his mother and family members, followed Thomas to Sydney and arrived here in January 1816. By means of a letter of introduction to Governor Lachlan Macquarie, George was articled to the Government Solicitor, Frederick Garling, and in 1822 was admitted to practise as a solicitor. He had the distinction of being the first solicitor to receive legal training in the colony. In February 1828 George acquired 96 acres of the old St Philip’s glebe, offered for sale by the Church and School Commissioners who were in need of ready cash. This area had been reserved as church land in 1789 by Governor Arthur Phillip. George commissioned the well-known architect, John Verge, to design him a fine Regency-style home on his land which he called Toxteth Park, after the English home of a family friend, Sir Robert Wigram. The house was a two-storey rectangular building with a single-storey wing on either side. Set at right angles behind the house and facing a large flagged courtyard were the kitchen and servants’ quarters. Contemporary newspaper accounts described the house as an “elegant villa” with “a spacious garden, containing some hundreds of the choicest trees” and “a tract of forest land capable of being converted into the most romantic pleasure ground”. In 1823 George had married Jane, the daughter of the schoolmaster Thomas Bowden. Jane bore him fourteen children of whom five sons and five daughters survived infancy. Their eldest son, George Wigram Allen (later known as Sir Wigram Allen) (1824-85), was articled to his father in 1841 and five years later admitted as a solicitor. In 1847 G.W. Allen became a partner in his father’s practice which became Allen & Son. George Allen senior retired in 1855 and various family members were also admitted to the practice. After Alfred Macartney Hemsley joined the partnership in 1894, this well respected firm of solicitors was known as Allen, Allen & Hemsley. It continues to this day (2022), but is now known just as Allens. In 1851 George Wigram Allen married Marian Clapham Boyce (1835-1914), the eldest daughter of his father’s close friend and a Wesleyan theologian, the Rev. William Binnington Boyce (1804-89). George and Marian lived at “Strathmore” (now demolished) which was located adjacent to Toxteth Park but on the other side of Glebe Point Road. George Allen senior passed away in 1877 and Toxteth Park was inherited by G.W. Allen, who was by then knighted. Sir Wigram Allen then began massive alterations to Toxteth Park which saw the house converted into a grandiose Victorian Italianate-style mansion. The architect responsible for the extensions was his brother-in-law, George Allen Mansfield (1834-1908), who had married Sir Wigram Allen’s sister, Mary Emma. A third storey and a tower were added to the central block as well as a ballroom above the drawing room, reached by a special staircase which led from the courtyard. The area of the courtyard was completely enclosed by the construction of a nursery. While the long drawing room retained much of its original appearance, including three-arched wall openings, cornices and internal folding doors, most of the ground floor was renovated during the extensions. An impressive marble-floored vestibule incorporated Verge’s original entrance hall and an adjoining room, and an elaborate cedar staircase led from the vestibule to the tower. Sir Wigram Allen’s family left Strathmore and moved into Toxteth Park in 1881. It was the same year that they entertained, in their newly decorated mansion, the two royal princes, Prince Albert and Prince George (later King George V), training as midshipman on HMS Baccante. A large Moreton Bay fig tree at the front of the house is said to have been planted by the princes. The Toxteth Park estate also featured a private Wesleyan Methodist chapel for the Allen family to worship in, and several cottages were built for various family members. Like his father, Sir Wigram Allen served in the Legislative Council between 1860 and 1861, succeeded him as a fellow of the University of Sydney Senate between 1878 and 1885 and was active in religious and charitable societies. He was also elected the first Mayor of Glebe in 1859, a position he occupied continuously until 1882. Only four years after moving to Toxteth Park Sir Wigram Allen died suddenly at Toxteth Park on 23 July 1885. His funeral service was held in the estate chapel and he was buried in the family vault at Rookwood Cemetery. Lady Allen continued to live at Toxteth Park for a few years with her family but died at her London residence, 208 Ashley Gardens, Westminster, in 1914 leaving nine children. During the 1880s the great Toxteth Park estate began to be subdivided. In 1902 its famous orchard, to which some reclaimed land was added, became the Forest Lodge Trotting Track. Sir Wigram Allen’s son, George Boyce Allen, let much of the remaining land in tenement and building leases. Street names in the vicinity of Toxteth Park recall the family members associated with the estate including Allen, Mansfield and Boyce Streets and Wigram and Toxteth Roads. Around the late 1890s the Allen family left Toxteth Park and it was said to have been used for a while as a residential college for female students attending the nearby university. By 1900 the once gracious mansion had been converted into a boarding house known as Toxteth Mansion. By this time the house stood on only three acres of land but was described as being “beautifully laid out, and forming pleasant and picturesque walks with shady recesses”. It boasted sixty rooms, as well as “hot and cold water baths” and was said to have had “no equal in the colonies as a residential establishment … cool as a Mountain Home and most suitable for families from other colonies and stations during the Summer Months”. It was operated by Mr and Mrs Camillo Marina, late of the Australian Hotel in Young, a town in the Central West of NSW. Despite these glowing descriptions the establishment must have been rocked when a case of the Bubonic Plague had allegedly been detected in one of the sixty residents of Toxteth Mansion in April 1900. In 1901 Toxteth Mansion and its remaining grounds were acquired by the Sisters of the Good Samaritan Order of St Benedict, founded by Archbishop John Bede Polding. The Sisters’ former Convent and St Scholastica’s School in Pitt Street, Sydney, had been resumed by the NSW Government and eventually demolished to make way for Central Railway Station which opened in 1906. The generous compensation paid to the sisters enabled them to purchase Toxteth Mansion which became St Scholastica’s Convent and Boarding College. The sisters brought with them stained glass windows which were put into the stairwell of the mansion as well as the hand-carved sandstone columns and cast-iron gates which still grace its entrance on the corner of Avenue and Arcadia Roads. Toxteth Park’s old gates were acquired by Lady Allen’s brother-in-law, J.H. Stewart, and taken to his home, Abercrombie House, Bathurst, NSW. St Scholastica’s Convent was opened in Toxteth Mansion with the old house being blessed by Australia’s first cardinal, Patrick Francis Moran, on 15 October 1901. The “Freeman’s Journal” of 19 October 1901 painted an evocative description of the garden with its magnificent English oaks, graceful bamboo and spreading Moreton Bay fig, Norfolk Island pines and native oak. The house had been converted for its new use and was described as having three reception rooms on the ground floor with one of them of “heroic scale”, a fine conservatory and refectory. On the southwestern wing were a kitchen, scullery, pantry and storerooms, while on the first floor of the western wing there was a novitiate recreation room, study hall, novitiate workroom, two music rooms and library, On the second floor a lofty and commodious room had been reused as a chapel with an altar with a a series of cedar stalls where the nuns took their places for devotion. This floor also had an infirmary, dispensary, 24 bedrooms and three bathrooms while the third floor had a further 12 bedrooms, a bathroom and linen presses. A two-storey block with 5 classrooms with a hall above was constructed to conduct lessons to teach the girls. Eventually, new quarters were erected for the boarders and they moved out of the old house which from 1905 also served as the Good Samaritan Teachers’ Training College for sisters of the congregation using the former drawing room and library on the ground floor. During 1967 and 1968 the buildings along the rear of the house’s courtyard, including the former nursery, were demolished. Excavations for a new convent wing for the sisters revealed that the original courtyard was paved with blue flagstones and contained three water supply wells. These were estimated to have been about 30 feet deep and were later filled with cement. The sisters then moved out of the old house, leaving it solely for St Scholastica’s Teachers’ College. From 1968 until 1983 the college went through several name changes including the Good Samaritan Training College, the Polding College of Advanced Education and a Catholic Teachers’ College. Gradually, the number of lay teachers accepted into the Roman Catholic schools increased and in 1982-3 amalgamation of all Catholic teachers’ colleges left Toxteth Park no longer required for this purpose. The college was then transferred to North Sydney, now the MacKillop Campus of the Australian Catholic University. The sisters of the convent then moved back into the Toxteth Park house at the end of 1985 and today (2022) it accommodates the Good Samaritan Congregational Centre. Over the years St Scholastica’s College has grown with new buildings erected within the Toxteth Park grounds, and is still a Catholic secondary school for day girls and boarders. References ‘Blessing the New Convent and College’, in “Freeman’s Journal”, 19 Oct 1901, p.17. Retrieved August 2, 2022, from nla.gov.au/nla.news-article111085710 “The Plague” in The Burrangong Argus”, 21 April 1900, p.2. Retrieved August 2, 2022, from nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247696814 Simpson, Margaret “Old Sydney Buildings : A Social History”, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, NSW, pp.115-118.

Anzak Bridge one of the gates into the CBD
None of the highrises stood there when I arrived in Sydney only the beige buiding towards the right.

SAPPER HENRY JAMES AYRES 16947 – Aust Electrical & Mechanical Mining & Boring Company
SAPPER HENRY JAMES AYRES 16947 – Aust Electrical & Mechanical Mining & Boring Company Inverell, New South Wales was the birthplace of Henry ‘Harry’ James Ayres in 1895 the son of Henry Jepson and Phoebe Dunbar (nee Hill) Ayres. An apprenticeship as an engineer was served for three years at the Conrad Silver Mine, Howell, NSW which was about twenty kilometres from Inverell and historically was the largest producer of silver in the New England district. At Victoria Barracks, Sydney on October 12, 1916 the twenty-one year old engineer applied to enlist for active service abroad and passed the medical examination there. Personal particulars on his application state he was single, 165cms (5ft 5ins) tall with a chest expansion of 84-90cms (33-35½ins) and his eyesight was good. Postal address was 12 Dayham Street, Glebe, NSW. The recruiting officer accepted his application and he was sent to the Royal Agricultural Show Ground camp, Sydney, NSW to be attested the same day. Further information from his Attestation Form shows he weighed 63.6kgs (140lbs) with a dark complexion, brown eyes and brown coloured hair. Distinctive marks were three scars on his back situated on the left side of his spine and a scar on his left clavicle. Church of England was his religious faith. Next-of-kin nominated was his father Mr Henry Jepson Ayres of 12 Dayham Street, Glebe, Sydney, NSW and later 12 York Street, Forest Lodge, NSW. He was sworn in the same day. Two days later he was sent to train with “A Coy” of the Reinforcements to the Field Company Engineers at the Engineers’ Depot at Moore Park, Sydney, NSW. His rank was Sapper with the Regimental number 16947 and assigned to the January Reinforcements 1-5 Division Field Company Engineers. The Reinforcement embarked from Sydney, NSW on the RMS Osterley on February 10, 1917 under the Master of the Ship W.J. Jenks. The Royal Mail Ship docked in Melbourne on February 14 for the day and departed for Adelaide arriving in the Outer Harbour on February 16 but left the same day. An overnight stopover in Fremantle from February 20 to 21st concluded the Australian departures and sailed for Durban, South Africa spending March 6 and 7 in port. Capetown was entered on March 10 and continued the next day for Sierra Leone to refuel from March 25 and departed two days later on the last part of their voyage. Officer Commanding Troops was Lt-Colonel F.B. Heritage who oversaw disembarkation at Plymouth on April 11, 1917 where the men were detrained to Tidworth and Amesbury Stations. They marched into No. 3 camp at Parkhouse the following day to prepare for further training for the front. On April 16, 1917 were sent to the Engineers’ Depot at Brightlingsea. The Reinforcement proceeded to France from Southampton on June 26, 1917 arriving at the Aust General Base Depot in Rouelles and Sapper Ayres was taken on strength with the Australian Electrical & Mechanical Mining & Boring Company on September 3, 1917 pending absorption. Not many records remain of the Company but Sapper Harry Ayres is mentioned in the Diary of Sergeant 4209 E.G. ‘Hughie’ Dodd also a member of the ‘Alphabetical Company’ and his diary extracts are as follows: “December 4 [1917] Came down to Noeux-les-Mines this morning, Jerry shelling with shrapnel all day. Learned this morning, that four Germans came over at "E" New Cut and took a machine gun away with them. One of the infantry captains shot one of our men in mistake for a Bosche and immediately after the Huns shot him through the head. New Cut was put in in another place last night. Harry Ayres was telling me that Harry Ralph was killed a few days ago. Piper came out today and told me to send Downie to Wings Way (Hulluch) and put in a new switchboard. Wanted me to be up tomorrow to ballot for conscription. Jerry over with a Gotha bombing machine tonight and dropped two bombs. December 6 Went down to Quarry Tunnel and wired up a half of the New Gallery which 185 Coy drove. Sent Sanderson around to Vigo St to see if it were possible to get through to get Vigo St on. He came back and said it wasn't. While in Coy headquarters his hands fell on two suits of Burberry overalls. They are made of rubber and just the ticket to keep the wind and snow, rain out. These things are worth about £6, so we are not doing so bad. The infantry use them for raiding purposes. Ayres reported back to me two days ago. Sent Sanderson, Marriott and Ayres to Old Kent to finish up wiring. Myself and Ayres put in five lights in the New Gallery that 185 drove. December 7 Newton, Sanderson and Ayres went to Edgeware to spy out the easiest way to bring Potter engines to Cambri dump. Feeling a big crook. December 15 Went to New Cut. Fixed up lights, went out 6.30 am. Harry Ayres found that coupling had been broken at Barts' End. Got back at 10 am for breakfast. Went to Quarry all Jake. Found main galleries in at "H". Coupling broke. Fixed it up. Left Hollingsworth home, the rest of us went to Cambrin and loaded up engines. Self and Newton went down with them. Jack Penn got a smack in neck and shoulder with shrapnel, will get a Blighty out of it. December 18 Ayres and Marriott went to Noeux for pay. Expected them back by ration lorry but did not turn up. Sent their kits up this afternoon. Jerry gassing tonight. December 22 Hollingsworth put five new lights in Stokes Gun position. I went to Quarry and Saville Row and got all lights burning. Ayres and Hollingsworth to Cambrin for rations. Heard today the Jerry put three motor lorries and bath house at HQ yard Noeux out of action. January 22 Ayres and Marriott went to Cambrin dump to see if any lamps were there but there was nothing there for us. Newton and myself went to Old Kent Rd. Givenchy is running that far. Hulluch taking the rest of the load. While in Old Kent we met Morse, Walker and Wigzel. It appears as if one of the engines had broken down completely so with two engines they have enough without us on. We are putting a pump in Coldstream as there is about 3' of water m the tunnel. They are just beginning to take a Jerry. This present system is rotten. When the idea is first mooted, I turned the idea down. Now they talk of installing my system. January 23 Hollingsworth slept up here last night. He was up before any of us and got the breakfast on. Ayres and myself went to Barts job. Found cable saturated with water in Vigo St. Doyle and Newton went to Old Kent, they found the lights had been out since "Stand To" 4.45 pm last evening. It appears Jerry landed two shells on it at that time. They sent a telegram to Givenchy telling them because once we do repairs over the top, the Givenchy crowd will swing it on to us always. This measly crowd to whom we are attached forgot purposely to bring our rations up tonight. Had to send a couple of men down to the dump for them. January 24 Marriott and myself went to Barts side everything jackaloo. Main gallery squeezing in and it appears to me as if the miners do not know how to stop it. Barts gallery is knocked in just up from 170 Coy officers' dugout. Doyle and Ayres went to Givenchy but they had another engine broken down which had been replaced by one I took away from them more than 12 months ago. January 25 Newton and Doyle went down today. They should have been back tonight but have not yet turned up. They will get our pay books. Marriott and myself wired up a 6" Stokes position which has to be firing by the 27th. Preparing for the Kaiser's Birthday. No rations with Push Party. Ayres and Marriott gone to the dump. No. 3 Section's cook took them up to me. Have been mixed up with section's rations. Any amount of activity in the air today and also tonight. Both sides very busy indeed. January 26 Newton and Doyle came up very early this morning and brought a big mail for me with them and I found out the money had been sent but do not know where. Ayres and myself came out to Noeux-les-Mines. I rang Hazebrouck and told them I was ready to go on leave. Jerry put over four shells today. On February 28, 1918 he proceeded on leave to England and rejoined his Unit on March 14. For twelve months service abroad he was issued with Blue Chevrons to wear on his uniform. March 23 Ayres and myself went to Saville Row, Newton went to Old Kent. We have been told that Johnny may attack on Monday morning. The night of the raid he knocked out a few down at the reserve line. Have been a bit crook tonight. March 24 Newton and myself went to Saville Row way everything Jack. Doyle and Ayres went to Old Kent. Things very quiet here. Everyone very much awake. March 27 When Piper was out yesterday he told us to wire and light up Crater Post somewhere in the Brickstacks. I suppose it is over near where the Givenchy crowd have their pumps in. Today Marriott and Ayres went over to Brickstacks. Found fuses blown in Mills Tunnel. We shall be going down the other tonight. March 31 Ayres and Marriott went to Old Kent. Newton and myself went to Saville Row. No news of big battle coming up. In the evening, Dave, Newton and myself went for rations and found one of the wires pulled away from the coupling, could not find who did it. April 5 Ayres and myself went out to Noeux-les-Mines. Sapper Ayres was treated for a Social Disease from May 11 at the 4th Stationary Hospital at Arques, the 7th General Hospital at Wimereux and the 39th General Hospital in Havre and after 68 days curative care rejoined his unit on July 26, 1918 from the A.G.B.D. in Rouelles and was taken on strength on August 1. September 28 Had visitors this morning before I was out of bed. Young, Ayres, Jim Loughrey and McMurry came over.” On October 10, 1918 he went sick with Tonsillitis to the 47th Field Ambulance proceeding to the 6th Casualty Clearing Station and travelled on A.T.16 to the 53rd General Hospital for admittance. After several days was released on October 17 to the 1st Convalescent Depot in Boulogne and discharged the following day as fit to the 5th Rest Camp. Returned to the A.G.B.D. in Rouelles on October 21 and rejoined his Unit on November 1, 1918. He was with his unit when Peace was declared less than a fortnight later and the company remained on the front delivering electricity for lighting and machinery for essential services for the troops in rehabilitation service in their district. On January 22, 1919 proceeded on leave to Paris and returned on January 30. Further leave was granted from April 9, 1919 and he returned on April 23. Orders were issued to return to Base Depot on May 10 to prepare for their return to England. The English Channel was crossed on March 25, 1919 where they entered the No. 1 Group camp and Sapper Ayres reported to Headquarters on March 28 and was granted leave until June 12, 1919 and report to Heytesbury. He marched in as ordered to the No. 1 Group camp to await his return home. Sapper Ayres embarked on July 6, 1919 on board H.T. Boorara for the voyage to Australia. On July 27, 1919 Base Records advised his father of his impending return. The ship docked in Melbourne, Vic (3rd M.D.) on August 26, 1919 and sailed for Sydney, NSW (2nd M.D) the same day. Military Discharge was issued in Sydney, NSW (2nd M.D.) on October 5, 1919 on termination of his period of enlistment. Base Records wrote to Headquarters, 2nd Military District on March 29, 1921 advising that records held by their office state the ex-member returned on 26/8/19 on the H.T. Boorara and no later reports were received and referred the case for favour of any information in their possession. Should the reason for discharge be due to medical unfitness kindly include Board Proceedings. Victoria Barracks, Sydney replied on April 5, 1921 that he had been discharged T.P.E. on 5/10/19. The British War Medal (73122) and the Victory Medal (70042) were issued to Sapper 16947 Henry James Ayres, Aust Electrical & Mechanical Mining & Boring Company for serving his country. He married in 1924 to Hazel Hopetoun Chaffer in Marrickville, NSW. Their residence in 1930 is recorded at 38 Day Street, Marrickville, NSW where his occupation was motor mechanic. In 1937 this changed to 52 Gueudecourt Avenue, Earlwood and he was a motor carrier. The following family notice appeared in the newspaper on the death of his wife: He remarried in 1951 to Una Pearl Burwood with their union registered at Ashfield, NSW and they continued to reside at the Earlwood address. A Statement of Service was issued to the Repatriation Department in Sydney, NSW on January 29, 1969 and medical records and service documents on February 6, 1969. May Anne Hills Grandson.)