Corner of King, Darling & Birchgrove Road

The corner of King, Darling and Birchgrove Road is one of the first junction intersections on the peninsula. A small and unassuming intersection but one that has a character in keeping with the suburb. On the corner facing Darling St is an old wooden shopfront. When originally built I imagine it must have been a general store but in my memory it was someones house, then an antique shop, a design shop and now a wedding dress store. Opposite it in King Street is a modern building with a spire that has an Indonesian restaurant on the ground and accommodation at the rear. When I first visited Balmain this was a busy garage the serviced the cars of the local community. Where the current Bakehouse is, once stood a interesting cafe called Relics a that was only open Saturday morning but did a roaring trade during the week when the local workmen and builders would descend on the cafe for takeaway lunches. The inside of the shop was decorated in old newspaper and magazine articles about the local area, old pieces of machinery and pictures of old rowing and swim teams. The atmosphere was dusty, the menu limited and the service slow but everyone knew the Asian lady who ran the cafe and you where always assured to meet one of your neighbours when sitting at the tables in the front of the cafe when having a coffee and reading the Sydney Morning Herald on a Saturday morning.