Maitland an incomplete history as seen through the eyes of a small boy Pt3

Maitland an incomplete history as seen through the eyes of a small boy Pt3
The Maitland Farmers Market know to the locals as the Union
I though I may not have been able to write this blog until next week as I had to check that my memory was correct. I am happy to report that my memories were correct although what I am about to write is a scant history of what must have been a fascinating place.
In recent time there has been an explosion of farmer markets start up. This has been viewed as an exciting new development. However the concept is not new & in Maitland a form of farmer markets existed for almost 100years.
The markets locally referred to as “The Union “began as a place for farmer to market their produce directly to the public to avoid taxes that had to be paid to middle men. The Farmers Union market began in the late 1800’s & was located in Steam Street Maitland. This Street runs from Elgin St to Church St & is near Maitland Railway station
I believe the Farmers Union got into financial difficulty & was purchased by the Swan, Murray & Haines Auctioneers later on a Mr Kennedy also sold from the site up until its closure in the late 1970’s.
As a small boy I remember going to the “Union” which was housed in a collection of dilapidated old weatherboard building where a vast array of locally grown seasonal produce would be out on display. On long concrete verandas In summer there would be long green melons, Queensland blue pumpkins, tomatoes, locally grown stone fruit or Black Muscat grapes in a paper lined wooden crates. In winter wooden crates of Oranges & the famous Paterson River Mandarins would be sold. This produce would be auctioned of to Greengrocers, housewives & the general public.
All the produce was sourced from the Hunter Valley much of it coming from the fertile river flats around Maitland. It was a common site to see sacks of potato looking like little soldier all standing to attention in the fertile fields. All these 50kg sacks filled by hand then loaded onto a truck all back breaking work. It was an amazing sight to see a man lift a huge bulging bag of potatoes onto his shoulder.
These vegetable farms are long gone the rows of corn & potatoes now replaced by turf for city lawns or by Lucerne to feed horses.
Also at the Union was the bag shed where Mr Wilton sold used potato sacks. Before it was banned Mr Wilton would purchase empty potato sack & then on sell them to potato farmers & produce merchants. In the days before bulk grain dairy farmer s purchased feed in bags. I remember Mr Wilton in his Red Commer truck calling at regular intervals to purchase our empty feed bags.
The “Union” also sold poultry with cage open cage filled with chickens, geese & turkeys. As a boy I remember going to the “union” with my grandfather to purchase a turkey for Christmas dinner .I was so small I always think of that turkey being the size of an Emu. Chicken in the 1960’swas a luxury that was only eaten on special occasions. You could grow & kill your own or purchase one from the markets, the ultimate in fresh food.
So what is old is new again

Maitland an incomplete history as seen through the eyes of a small boy Pt2

Maitland an incomplete history as seen through the eyes of a small boy Pt2
This blog is about Elgin Street.
Today when you travel down High Street Maitland your progress is blocked by the Mall & all traffic travels down what is known as Elgin Street. This street that runs from High St to the railway line has undergone much change in the last 40 years. Many of the businesses & the premises I remember as a child are now long gone.
On the corner of High & Elgin street was the ANZ bank. Travelling on down the street on the left was Pont’s foundry. All I can remember of Pont’s foundry is a large untidy corrugated fence with Pont’s Foundry in big black letters. This site was later to become a plaza of shops. Across the road in what was once the Savoy picture theatre was Cameron’s Honda motorcycle dealership. Here motorcycles were displayed in the foyer, the old lolly counter was the parts counter & the theatre was a ramshackle work shop. This building facade is still there today & houses an insurance company. Just on from here was All-Ag which was housed in a rather modern brick building. The Thompson family ran this business supply farmers with all their chemical needs. This building was demolished to make way for the car park. A little further down was Penders Bros Joinery, housed in a collection of building that stretched down to the site now occupied by the Woolworths. I used to love going to Penders with my father where they had a Hardware section. The highlight of a trip to Penders was if you required something from another section was that you had to travel past an array of wood working machinery all driven by huge flat belts attached to pulleys that were in turn attached to a shaft running the length of the building. It was here that timber windows with their sash cords & counter weights were manufactured for Maitland homes. The air was always rich with the aroma of milled timber. Penders were also famous for beekeeping equipment & at one time were the largest beekeeping equipment manufactures in the Southern Hemisphere. When Penders closed the buildings were demolished to make way for Pender Place shopping centre. Crossing over the street & further down was R F Heads Soft drink factory & the highlight of the year was to purchase several cases of soft drink. Each wooden crate containing a dozen 32 fluid ounce bottles of mixed soft drink. Maitland also had Watson soft drinks factory, neither factory could compete with the multinational brands. R F heads building is gone now replaced by a storage centre. Also near here was a tractor dealership selling Fiat tractors.
Nowadays Elgin Street is just a thoroughfare through town with no reminders of its rich history in developing Maitland!
At the end of the Street you turned into a street that was home to what was known as the Union a market place for local produce & this will continue with part 3 next week