Hands Quarry Reserve

On the Streets Where You Live Hands Quarry Reserve Hands Quarry Reserve is 1.7 hectares of open space the Lane Cove area, and was also involved in the located in Lane Cove West with remnant bushland. It building of air-raid shelters at Council’s Mars Road has frontages on Barwon Road, Hallam Avenue, Garling Depot. and Moore Streets. Unofficially known as Garling Street Reserve it was renamed in 1995 to honour the long In 1993, Council began a review of the degraded, weed- service of Council employee, Walter Hand. Walter infested, former stone quarry site. Funding was (known as Jack) was employed by Lane Cove Council obtained under the Metropolitan Greenspace Program from 1920 to 1954. He started as a road worker and and was matched by Council. A plan of management retired as engineer. Many of his years at Council were was developed and included bush regeneration, erosion spent working in the Council’s quarries including the control, construction of walking tracks, footbridges and former quarry site that was named in his honour. stairs. An amphitheatre area was made utilising the former quarry area and landscaping planted near the The reserve is located on land that was originally part of street entrances. In March 1995, local member, Kerry a 12 acre grant by purchase made on 15 October 1858 Chikarovski and Lane Cove Mayor, Rod Tudge officially to William Redman. The land was described as ‘special opened the newly named and refurbished Hands Quarry country lots ... adjoining Isaac Nichol’s western Reserve. About 40 members of Walter Hand’s family boundary and are very poor being for the most part were in attendance to share the renaming of the quarry rocky .... the formation is sandstone’. A creek off site and to honour their ancestor’s contribution to the Stringybark Creek originally ran through the property. area. Following Redman’s death in 1882 the land was purchased by the Haymarket Land, Building and Investment Company. In 1913 it was subdivided and sold as Bellevue Farmlets, with much of the area remaining rough bush used for cattle and sheep. Walter Richard Hand was born in Yeoval, New South Wales in 1889. He was seventh child born to Thomas and Martha Hand. Thomas, a Scottish immigrant, was a storekeeper in the central western district and later settled at Peak Hill, New South Wales. Growing up Walter would have assisted in his parent’s mixed business. He married Lillian Hunter at Peak Hill in 1912. Walter and Lillian soon moved their growing family to Sydney, initially buying a grocery store at Milsons Point before their move to a mixed grocery shop and dwelling in Helen Street, Lane Cove. In 1920 Walter began working for Lane Cove Council as a road worker while Lillian continued to run the shop. Shortly after, the shop was sold and the growing family moved to a house named Fairview in Henley Street, Lane Cove. The couple were still living in the house when Lillian died in 1971 Walter Hand’s first car, an A-model ford, outside and Walter (Jack) died at age 89 in 1978. their home at Henley Street, circa 1928 (Courtesy of R. Hand) During his 34 years of service, Walter worked his way up through the council’s outdoor staff progressing to ganger, overseer, deputy engineer and engineer. He worked at a time when everything was done the hard way with pick, shovels, mattock, axe and crowbar. Holes were made in stone with jump bars and rock was blasted from the quarries with dynamite. Walter would have assisted in the building and maintenance of all Council’s public works including wharves, swimming pools, parks and gardens, stone roads, curbs and guttering. During World War II, he was head-warden in charge of Council workers carrying out night patrols in .

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