Thanks to the quick action of an Ascot resident, the authorities were to catch two thieves who entered a secured garage and took items from a vehicle inside it.
The incident happened on Lapraik Street in Ascot on the evening of Sunday, 25 September 2022, where a neighbour observed two men in hoodies, who were also wearing face masks and gloves, as they tried to open some of the parked vehicles.
The concerned Ascot resident immediately called the Queensland Police Services (QPS to alert them of the troublemakers who were able to enter a secured garage. They managed to take some items from the car park inside.
However, the QPS arrived just in time to arrest the thieves, a 38-year-old man from Albion and a 24-year-old man from Morayfield. The pair are due to appear at the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday, 17 October 2022.
Photo Credit: QPS/Facebook
QPS has the Ascot resident’s CCTV footage as a vital piece of evidence to ensure that the thieves will be behind bars for a long time.
Per the QPS: “Historically, investigators have benefited from CCTV systems in business or commercial premises. Recent advancements in technology, affordability and accessibility have resulted in more people choosing to utilise CCTV at their homes for safety and security.”
Get to know Eric Percival “Percy” Trewern, professionally known as E.P. Trewern, architect extraordinaire. He is the man behind the name that people in the real estate and housing industry equate with well-designed homes found in suburbs like Ascot, Hamilton, and Clayfield, where they command a premium for style, function, and the distinctive Trewern aesthetic.
Eric Percival Trewern rose to prominence in Queensland as a domestic architect during the interwar period. Prior to that time, he had already designed commercial and industrial buildings.
Mr Trewern grew up in a Cornish mining community in Bendigo. His parents instilled values of handwork and endurance in their sons, Eric being the eldest of three.
As a young man, Mr Trewern loved to sketch and paint with watercolours. He became an art student of Arthur Thomas Woodward, a British painter, and an apprentice of John Beebe, a Bendigo architect.
At that time, formal training in architecture was not accessible in Bendigo but that didn’t dampen Mr Trewer’s enthusiasm to learn. He studied relevant courses at the School of Mines. Whilst under Beebe, he worked on building hotels, shops, and warehouse projects, as well as the Bendigo Hospital.
Around 1914, the Trewern family decided to move to Queensland for better opportunities. His parents also thought he could establish a successful career as an architect in Brisbane.
Photo Credit: Digital Archive of Queensland Architecture
After working as a draftsman at both the e Department of Agriculture and the Department of Public Works, Mr Trewern also earned his architecture qualifications at 21 years old and was elected into the Queensland Institute of Architects.
Photo Credit: Digital Archive of Queensland Architecture
One of the First Trewern Residences in Ascot
After years of working for the Government, Mr Trewern decided to become an independent designer and set up his private practice. From 1920 to 1922, he worked on two brick houses in Ascot and Hamilton. He become an advocate for brick houses than timber homes because they were cheaper, sturdier, and could provide either coolness or warmth to the house, depending on the weather.
In 1922, he designed a house for the wealthy Arthur H. Perry, a hardware retailer, along 14 Kitchener Road in Ascot. This had a living room flowing into the dining room, which included a brick fireplace. The house last went on the market in 2020 for $3.6 million and still has details of Trewern’s California Bungalow designs with brick piers and concrete beams.
The architect also designed the remodelled the home on 21 Towers Street for Mr Thomas Brown (circa 1926) before it was demolished many years later.
In 1928, Mr Trewern built another house on 6 Bale Street in Ascot for the family of Mr Norman A.D. Harris. The house still remains standing today and has been off the market since the 1980s.
Photo Credit: UQ Library
Another Trewern-designed residence can be found along 22 Yabba Street and was originally built for Mr John F. Church. It was last sold in 1999 for $1.22 million.
The house on 12 Ascot St was built for Dr Graham Sutton in 1931 and was called the Hampton Wick. The Tudor-style house had its own waiting room for the doctor’s patients, which has been restored as a multipurpose room. The house has been updated with glass panels and skylights when it sold for $3.4 million in 2021.
Photo Credit: UQ LibraryPhoto Credit: Google Maps
Along 42 Kitchener Road is Daneshill, the brick house built for Ms Agnes E. Noble. The property exudes timeless elegance and is considered one of the landmark residences in Ascot. It went on the market for the first time after 40 years in 2020 and sold for $1.9 million.
Chronic back pain has become endemic in society and so the recent Brisbane launch of a brand new service called Kieser, at 1 Zillman Rd in Ascot, will bring relief to many.
From golfers, gardeners, and sports people, to those lifting and carrying heavy items and to people who harm their back with bad posture or poor technique in the gym, Kieser has developed a process combining physio with specially developed machines to strengthen the support structure and enable an injury to be treated.
“Nearly half of all Australians have one or more chronic health conditions. At Kieser, our Physiotherapy and Exercise Physiology team is well equipped to help individuals manage their chronic health conditions. In particular, our strength training programs are ideal for those with osteoporosis or low bone density as progressive strength training in a safe environment is one of the best things you can do to maintain your bone mineral density,” says Clinic Leader, Jedd Michell.
Photo Credit: Supplied
For the next four weeks following the launch in Ascot, Kieser is offering a 50 per cent discount on their initial assessment to encourage locals to give it a go. They deal with all private health funds as well.
The company already has 23 centres mainly in the southern states of Australia, having opened its first clinic in 2006. The growth of the service has enabled thousands of people to live a pain-free life.
Photo Credit: Supplied
So, what’s different about Kieser?
The physios have been trained in the Kieser fundamentals and fully understand how a wide range of musco-skeletal conditions can be treated with a combination of manipulation and targeted muscular strengthening, enabling the treatment to sustain improvement rather than a quick fix that re-occurs later.
The equipment in the gym enables most people to get what they need from a 30-minute session, twice per week.
The gym has been designed to remove distractions like music and juice bars so that clients can use the specially designed machines that focus heavily on technique, with support available, as well as one-on-one training for those that need it.
Kieser Exercise Physiologists also specialise in both the prevention of chronic conditions as well as rehab recovery following surgery.
The history of Tattersalls Lodge, a 19th-century, heritage-listed cottage found at the corner of Oriel Road and Yabba Street in Ascot, is closely associated with the development of Queensland’s racing industry. Find out how.
In the late 1800s, bookmaker Charles Burton purchased four allotments of land in Ascot, owned by The Federal Building Land and Investment Society Limited, to build the Tattersalls Stables. Given its proximity to Eagle Farm Racecourse, Burton seized the opportunity to lease the site to horse trainers.
Two years later, Burton sold the property to the “Pearl King” James Clark, who was a horse-racing enthusiast and bred training horses. Mr Clark built the Federation-style Tattersalls Lodge on his newly-acquired property as a private training facility with houses for the horse trainers and their families.
Tattersalls Lodge earned a reputation for its prize-winning horses until Clark’s death.
Gilbert Powell Wyndham Heathcote, a hotelkeeper from New South Wales, bought Tattersalls Lodge from Clark. However, following Heathcote’s death in 1901, the property was auctioned off.
Grazier James McGill, known as the “Squire of Blacklands”, acquired Tattersalls Lodge and moved in with his family in 1903. Mr McGill was well-respected in the racing community, described as “one of the most honourable, straight-going sportsmen in the history of racing in Queensland.” He changed the name of the house to “Fitzgrafton Lodge,” after his prize-winning horse. McGill Avenue, adjacent to Lancaster Road in Ascot, was named after him.
Photo Credit: National Library of Australia
Photo Credit: National Library of Australia
When McGill died in 1918, his son James Charles McGill, inherited the property and held it until 1925. Countless owners have since acquired the property, turning the stables into private residences.
Tattersalls Lodge at Present
In January 2004, the property was entered into Brisbane’s local Heritage Listing.
Photo Credit: realestate.com.au
The present-day Tattersalls Lodge has been refurbished as a country-style home with Colonial French doors and wrap-around latticed verandahs.
Did you know that the first taxi service in Queensland was established on Racecourse Road in Ascot? Once a quiet street with a handful of houses in the 1880s, Racecourse Road became a busy hub when the Ascot Taxi Service opened in 1919.
Two mechanics, Edmund William Henry Beckham and Edward Roland Videan, only had one vehicle and a common dream when they started the Ascot Taxi Service.
Within five years, their fleet had grown to four cars: three Willys Knight tourers and an Overland, the first sedan taxi in Brisbane.
The motorised vehicles completely replaced the hansom cab, the popular form of horse-drawn carriers from the previous century.
Motorised taxi services during this time didn’t have any way of checking the mileage for each trip other than for the driver to calculate the fare manually based on a fare scale. Despite the challenges, the birth of the state’s first motorised taxi service was a welcome and exciting change.
Moving to Fortitude Valley, Thriving Through Changes
As the business progressed, the Ascot Taxi Service moved to a new site in Fortitude Valley in the 1930s, where the company flourished despite the arrival of the Yellow Cab Company from Chicago in the United States.
Ascot Taxi Service and its new owners opened a two-storey, art-deco headquarters on Barry Parade, displaying its fleet of black taxi limousines. Its focus was on “taxi-tourist” trade and they were a popular choice for wedding hiring and similar events.
Drivers were required to wear uniforms, enhancing the prestige of the service. It was also the first company to introduce two-way radio in taxis in Queensland in the 1950s.
Photo Credit: State Library of Queensland
Barry Parade had other motor businesses, all built prior to World War II, such as the Phillip Frank and Co, New England Motor Company, and the OK Rubber Company.
The businesses became the centre of the motor trade in the city but over the years, as the city developed and infrastructure grew, people’s needs changed.
In the 1990s, Ascot Taxi Service became Q Cabs before merging with and becoming part of Black & White Cabs, which continues to operate from its head office at the Brisbane Airport.
In 2017, the Ascot Taxi Service building was demolished to make way for apartment development. The building’s last known occupant was Valley Radiator Services.
From Ascot Taxi Service to Ascot Motor Garage: The Evolution of Racecourse Road
Photo Credit: State Library of Queensland
The Ascot Motor Garage was a landmark and such a big part of the evolution of Racecourse Road in the early 20th century. It was set amidst some of the most expensive houses in Brisbane in large blocks of land are found.
By the time the taxi service moved out, however, Racecourse Road’s business landscape had changed, with general stores, fresh food supplies, and establishments for butchers, bakers, confectioners, chemists, and a laundry shop now dotting the neighbourhood.
Photo Credit: Google Maps
Eventually, other modern establishments set up shop on the busy boulevard with lovely Poinciana trees that bloom beautiful red flowers at Christmas time. Here, medical and dental clinics, salons, banks, and boutiques, as well as dozens of eateries, have made the area a high-end lifestyle hub.
More than 130 retail shops have graced Racecourse Road. Blocks of land have been redeveloped in the neighbourhood that the Ascot Taxi Service’s vehicles once traversed.
The 3,126-sqm property at 77 Racecourse Road on the corner of Kent Street in Ascot is presently the site of a 1960s building previously occupied by Woolworths before IGA and BWS took over. Silverstone acquired the site through an Expression of Interest in late 2021 for $9.75 million on which a high-end development is now being eyed.
Silverstone‘s $70-million project will contain ground-floor retail, medical and allied health spaces, two-level parking, and three-level office space across the four-storey building.
The Racecourse Road site is in proximity to the master-planned Eagle Farm Racecourse community as well as Hamilton’s Olympic Village. These locations along with other surrounding suburbs provide a ready and growing market for the future tenancies of the project.
PDT Architects has been tapped to breathe life into the envisioned building’s design which will have sustainability at the heart of its overall look incorporating green infrastructure, plenty of greens, low-emitting materials and natural light.
The proposal is set to be lodged this July and commencement of construction is targeted by late 2022.
Silverstone Developments’ ongoing projects include the $90-million Spring Hill Day Hospital which is an 11-level private hospital facility with a rooftop terrace on Boundary Street in Spring Hill and the Herston Commercial Car Park near the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
Silverstone also recently completed the $122-million Stratton Commercial Building and the E–Co boutique building in Newstead.
Did you know that Musket Villa, a heritage house in Ascot, was named after a Derby-winning horse?
Musket Villa, along Lancaster Rd in Ascot, was built for horse trainer and rider William “Billy” Booth in 1923. He named his house after Musket, the horse he trained and rode to win the Queensland Turf Club Derby in 1900.
The single-storey, stucco interwar bungalow has been recognised as a heritage house for its architectural significance as it was designed by Brisbane’s prominent architects, Thomas Ramsay Hall, and George Gray Prentice.
Hall & Prentice also designed Brisbane City Hall and the Sandgate Town Hall. Mr Booth knew Mr Hall as both were involved in racing through the Queensland Turf clubs.
The house is also cited for its social significance. Musket Villa had purpose-built stables and training establishment, aside from being Mr Booth’s residence. The property is well known to the Brisbane racing community.
Who was Billy Booth?
Billy Booth began as an apprentice to horse trainer John Stone in 1885 and worked with some prize-winning horses, such as Grey Gown and Dundonald, to take on the Brisbane Cup and the Moreton Handicap.
Photo Credit: National Library of Australia
By 1893, Mr Booth had opened his own training stables and had over 21 horses in his ward. Some of these horses succeeded in the Stradbroke Handicap and won ribbons at the Brisbane Show.
In 1899, Mr Booth, riding Musket, went on to win the Queensland Derby the following year. However, shortly after their success, Mr Booth met Lucy Adelaide and decided to retire from riding. He sold the horse in 1901 but continued to work as a horse trainer.
Photo Credit: National Library of Australia
In 1922, the Booths decided to buy land in Ascot, at the location where their villa remains standing until today. Mr Booth wanted his property to include up-to-date horse stables that will provide comfort for his workers and equine charges. The property was quite well-designed and was featured on the pages of the publication “Harking Back – the Turf, Its Men and Memories” from James L. Collins.
The publication described Musket Villa as a “red-tiled home with its beautiful gardens and lawns [and] every modern appointment and equipment.” Mr Collins also credits Lucy for her taste in furnishing their residence.
Photo Credit: National Library of Australia
Musket Villa to Lancaster Gables
After Mr Booth’s death in 1927, Musket Villa was leased by horse trainer WJ Shean until 1941. Lucy Booth was still a resident of the villa when it was converted into four flats. When she passed away, the property was left to her son, Norman Booth, who lived there until his death in 1955.
Photo Credit: National Library of Australia
With the Booths gone, the house was turned into Lancaster Gables, a lowkey Bed and Breakfast. The garage at the back was demolished to accommodate more dwellings.
Most of the villa’s original features have been retained throughout the residence, including its ebonised timber detailing, timber panelling in the entry, leadlight doors, and built-in leadlight display cabinets in the living and dining rooms. However, new fittings were installed in the bathrooms and kitchens, and many of the rooms have air conditioning.
To many people, Lancaster Gables will always be called Musket Villa, as Billy Booth originally intended, a prized home named after a prized horse by a man who took pride in Ascot’s rich equine historical connection.
After almost half a century of cutting hair, Ascot barber Phil Tharenou is getting ready to hang up the clippers at his eponymously named Phil’s Barber Shop on Kent St, but his reason for contemplating closure has nothing to do with how well his business is doing.
The building where Mr Tharenou’s barber shop is located was sold in 2021. Sadly, this means his beloved barber shop will eventually be demolished to make way for new development. However, Mr Tharenou plans to operate Phil’s Barber Shop in the same space while he still can, even as he is preparing for its inevitable closure.
Simple Beginnings
Mr Tharenou, an Australian-born Greek, had an early start in his line of business, when he got an apprenticeship when he was 15.
He did not have money to set up his own business after he learned the ropes, so a mate helped him financially. He was married 10 days before opening his own shop in 1975.
His business became a success and he was able to pay back his friend in full in just a year.
Photo by RODNAE Productions/Pexels
The Ascot barber shop thrived through good ol’ fashioned word of mouth, referrals, and repeat business. People just kept coming back. Despite having no internet bookings and even though Mr Tharenou remodelled the place only twice, people still sought his shop out. Customers would only walk-in to get their barbering needs or call the shop’s landline.
Phil’s Barber Shop has cut the hair of some notable personalities. Some of his former clients included award-winning ad guru John Singleton and late politician Don Lane.
Photo credit: Matheus Wladeka/Pexels
“Been a customer for more than 20yrs. Phil a great advertisement for his own business. Always remembers his customers and a wide range of conversation topics. Very competitive price and quick service,” shared local Jeffrey in a review for the barber shop.
“Now everyone has a problem as Phil is going to retire soon,” Rod, one of the shop’s patrons quipped.
Although Phil’s Barber Shop is closing its doors in late June 2022, Mr Tharenou’s patrons can still find him at West End, where he will continue to trim for a few regulars at a friend’s barber shop.
Did you know that the Ponytail Project, an annual fundraising initiative from Cancer Council Queensland, started at St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School in Ascot? This year’s campaign has students rocking the chop yet again, aiming to attract over 30,000 ponytails and $850,000 in donations.
The movement was inspired by a parent from the St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School community who was battling breast cancer. Four students, Beth Flint, Meg Fraser, Maria Cobain, and Annabelle Crossley, first stepped up and the Ponytail Project was born.
Every year since then, the girls at St Margaret’s would mount the campaign. In 2018, Cancer Council Queensland helped in launching the initiative throughout the region. The following year, the movement spread to South Australia and Western Australia.
Since the campaign started in 2015, the Ponytail Project has raised more than $1.655 million.
Photo Credit: StMargaretsAGS/Facebook
What Happens to the Ponytails?
Donated ponytails are turned into wigs that will go to people suffering from hair loss as a result of their cancer treatments or medical condition. The hair donations are sorted and graded by hair type, length and colour at participating Sustainable Salons depots. It takes about 20 to 25 ponytails of the same type and quality to create one wig.
After sorting, the ponytails are then sent to charitable organisations and wigmakers who directly work with groups, hospitals, and local institutions. Other ponytail donations may go into research projects to create sustainable wigs.
The event also matches monetary donations to fund the projects of Cancer Council Queensland. The council cites October as the official month for the campaign but it can be done at whatever time is convenient for the students.
Students may assemble in groups or as an individual and then create their own campaign via the council’s online facilities for sharing on social media or tracking the progress of the fundraiser.
Cancer Council Queensland CEO Chris McMillan said that they witnessed more students participating in the Ponytail Project year after year. He encourages more kids to make a difference in other people’s lives by joining the cause and spreading the word.
Ascot has long been regarded as one of the best places to live in Brisbane, with its affluent neighbourhood and property values maintaining their strong growth. Take a look at its evolution into the blue-chip suburb that it is today.
With a tightly held collection of desirable and beautiful houses, Ascot is known for its picturesque tree-lined streets, hilly residential areas with lovely views of Brisbane, racecourses, and upmarket lifestyle precinct.
Early Ascot
Historically, Ascot was occupied by the Aboriginal Turrbal group, described by explorer John Oxley as “the strongest and best-made muscular men I have seen in any country.”
The Turrbals built hunting grounds near the Brisbane River and established private ownership of specific sections of the area.
Wealthy settlers started moving into Ascot in the mid-1800s, following the clearing of lands and building of basic roads. Pastoralist James Sutherland bought a large portion of land in the area, which was later established as Sutherland Avenue, one of the highly sought-after locations in the suburb.
This section consists of 15 magnificent houses, including the heritage-listed house, Windmere. The Victorian-style house with its iron-lace verandahs is one of the finest examples of Queensland’s colonial architecture.
In the 1860s, the Eagle Farm Racecourse was established in Ascot in support of horse racing, one of the earliest sports in Brisbane. Up until the 1920s, racing stables were a frequent sight around the suburb.
Photo Credit: State Library of QueenslandPhoto Credit: State Library of Queensland
The Doomben Racecourse opened several years later in the 1930s and, like the Eagle Farm Racecourse, became a prominent racecourse in South East Queensland and was well-attended by the region’s most affluent families.
Photo Credit: State Library of Queensland
Doomben was originally a property of The Crown until 1915, when it was bought and turned into a sustainable racing track.
Photo Credit: State Library of Queensland
During World War II, the racecourses were primarily converted into Camp Ascot for the Allied troops. Several buildings and homes in the suburbs were also occupied by the U.S. forces, including the Ascot spy house, Nyrambla, where the Central Bureau intercepted and decoded Japanese transmissions.
Today, the Brisbane Racing Club, formed in 2009, manages the racecourses and preserves the history of thoroughbred horse racing in Queensland.
Urban Growth in Ascot
The establishment of both racecourses spurred the growth of Ascot with the opening of railways and tram services that fostered the development of the residential areas, schools, and shopping strips.
Photo Credit: State Library of Queensland
The Ascot Railway, built in the late 1880s, provided convenience for punters and racing aficionados who used to arrive via horse and buggy, shuttlecock boat, or cross river.
After World War I, the Ascot Railway Station was expanded with a second larger building and a pedestrian subway. It was electrified in the 1980s. Today, most of its antiquated features remain but it has been unstaffed and suspended since 1993.
Photo Credit: State Library of Queensland
The Ascot State School opened in the 1920s on Pringle Street, following the dramatic reforms made in the Queensland Education system. Six years prior, Ascot locals determined a need to establish a state school but World War I disrupted its construction until 1919.
When it finally opened, Ascot State School had an initial batch of 124 students, who were not just taught academics but also developed their aesthetic tastes, gardening skills, and sports abilities.
One of the significant homes to be built during Ascot’s astounding urban growth was Chateau Nous along Rupert Trc, which served as an early example of Functionalist domestic architecture in Brisbane.
Photo Credit: Queensland Heritage Listing
The house was built for Brisbane dentist George Stewart and his wife Eileen and was considered as ultra-modern during its time as it featured an electric dumb waiter and a line of electric kitchen appliances.
Photo Credit: Brisbane City Library
Today, Racecourse Road has become the prime location for the village shops and restaurants that also serve Hamilton locals. It boasts of over 130 businesses.
The tram that once ran down the centre of the street stopped service in the 1960s. Today, Ascot is serviced by four transport stops and TransLink’s CityCat terminal in Bretts Wharf.
