Our bushwalking club, All Nations Bushwalkers, is the sole surviving subgroup of a venerable old institution, the All Nations Club of Kings Cross.
The All Nations Club was formed in 1952 by a man called Bernhard Hammerman. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hammerman-bernhard-12587 It was specifically designed to provide a welcoming meeting place for post-war migrants, both for meeting locals and each other. It had its own building, with bars, a restaurant and meeting rooms, and provided leisure, culture, sport, the lot. Politicians and other luminaries flocked in to be on the bandwagon, and all kinds of special activity subgroups were founded, including the 'ANC Walkabout Group' (in 1962, we thought).
Eventually times changed, people moved on, the club closed. The bushwalkers kept going though.
This year we're celebrating the 50th anniversary of the bushwalking subgroup. It turns out it's officially only the 48th anniversary, but what the hell, we've gone too far with organising the various festivities to worry about that. Our newsletter mastheads have said 'Established 1962' for decades, and I think we can justify the two year discrepancy because the photographic group had been doing outings (and maybe bushwalks?) for a year or two before the formal walking group got started.
We spent a very interesting few hours in the Mitchell Library in the City last week, with its wood panelling and Captain Cook windows, researching old documents and early newsletters of the All Nations Club. It was fascinating reading. Here are a few of the articles. Take a look also at the video link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRvvig1gFdA featuring the man who thinks it was all run by "some gangster"!
Articles reproduced by us with our permission, from old copies of 'Welcome' newsletter
