CALEDONIAN SQUARE, INVERMAY ROAD. |
I've often wondered whether or not
there is as story behind this little plot of vacant land on Invermay
Road (about number 74, I'm guessing), which is rather grandly
signposted as “Caledonian Square”. Unfortunately the answer
is....not really....at least not a particularly fascinating one, but
a quick search of Examiner articles (via TROVE) yielded a little more
information. The land was surveyed and given to the Invermay Town
Board by the State Government in 1896. Trees were planted and a
picket fence built, and over the years the square was used for a
children's playground, band concerts and the odd political meeting.
A bandstand was erected in 1946, using materials from the old
bandstand in Royal Park, but it is no longer there.
As a park, Caledonian Square never
really developed to its potential. Even in the early days there were
complaints about blackberries and long grass (replaced today with
complaints about oak leaves clogging the drains). The picket fence
was replaced with rocks in the twenties. In 1923, a councillor asked
for more police supervision as it was a place where boys congregated
at night. In 1931 the Examiner reported that “ At a meeting of the
Invermay and Inveresk Progress Association last night, mention was
made of the repulsive condition of the shelter shed at Caledonian
Square and the uses to which it was put. A suggestion was made that
the front of the building be open for its whole length, so that the
Interior was plainly visible from the street.” (I'm not sure if
more information would have been a good or bad thing here!)
The council had to fill in a paddling
pool on the site in 1936 due to misuse by “hooligans.” Some of
the old trees were poisoned by a vandal in the 1950s. As there was a
tramstop nearby, the square became a convenient shortcut rather than
a place to sit. Sadly, for those of us who like a good story, there
are no real mysteries evident, apart from whether it is Caledonia
Square (as appears in some newspaper articles and recent Launceston
City Council minutes) or Caledonian Square (as is written on the
sign), and why there are no seats!!
There was an underground air-raid shelter in the park, near Invermay Road, during the Second World War.
ReplyDeleteRoy Forward, born 1936, resident of Invermay 1940-1955