Monday, November 9, 2009
Cricketers Arm Hotel
Before the monkeys moved into the Monkey Bar the hotel on the corner of Ford & Darling Street was know as the Cricketers Arms Hotel. It was a working mans pub and late in the afternoon the male employees from the wharfs, Balmain hospital and various local tradesmen would meet at the bar to drink. Often they would spill out onto the pavement in a noisy commotion of foul language and ribald comments made to passing pedestrians. Drinking and smoking it made for a rough and tumble environment after 6pm most evenings and young women and schoolgirls would choose to cross the street instead of passing its doors. Of cause this all changed when the high heels, smokey glass windows, Armani suits, polished floorboards and sliding glass doors moved in when the pub changed its name to the Monkey bar.
Berlin Cafe
The Berlin Cafe was the first Cafe to open in Balmain in the 1970s on Darling St just up form Gladstone Park and is still operating today. It was always a very cool place to hang out at and many young students would meet there on Saturdays before or after visiting Balmai Markets. It was always a bit dark and basic and had a bit of a grunge feel about it until it was renovated in the 1990's.
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