Marrickville Eco Fest

look ma, no sides!
tents

I went down to my first Marrickville Eco Fest. The weather was somewhat cloudy with patches of rain. I took my big umbrella. At the small festival were many displays on water recycling and solar power. The information was all aimed at houses and I live in a unit and was looking for something for camping. But overall I though it was very good. I picked up some bike maps from the bicycle tent. They also had live music.


the great Marrickville chimney.
vent

I also took the opportunity to wander some of the back streets and discovered a giant sewerage vent from the 19th century in the middle of a residential area.

Sydney Water S170 Heritage Register.

The stack was built by the Public Works Department on the Board’s behalf as part of the Western Suburbs Sewerage Scheme, put into service 1898-1900. The steel access door in the base of the stack opens to step-irons leading down to the penstock chamber below. The chamber is the junction of three sewer mains, the Eastern Main Branch (reticulating Marrickville, Petersham, Newtown, Leichhardt, Annandale & Camperdown), the Northern Main Branch (reticulating Marrickville, Petersham, Annandale, Leichhardt & Ashfield) and the Western Main Branch (reticulating Ashfield, Burwood, Drummoyne, Strathfield, Concord and Homebush). The Outfall Main originally led to the sewage farm at Rockdale, but from 1916 has been connected to the Southern and Western Suburbs Ocean Outfall Sewer (SWSOOS), terminating at the Long Bay Treatment Works at Malabar.

A pair of Queen Anne Revival workers cottages, flank the 1898 brick sewer vent stack, which is sited amongst detached late-Victorian and turn of the 20th century dwellings. The cottages form part of a fairly diverse architectural character streetscape, many of which are substantially intact, although late 20th century alterations have affected a few dwellings in the immediate visual catchment.

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