The Ventures Continue

Part Five of Vent Visits

This Sunday again I got up early, left at 7am and I caught the train to Kogarah which took longer than expected because of trackwork (need I say more?). I walked along Station Street, Paine Street and Queen Victoria Street towards Connemarra Street, Bexley. There wasn’t many people or cars around but unlike when I went to Bondi the sky was clear and the weather was noticeably warmer. When I reached Connemarra Street I didn’t realize Queen Victoria Street intersects, dividing one third of the street from the rest of itself.

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Naturally I turned into the obvious part of Connemarra Street and of course the wrong direction, but I did spot a few modern vents which considerably made up for the extra walk (which wasn’t very long anyway). Bexley has two vents on the heritage register both are small wire vents similar to modern unregistered vents but they have a stylish pedestal base. It would however be more accurate to say that they have one and an bit because while one vent is intact and the other has been chopped down to a stump! The intact vent was easy to find, especially helpful that it had the heritage register sign stuck on it! The vent stump, being a stump and much shorter then a vent I had walked right past it about three times before registering that it was all that was left. I was shocked! The lack of searchable information on the vents, means that I am yet to discover why such destruction has occurred.

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I retraced my steps back to Kogarah Station (considering the number of stops I wanted to make that day) and caught the train to Arncliffe. The weather had considerably warmed up by now. After consulting my maps I determined the best routine would be to walk along Firth Street, Forest Road and Wickham Street towards West Botany Street (which in hindsight turns is the long way and I should have gone along Butterworth Lane, Eden Street, Eden Street and Princess Highway to West Botany Street only because the vent is located at this end of the street). The good thing about a long walk, you have the time to notice things, like that birds like to sit on top of vents. I’ve seen some in Rhodes, Lilyfield, Glebe, Bondi, Marrickville and again in Arncliffe. Perhaps they have a thing for mephitic doors?

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There was a motorway sign and a barbed wire fence in front of the vent or I should say where the vent once was! Again I was shocked. The difference between the Bexley ventastrophe and the Arncliffe ventastrophe is that the Arncliffe vent was an old brick masterpiece! The only existing evidence of its existence a small piece of brick wall and a already fading plaque with some information.
Looking up the Arncliffe Sewer Vent I found these two websites that go into more depth:
– https://extentheritage.com.au/project/arncliffe-sewer-vent/
– http://sydneynearlydailyphot.blogspot.com/2007/08/sewer-vent-arncliffe-great-big-fart.html
When I was so looking forward to seeing a brick vent, it was rather disappointing.

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I walked back to Arncliffe Station and caught the train to Mascot, which required a change of trains at Wolli Creek officially the wind tunnel of Sydney! It was so windy and so cold. Of course the walk from Mascot Station to Tenterden Street, Botany did something in the way to warming me up. I walked along Bourke Road, Coward Street and all the way along Botany Road to Banksia Street and at the end turned onto Tenterden Street, Botany. Botany only has one vent on the heritage register and it is intact! Well maintained as far as I can tell from the paint job. The Botany vent was at the beginning of the street and much like the Bexley vents, it is a small metal vent with a stylish pedestal.

Stay tuned for the proposed Tour of The Great Big Fart Towers of Sydney, The City of Celebrated Stinks!