Punchbowl, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of local government areas City of Bankstown
City of Bankstown
The City of Bankstown is a city and Local Government Area in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, centred on the suburb of Bankstown....
and the City of Canterbury is located 17 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...
, in the state of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and is a part of the South-western Sydney
South-western Sydney
South-western Sydney is a general term which is used to describe the metropolitan area in south-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Greater Western Sydney area....
region.
History
Punchbowl is named for a circular valley, called 'the punch bowl', which is actually located in the nearby suburb of BelfieldBelfield, New South Wales
Belfield is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Belfield is located 14 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canterbury and partly in the Municipality of Strathfield.-Location:Belfield has...
at the intersection of Coronation Parade, Georges River and Punchbowl Roads. This feature gave its name to 'Punch Bowl Road' (now Punchbowl Road). In the 1830s, an inn built by George Faulkener, close to the corner of Liverpool Road, was called the Punch and Bowl. John Stephens had a property there in the 1830s and his son is mentioned in the Wells Gazetteer in 1848, "Clairville or Punchbowl, in the Parishes of St George and Bankstown, is the property of Sir Alfred Stephens". When a railway station opened on this road in 1909, three kilometres away from the 'punch bowl' itself, the surrounding suburb came to be known as Punchbowl.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Punchbowl was a higher-class suburb, with a number of popular theatres that were closed down or demolished thirty years later. The Punchbowl Astoria opened on 17 July 1935 with seating for 915 persons. The final programme was shown on Wednesday 4 February 1959. The Astoria was eventually gutted and refitted as a three-storey office building. The Punchbowl Regent was situated on the corner of The Boulevarde and Matthews Street. Operated by Enterprise Theatres Ltd, the Regent opened on Saturday 24 May 1923, showing The White Rose. It was a large cinema with seating for 1,287 patrons. The last programme was shown on Wednesday 4 February 1959. The Regent was demolished in August 1964 and replaced by a block of shops.
Commercial area
Punchbowl has a relatively small shopping centre, although the selection is diverse. It thrived until the advent of Roselands and Bankstown Square in the late 1960s and its bisection by the upgrading of Punchbowl Road in the 1970s. It is centred around Punchbowl railway station, along The Boulevarde and Punchbowl Road. Local businesses and clubs reflect the diversity of the population. The largest shop is an IGA SupermarketIGA (supermarkets)
IGA is a brand of grocery stores active in more than 30 countries. Contrasting with the chain store business model, IGA operates as a franchise through stores that are owned separately from the brand. Many of these stores operate in small town markets and belong to families that manage them...
. Punchbowl RSL
Returned and Services League of Australia
The Returned and Services League of Australia is a support organisation for men and women who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force ....
was located on The Boulevarde until it closed in 2010 and The Mirage Hotel is on Punchbowl Road. Lebanese cuisine is well regarded in the suburb, to the extent that culinary walking tours of Punchbowl sell out months ahead. There are a number of Lebanese sweet shops in the suburb. In 2009, a gym opened at the Astoria theatre site.
For many years, Jack Walsh International Cycles, on Punchbowl Road, was one of the longest serving shops in Punchbowl. It had been selling and repairing bicycles for over 60 years, until December 2007 when Walsh was unable to continue the business.
Transport
Canterbury Road and Punchbowl Road provide the major road links into the suburb. The Boulevarde and South Terrace are also main roads. Punchbowl railway station is located on the Bankstown line of the CityRailCityRail
CityRail is an operating brand of RailCorp, a corporation owned by the state government of New South Wales, Australia. It is responsible for providing commuter rail services, and some coach services, in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities of New South Wales. It is...
network. The line was opened in 1895 and electrified in 1926. Trains take around 25 minutes to Sydenham and 40 minutes to Central station.
The Punchbowl Road railway bridge replaced an old two lane bridge in 1981. The foundations of the old bridge can still be seen west of the current one. The new bridge greatly aided traffic flow through the area but at the cost of effectively cutting the shopping centre in half.
Housing
Federation architecture
Federation architecture refers to the architectural style in Australia, which was prevalent from around 1890 to 1920. The period refers to the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, when the Australian colonies collectively became the Commonwealth of Australia...
, Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
and contemporary homes. Parts of Punchbowl have been redeveloped since the turn of the 21st century, with flats, townhouses and modern detached houses built.
Schools
Punchbowl Public School is located on Canterbury Road.St Charbel's College is located in Highclere Avenue. Saint Jeromes Primary School.
Punchbowl Boys High School in Kelly Street, was established in 1955. The school produced two Australian cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
fast bowlers, Len Pascoe
Len Pascoe
Leonard Stephen Pascoe is a former Australian Test and ODI cricketer. He attended Punchbowl Boys' High School in New South Wales....
and Jeff Thomson
Jeff Thomson
Jeffrey Robert Thomson is a former Australian cricketer. Known as "Thommo", he was one of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket and was the opening partner of fellow fast bowler Dennis Lillee; their combination was one of the most fearsome in Test cricket history...
.
Churches
- St Charbel Maronite Catholic Church
- St Jerome Catholic Church
- St Barnabas Anglican Church
- St Saviours Anglican Church
- Punchbowl Baptist Church
- Punchbowl Presbyterian Church
- Punchbowl Uniting Church
- St Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church
Demographics
The first inhabitants of Punchbowl were AboriginalIndigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
tribes. The first Europeans in the area were British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
and Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
settlers in the 19th century. By the mid-20th century, the suburb had absorbed many migrants of Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
and Greek origin. From the mid-1970s, Punchbowl became a very popular location with migrants from Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. During the 1990s immigrants from the former Yugoslavia from countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
settled in the area.
Notable residents
- Comedian Vince SorrentiVince SorrentiVince Sorrenti is one of Australia’s best known and leading comic entertainers, a respected and successful Australian stand-up comedian from Punchbowl, New South Wales. He is of Italian heritage. Sorrenti performs at many functions and events, such as the AFL Grand Final Breakfast...
- Comedian Akmal SalehAkmal SalehAkmal Saleh is an Australian comedian and actor. He was born in Egypt and arrived in Sydney, Australia with his family in 1975 at the age of 11. He has been performing stand-up comedy since the early 1990s and his live shows have toured comedy festivals both within Australia and internationally...
- TV host "Baby" John BurgessJohn Burgess (TV host)John Burgess is an Australian television and radio personality, best known for his hosting duties on Wheel of Fortune.-Television:Burgess was host of Wheel of Fortune on the Seven Network, from 1984 to 1996...
- Poet Lex BanningLex BanningArthur Alexander Banning was an Australian lyric poet.Disabled from birth by cerebral palsy, he was unable to speak clearly or to write with a pen. "Yet he overcame his handicap to produce poems which were often hauntingly beautiful and frequently ironic, and gave to other, younger poets a strong...
- Hardcore band The Hard-OnsHard-OnsThe Hard-Ons are a punk rock band from Sydney, Australia that originally formed in 1981. They have been called Australia's most commercially successful independent band, with over 250,000 total record sales. -1980s: Early days:...
- Actor Danny AdcockDanny AdcockDanny Adcock is an Australian actor, best known for his work in television and theatre.His television acting roles include Matlock Police as the killer of Michael Pate's character, Division 4, Homicide, Patrol Boat, Sons and Daughters as Joe Parker, Prisoner as male warder Geoff Carlson, A Country...
- YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
Actor/Comedian "Trent from Punchy" (Nick Boshier)
In popular culture
- Punchbowl has featured in several Australian books including the satirical They're a Weird MobThey're a Weird MobThey're a Weird Mob is a 1966 film based on the novel of the same name by John O'Grady under the pen name "Nino Culotta", the name of the main character of the book. It was one of the last collaborations of the British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger...
by "Nino Culotta" (a nom de plume of John O'GradyJohn O'GradyJohn Patrick O'Grady was an Australian writer. His works include the comic novel They're a Weird Mob and the poem The Integrated Adjective, sometimes known as Tumba-bloody-rumba.- Pseudonym :...
), which was made into a feature film of the same name. The Mirage Hotel was referred to in the movie as "the bloodhouse". - The movie FJ Holden (1977) featured several locations in Punchbowl including the Sundowner Hotel on the corner of Punchbowl and Canterbury Roads, a popular pub and band venue until the licence was sold. The buildings served as a Croatian Club until a new club was built.
- The television drama series DangerousDangerous (TV series)Dangerous is an Australian television drama series that first screened on 16 January 2007 on FOX8 and was shown in Ireland on RTÉ One. In mid-2008, it began running on The WB's online network in the US....
was set in and around Punchbowl.