Migrantweb.com Hostels Forum

Trish · New Member Joined: 05 Jul 2008 Posts: 1

Does anyone know the location , address of the Hostel< I would like visit the site . We lived there (1969-70) when migrated and I want to follow up for my Dad.

Len · Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 8:22 am Post subject:

Hi Trish.
I don�t know for certain but I believe that Bradford Park was located at Lindfield, upper North shore of Sydney. Very near to the Harbour Bridge and Luna Park. Perhaps someone can verify this for us.

If you have Google earth installed on your pc then do a search �in google earth� for Lindfield, Bradford Park and you�ll be able to see the area from a satellites view.
If you haven�t got google earth installed then get it, because it�s brilliant but ideally you�ll need to be on broadband.
http://earth.google.com/

In 1940 the units at Bradfield Park were built as a station for the RAAF. After WWII the base was used as a migrant hostel to accommodate the New Australians
I believe that the site has now been cleared and reclaimed for housing.

Smile

Phyl · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:07 pm Post subject:

Hi Trish and Len,
My late husband was the manager of Bradfield Park at the time it closed in in August 1971. My children went to Chatswood High School and Killara High ,subjects taken dictated the school for one of the twins.My late husband is the middle chap in the closing down photo ,under Bradfield Park images, on the forum.. Smile

It was a bit further away from North Sydney. Actually we were there twice , in 1960 as well and my eldest son started school while we were there. It was near Bradfield Park and Lindfield. I remember the elderly Doctor Bradfield there ,a real gentleman. Smile

There was a little shopping area not to far from the hostel but can't think of the name of it. idunno

Older age has dulled me Embarassed

and maybe because for the second time this year I have just come out of hospital. Neutral

_________________
Kind regards,
Phyl

Len · Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 5:45 pm Post subject:

Phyl · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:43 am Post subject:

Thankyou Len, Smile

Somewhere reasonably handy I have a book with the address of Bradfield Park in it. So will try and look it out over the weekend. I am having trouble opening my mail in one account so at this moment can't read your note. Do try to send same to my other address.
_________________
Kind regards,
Phyl

Phyl · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:29 am Post subject:

Hi Len and Trish
Have hunted around and found the letters Tony had written but they just had - Post Box,Bradfield,2070. So found the good old Gregory's maps and it is in Bradfield Road.On the other side of it is Lady Game Drive joined at the top by Moore Avenue. If you leave the Pacific Highway at Highfield Road,( past Lindfield ) and go to the end of that road you will come to Lady Game Drive. Across that into Moore Avenue then turn left into Bradfield Road . That is where the main gate used to be. I remember there was a housing settlement next to the hostel. So hope that is not too mixed up and you are able to understand it. Further to the left you go into the subub of Ryde.Of course the hostel is probably gone but the roads should still be there. THe Gregorys is an old one so ................. Rolling Eyes

_________________
Kind regards,
Phyl

Len · Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:02 pm Post subject:

Thanks for that Phyl.
I've now found it on google earth and also on google maps. Chick on the link below and it will take you to the hostel site via google maps.

See Map Here

When the map opens you may need to reposition the map by dragging it, you can also zoom in.
I suspect that the hostel site is the part that looks like a building site.
I know that these maps aren�t necessarily recent and may be a couple of years old.

Phyl · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:16 am Post subject:

Gee Len that great .Of course the hostel has been demolished but nothing else is there on the site. I can see the shopping centre and I think the school Murray started at, has gone too. cry

Bradfield Park Hostel is where I met one of my dearest friends .We had already known her husband for a couple of years and when he was transferred to Bradfield Park he brought his new wife and it started a lifelong friendship which is still strong today. Very Happy

_________________
Kind regards,
Phyl

Len · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 5:17 pm Post subject:

Phyl · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:42 pm Post subject:

Yes Len I think there is a Bradfield School near North Stydney somewhere, so you may be right about two Bradfield Parks. Laughing

But we have the right one for the hostel .It is all so interesting and memories flood in.I have been having a look at the site and other hostel locations. Cool

Seems to be all bare ground.be interesting to see what they are like now. Maybe if Trish visits she will tell us how the building progressed at Bradfield Park. Smile

In 1955 when we were at Villawood there was always someone at the gate as it was Federal property and you had to state your business.That went out later. Smile

Hostels were on Federal ground because they were under the Federal government not the State government. Rolling Eyes

_________________
Kind regards,
Phyl

Jeanie Dewar. · New Member Joined: 04 Jan 2009 Posts: 1

Len · Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:32 pm Post subject:

Hi Jeanie, thanks for that. You can also find it using Whereis.com

Whereis.com - Moore ave and Lady Game drive

Catherine · Active Member Joined: 01 Jan 2009 Posts: 12

As a new member it was interesting to read so many not knowing where Bradfield Park Migrant Hostel was and I was pleased to see that it was sorted out via GoogleEarth. I lived there as a child from 1952 (aged 5) to 1958 with a 6 month's trip back to Scotland in between. There was another hostel nearby which housed Australian families. As a child, I enjoyed living on the hostel where my friends and I ran free and ate together in the canteen. We also regularly walked through the bush to swim in Lane Cove River or hopped on a bus and train to North Sydney Olympic Pool. We also visited Lindfield picture theatre on Saturday afternoons and if we had spent all our money on sweets, we'd have to walk home to the hostel. Imagine 9 - 10 year olds doing this today? I think not. During school holidays a Play Centre would be available for the children and we would go on bus trips (singing travelling type songs) to the zoo etc. These are happy memories but I don't know how adults coped as I could never live anywhere like that now. I would enjoy reading other people's memories of life on Bradfield Park Hostel.
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Catherine

grahamk · New Member Joined: 06 Mar 2009 Posts: 2

Hi all... new to the site and thank you to Jeanette for the heads-up on its existence!

The confusion over the two Bradfield Parks is because there are actually two - although one (immediately under the northern approaches to the harbour bridge) is just a park while the other, as per the photos elsewhere in this topic, was the site of the hostel. The suburb was actually known as West Lindfield. The last time I drove through the area the hostel site had been laid bare, and down Bradfield Road a little further (where the older demolished section of the old camp used to be) was where the CSIRO had built their offices. According to the googlemaps pic in the post above, the original hostel site has now been developed further. By the look of it, and from the memory of a boy just 8 at the time (42 years ago), the main gates to the complex must have been where "Brevet Ave" meets Bradfield Rd.

I arrived with the rest of my family (father, mother, older sister and brother and younger sister) in Jan of 67 and was in one of the huts at the northernmost end of the hostel, close to the shops. While it must have been a much tougher experience for my parents, my memories of my time there are all quite fond.

jeanette · New Member Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 9 Location: perth

hi there graham...glad you found it ok