Sydney Road Brunswick History Tours 2022-2023

Teaming up with the Brunswick Community History Group, and led by their local experts, attendees took a leisurely and incredibly insightful walk along Sydney Road Brunswick.

Our November History Tours focussed on the buildings between Albion Street and Moreland Road, including the following stops:

Don Bosco Youth Centre
Mitchell Street
Site of Funeral Parlour (now Centrestage Costumes)
J. Junaid Jamshed
Brunswick Tram Depot
Site of Alhambra Theatre (now Stuckey Tyre Service)
Charalambous Hardware
The Bank building
Moreland Hotel

At the conclusion of the tour, attendees enjoyed a complimentary hot drink and the opportunity to have a casual chat about the sights and stories of Sydney Road Brunswick.

Walking tours cost $15 (plus 50c ticket fee) each, and ran for approximately 1.5 hours, commencing at 11am and ending around 12/12.30pm.

Included in the ticket cost was:

Printed booklet with images and information on each of the stops
Sydney Road Brunswick tote bag with collateral
Walking tour and knowledge exchange
Hot drink from a local café at the end of the tour

Accessibility
Please note that the historical walking tours are done from the footpaths of Sydney Road Brunswick and does not enter any of the sites listed above with the exception of the Moreland Hotel (which is accessible). The footpaths are a little uneven at times, but overall the tour and pace is a slow stroll.

Previous Tours
Interested to know about the sites and stories told from previous Sydney Road Brunswick tours? Download the tour booklets below:

Download the booklet from our first tour (Brunswick Road to Glenlyon Road) here
Download the booklet from our second tour (Glenlyon Road to Victoria Street) here
Download the booklet from our third tour (Victoria Street to Albion Street) here
Download the booklet from our fourth tour (Albion Street to Moreland Road) here
Download the booklet from our fifth tour (Brunswick Road to Glenlyon Road) here
Download the booklet from our sixth tour (Dawson Street to Victoria Street) here
Download the booklet from our seventh tour (Victoria Street to Albion Street) here
Download the booklet from our eighth tour (Albion Street to Moreland Road) here

Future Tours
If you’re interested in attending future tours, please subscribe to our mailing list and follow us on social media (links at the bottom of this page)!

September 2023

The third tour for 2023 took place on the 2nd, 9th and 16th of June (download the booklet here), and focussed on the buildings between Victoria Street and Albion Street, including:

Sparta Place
Old Brunswick Market (now T.O.M.S Place)
Bridal Shops
Site of Hooper’s Store (now the Hardwick Building)
Franco Cozzo
Mediterranean Wholesalers
Baptist Church
Former dental surgery
Site of Whelan the Wrecker Yard
Site of Padua Theatre (now IGA)
Court House Hotel
Brunswick Market
Edinburgh Castle Hotel

June 2023

The second tour for 2023 took place on the 10th, 17th and 24th of June (download the booklet here), and focussed on the buildings between Dawson Street and Victoria Street, including:

Brunswick Mechanics Institute, 270 Sydney Road Brunswick
Free Speech Memorial, 270 Sydney Road Brunswick
The Retreat Hotel, 280 Sydney Road Brunswick
St Ambrose Church, 287 Sydney Road Brunswick
The Empire Theatre (now Aldi), 292-298 Sydney Road Brunswick
Kaleidoscope Café, 295 Sydney Road Brunswick
Tough’s Ironmongers (now What the Putt), 303 Sydney Road Brunswick
Davison’s Grocery Store, corner of Phoenix St
Brunswick Ballroom, 314-316 Sydney Road Brunswick
Wesleyan Church & Sunday School, 350 Sydney Road Brunswick
Cumberland Arms Hotel (now Snafu & Tino), 341 Sydney Road Brunswick
Brunswick Post Office (now The Penny Black), 420 Sydney Road Brunswick
Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, 430-436 Sydney Road Brunswick
The Hall at Welcome to Brunswick (formerly Manchester Unity Lodge), 400 Sydney Road Brunswick
Passfield’s Bakery (now La Manna Fresh), 403-407 Sydney Road Brunswick
Former Coles & Woolworths Variety Stores (now Bunnings), 415 Sydney Road Brunswick

APRIL 2023
The first tour for 2023 took place on the 25^th March, 2^nd April and 15^th April (download the booklet here), focussing on the buildings between Brunswick Road and Glenlyon Road, including:

Sarah Sands Hotel (29 Sydney Road Brunswick)
Cable Tram Engine House (Black Street)
Barkly Square (90-106 Sydney Road Brunswick)
Brunswick Hotel (140 Sydney Road Brunswick)
McDougall’s Store (123 Sydney Road Brunswick)
Phoenix Hotel (132 Sydney Road Brunswick)
Miss R.E. Yon (159 Sydney Road Brunswick)
Cornish Arms Hotel (163 Sydney Road Brunswick)
Uniting (formerly Presbyterian) Church (212 Sydney Road Brunswick)
Brunswick Club (former Lyric Theatre) (203 Sydney Road Brunswick)
Brunswick Town Hall (233 Sydney Road Brunswick)

NOVEMBER 2022
Following the success of our previous three tours, in November we ran our final instalment of history tours for 2022 along Sydney Road Brunswick– this time focussing on the historical stories and sites from Albion Street to Moreland Road– our Moreland Precinct.

This tour, as previous tours, was led by local experts from the Brunswick Community History Group, and involved a leisurely and incredibly insightful walk along Sydney Road Brunswick, stopping at the following:

Don Bosco Youth Centre
Mitchell Street
Site of Funeral Parlour (now Centrestage Costumes)
Junaid Jamshed
Brunswick Tram Depot
Site of Alhambra Theatre (now Stuckey Tyres)
Charalambous Hardware
The Bank building
Moreland Hotel

Tours took place on November 5^th, 9^th and 12^th– starting at 11am and ending around 12:30pm.
At the conclusion of the tour, attendees enjoyed a complimentary hot drink and the opportunity to have a casual chat about the sights and stories of Sydney Road Brunswick.

AUGUST/ SEPTEMBER 2022
This tour focussed on historical stories and sites from Albion St to Victoria St – our Anstey Precinct of Sydney Road Brunswick.

Edinburgh Castle Hotel
Brunswick Market
Court House Hotel
Site of Padua Theatre (now IGA)
Site of Whelan the Wrecker Yard
Mediterranean Wholesalers
Site of Hooper’s Store (now the Hardwick Building)
Baptist Church
Former dental surgery
Sparta Place
Old Brunswick Market
Bridal Shops
Franco Cozzo

JUNE 2022
This tour focussed on historical stories and sites from Glenlyon Road to Victoria Street – our Brunswick Precinct of Sydney Road Brunswick.

Brunswick Mechanic’s Institute
Free Speech Memorial
The Retreat Hotel
St Ambrose Church
The Empire Theatre (now Aldi)
Tough’s Ironmongers (now What the Putt)
Davison’s Grocery Store (now What the Putt)
Brunswick Ballroom
Wesleyan Church
Cumberland Arms Hotel (now Tino)
Brunswick Post Office (now Penny’s Bandroom & A Little Room for Icecream)
The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel
Brunswick Mess Hall
Former Coles & Woolworth’s Variety Stores

APRIL 2022
This tour focussed on historical stories and sites from Brunswick Road to Glenlyon Road – our Jewell Precinct of Sydney Road Brunswick.