The circus is in town...

...or as David Lynch might say: it's crazy clown time.

End

Mind your step, dawdlers - Inveresk may no longer be an industrial zone servicing Tasmania's rail infrastructure, but it still hosts a small restored tram which runs on weekends.

Reused

Ah, my favourite bit of Launceston: Inveresk (can you tell?). It's hard for me to imagine what this place was like, back when it was still a functioning industrial site - particularly when the trees are looking so green and leafy. It's a subject that's been done to death recently in art, but something really appeals to me about nature reclaiming a derelict industrial site.

Of course, in this case, it's nothing to do with nature doing it's thing - as is probably quite obvious, this is a nicely landscaped and deliberately planned reclamation where the grass and rusty rails are both integral. Full points to the people who made it happen.

(The coffee is also excellent from the local cafe, by the way...)

Go Mowbs!

Today, being Australia Day (actually yesterday, but I am late posting this), I spent some time down at Inveresk, watching some local cricket. The Mowbray Eagles, taking on some other local club, in a friendly game of rounders.

I believe at least 20% of the people in shot are related to Ricky Ponting in some way, Mowbray being not only where he grew up, but where he first played competitive club cricket. And while I jest a little at the ratio of Pontings:Non-Pontings, I do believe the chap bowling is called "Ricky". Whether this places him in Clan Ponting is debatable, but what isn't debatable is that he took a wicket with this delivery.

Nice work, Ricky.

Tramlines

Might be a little inaccurate to call this "daily" these days. Still, I will post photos when I find something that catches my eye. Like today's effort.

Cephalopods

A collection of cuddly creatures at the QVMAG.

Go on - give them a hug.

unwanted

whether fairly or not, both the stump in the foreground and the burnt-out car in the background were deemed unwanted by someone, and destroyed to the best of their abilities.

when two become three

Like a lot of people who love taking photos, I really dig old rusty crap. And the Inveresk railyards are full of derelict and sort-of-neglected bits and pieces.

I say "sort-of-neglected" because between the 1960s and the new millenium (still sounds fancy to say that), this area lay abandoned - a bit of an eyesore. However, in the 90s someone (or someones, I'd say) saw the potential for this inner-city industrial scab to become the city's cultural heart. A fair bit of money was poured into the project, and in the early part of last decade it became the sort of place you could go to have a coffee, see a play or football, view some art, play on old trains without fear of tetanus, or study.

It's really a swell place to spend a Sunday afternoon, if you're so inclined. Just follow the train lines...

a house by the train line

A little cottage at the Inveresk railyards. I'm not quite sure what purpose it served, but as it's right beside the derelict line that crosses via a narrow bridge over the North Esk River my guess is it was some kind of toll house or check-in-booth for trains coming to the railyards.

Of course, nowadays it mostly functions as a target for graffiti, an object of curiousity to passers-by, and a subject for daily photo bloggers.

Inveresk

More from Inveresk. The smaller building to the right is the Annexe Theatre; the larger building in the middle-ground is the Stone Building (the local art school), and in the background, part of the Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery.

Yep, it's a veritable cornucopia of culture down at Inveresk. Colour photos one day...

School of Architecture

The School of Architecture and Design at Inveresk. This building used to be another workshop forming part of the railyards precinct. A few years ago, it was "repurposed" as a place for kids to go learn how to design good buildings and furniture. I've been in this building three times, myself - first time in 1999, it was just an empty warehouse; in 2003-ish, it was home to a number of information stalls at the Launceston Show; most recently, I attended a university open day with a friend...the change is rather stunning.

Inveresk

Since 2003, the Stone Building at the former Inveresk railyards precinct has been the School of Visual and Performing Arts (part of UTas). I myself was a student there from 2003-2004, and while they were still ironing out the kinks in the new building, it was an interesting space to paint, print, and draw.

Inveresk is also Launceston's arts and cultural hub, and a fine area to wander around with a camera.