1935
A pylon and a promenade
In 1934 Mayor John Black announced the next stage of the beach improvements.
This included the repair of the dilapidated jetty, a shark proof swimming pool, a pedestrian promenade from Cottesloe Beach through to Grant Street and a fun fair at the north end of the beach.
About 1936 Bruce Gaston diving from the jetty
In 1935 work began on the shark proof pool. Ten years earlier, on 22 November 1925, Simeon Ettelson had been killed by a shark while swimming on a hot summer Sunday.[fn]Trove: West Australian, 23 November 1925, p8.[/fn]
The plan was to run a shark net from the beach along the jetty to a pylon built under the end of the jetty. From there wooden ‘dolphins’ or posts would carry it to a second pylon to the north of the jetty and then return to the beach. All appeared to be progressing well until an intense storm in May 1936 dislodged the pylon under the jetty leaving only the northern pylon, which remains to this day.
Right: 1938 The surviving pylon is a popular diving platform. In the foreground is the start of the promenade from Cottesloe to Grant Street.
The promenade which linked the Pavilion with North Cottesloe and later to Grant Street was more successful. Set amongst the sand dunes and away from the road it ran past the fun fair which lay just above Peter’s Pool.
Speedcraft started the fair in 1935 with Scoota boats and later Scoota cars. Bowler’s installed dodgem cars in 1940 and the slippery dip and side show alley attracted the crowds. [fn]Trove: West Australian, 24 November 1940, p8.[/fn] However the fun was short lived and blackout regulations put paid to the fun fair in 1942.
The Lido Cabaret and Picture Gardens opened just in time for New Years’ Eve 1935, with Harry Fellows and his Blue Boys orchestra as the opening act. [fn]Trove: Daily News, 20 December 1935, p 12.[/fn]
Left: 1939 Scoota Boats
[[references]]
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.