Welcome, it’s Adrian Bo here and this week I’m at Clovelly Beach to talk about the history of the beach itself, and the great local institution that looks after it. As I mentioned in a previous episode, this area was originally known as Little Coogee when William Grenville bought eight hectares which included the whole bay frontage. It was very nearly named Eastbourne in 1913 when the local Progress Association decided to name the area Clovelly, instead. Between 1871 and 1874, the northern cliff-face here, Shark Point, was used as a coastal defence facility, eventually including a huge 9.2 inch gun, as well as a barracks cut into the sandstone, which I also covered in detail during a previous episode. Initial subdivisions in the 1880s established Greville Street, Vale Street, Arden Street, Boundary Street, Park Street, Northumberland Street and Ocean Street. The completion of the tram line running to the beach here in 1912 drew a growing number of people to live here.

The Great Depression, which began in 1930 in Australia after the Wall Street Crash in 1929, led Randwick Council to create projects to keep local men employed. One such project was the concreting of the Clovelly foreshore, as you can see here, to help people access the water more easily. At around the same time, a causeway was built across the bay, and there were also plans for an Olympic-size swimming pool at the time. However, a massive storm in 1938 obliterated the causeway and plans for the pool. You can still see the remains of the causeway today when the tide is out. A spring diving board was established on the southern side of the beach sometime in the 1930s. However, another storm in 1954 smashed the diving board to pieces. Some older locals still refer to the steps adjacent to where the springboard was mounted as the “Springboard Steps”. The Clovelly Life Saving Club was founded here in 1906, though was initially called the Little Coogee Swimming and Life Saving Club. The beach is only 70 metres long, and due to the amazing natural topography, it is also almost land-locked, and hence it was very calm and with few waves and virtually no rips at all. The rocks surrounding the beach however have seen some drama over the years. The most infamous incident was on Sunday, December 4, 1927 when on an extremely windy day three local youths used the Schnapper Rocks as a launch pad to swim from, and the undertow dragged them many hundreds of metres out to sea.

The Clovelly Surf Life Savers jumped into action, and while sadly Thomas Woolridge drowned after an enormous wave separated him from the others, the heroic lifesavers battled the elements to save the other two just as they were at the point of exhaustion. The prestigious Silver Medal was awarded as a result to lifesavers Ron Slater, George Pike, Charlie Brooks, and Bill Miller. The first club house was a wooden shed, 14 feet by 12 feet in size. The first resuscitation was carried out in 1909, and the current clubhouse was built in 1922 as a tribute to those members who had lost their lives in the Great War between 1914 and 1918. Alick Wickham, who is credited with establishing the Australian Crawl technique, was a member here at Clovelly. Now, the Clovelly property market has been extremely hot this year. The latest median house price being $4,125,000, and for units in Clovelly, now $1,775,000. I’ve been very fortunate enough to sell many properties in Clovelly over the 32 years that I’ve been selling in Clovelly, Coogee, Randwick, and Maroubra, including 271 Clovelly Road, a five bedroom semi. Also 4 at 61 Arden Street, a three bedroom apartment. Also 40 Park Street, a three bedroom freestanding home, and also units 5 and 6 at 15 Barry Street, both three bedroom apartments. Now, I really hope you enjoyed the story of the evolution of Clovelly Beach and the Surf Club. Keep smiling and always remember, your home is worth more with Adrian Bo.