SATURDAY BREAKFAST #18: MURRUMBEENA STATION PRECINCT (NEERIM ROAD and MURRUMBEENA ROAD)

Visited 28 January, 2012

Who wrote this stuff? – this “stuff” being the Murrumbeena entry in Wikipedia.   Wikipedia is one of the great achievements of mankind – in 283 languages the attempted repository of all human knowledge, readily accessible on the World Wide Web, and free to all.  Sure it has its detractors, and sure its entries are capable of manipulation and vandalism, but founder Jimmy Wales and the 1500 or so volunteer administrators are ever vigilant to those contributors (out of the 82000 or so) who wish to push their particular slant on events.  The entries on current affairs and living politicians are the ones most likely to be subjected to interference and re-interpretation, but the bulk of Wikipedia’s content is non-contentious. 

Although my specific gripe is with the entry for Murrumbeena, the Melbourne suburb hosting today’s walk and breakfast, I’ve seen similar shortcomings in entries for other small-time locations.  The Murrumbeena entry is pathetic.  In short, there is nothing to say, so the writer says it!  Harsh I may be, but there must be a way to outline modest features and accomplishments without making them sound lame.  Better to say nothing than to claim as an achievement something that is mundane.  Instance:   Under “Sport” the entry states that the local junior football team was formed in 1918, and has both senior and junior sides [oh, come on!].   Check the heading “History” and learn that the railway station opened in 1879 [that’s all the history there is!]; and under “Schools” is the news that there are two primary schools, and that “the High School was closed by the Kennett Government in the 1990s” [in order to score a political point the writer highlights a community shortcoming].  Under “Notable people” we are informed that this includes “many” Australian Rules footballers, then the entry names six (only), all of whom played for Melbourne Demons [a club name that didn’t exist when any of the six was playing].   And the Federal Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation, Bill Shorten, was a local lad who “attended Mass at the Good Shepherd Convent, on the current site of Chadstone Shopping Centre” [Holy moly!  Just ponder:  this gem now graces one of Wikipedia’s 26 million English language pages, one of the 3.5 million English language entries………..vandalism by stupidity.].   Under the heading “Transport” the Wikipedia entry says that the main roads passing through Murrumbeena are Dandenong Road, Neerim Road and Murrumbeena Road [telling us nothing, but encouraging us to keep on passing through];  and it says that there is a railway station providing regular services to the city [the railway station wouldn’t be much use if it didn’t]; and that the Neerim Road level crossing has ben identified as one of the most congested in metropolitan Melbourne [what an extraordinary thing to publicize about your suburb!]. The litany of inanity could have gone further, I suppose, and highlighted the local railway’s propensity for disaster.  On 28 April 2007 a man ducked under the Murrumbeena Road boom gates and took the fast track to meet his maker.  The normally congested railway crossing…….…well you can imagine.  Then on 11 November 2009 a (another) man was trapped by a train in Murrumbeena Station and had an arm severed.  And on 5 April 2011, as a result of an accident in the car park, a car crashed through mesh fencing on to the Station platform and on to the tracks.  Trains were delayed!

Poor Murrumbeena.  Even the origin of its name is a mess.  It derives from an aboriginal word – that much seems to be certain - but that word may have meant “land of frogs” or “moss growing on decayed wood”, or it may have been derived from the name of an Aboriginal elder.  Whatever the truth of the meaning, none of the original connection remains today, at least not that I could see.

Neerim Road, described as the main street, was dreary, and Murrumbeena Road was drearier.  There was a building with the date 1921 embossed on its façade, a clue to the vintage of the region; and there was a business, Lichfield, that promoted itself as “shirtmakers since 1916” – albeit, as its website explains, in New Zealand.  There was an opp shop run by the Lions Club of Oakleigh, occupying three adjacent shops backing on to the railway reserve.  The volunteer confirmed that these and adjacent buildings used to be 99-year leasehold from the Government railways, but the leases have now been converted to freehold.  I was given no clue as to the Lions’ present landlord.   And there was a long-closed milk bar in Murrumbeena Road, with weeds creeping up the inside of the shop windows.  On inspection we saw that the premises had been gutted – floor taken out, roof mostly removed, internal walls gone.  Why not a full demolition?  Anyway, nature was reclaiming the shell of the building with considerable vigour.

Murrumbeena today may be vin ordinaire, but it does have something in its past worth noting.  It was once the home of the potter Merric Boyd and his family.  This is referred to briefly in the Wikipedia entry, but again in a ham-fisted way – mainly to say that because of Boyd’s residency Murrumbeena was visited by a number of other notable artists [and, presumably, a bunch of other suburbs are weak at the knees because Boyd visited them!].  Often described as Victoria’s greatest potter, Boyd lived in Murrumbeena from 1913 to his death in 1959.  “Open Country” was the name of the home he built in Wahroongaa Crescent; and he created his pottery there.  Over the years various members of the family lived nearby; for a time in the 1920s the one side of Wahroongaa Crescent was totally occupied by members of the extended Boyd family.

The Boyds have been awesome ornaments to the arts in Australia.  Arthur Merric Boyd, watercolorist,  and Emma Minnie Boyd (nee a’Beckett), landscape painter, produced Merric the potter, Martin the novelist, Penleigh the painter and etcher, and Helen the painter (married successively to John Perceval and Sidney Nolan, both painters).   Penleigh’s son Robin was the architect, and author of the 1960 classic The Australian Ugliness.  Of Merric’s children there was Guy the sculptor, David the potter and sculptor (who died as recently as last November, aged 87), and Arthur. Commentators agree that Arthur Boyd was one of Australia’s greatest painters; and the Australian Encyclopaedia says that he was “easily the most beloved artist of his generation”.  In 1944, together with brother-in-law John Perceval, he created a pottery workshop in Murrumbeena Road.  In 1975 he presented several thousand of his works to the National Gallery of Australia.  He died in 1999.

 If Murrumbeena, courtesy of Wikipedia or otherwise, wants to say something upbeat about itself, it should simply focus on the Boyds.  Forget the station, forget other notables (there aren’t any), forget the non-existent High School, and forget the level crossing.  The Boyds invite celebration.  Oh, by the way, it’s okay to mention Boyd Park, the sliver of green that was formerly part of the Outer Circle railway allotment; but be thoughtful about mentioning the blocks of flats that today occupy the sites of Merric Boyd’s house and Arthur Boyd’s pottery workshop.

 Breakfast was at the World of Food Café in Neerim Road.  It was the only place serving breakfast.  The Bircher was excellent.  The oatmeal base had been mixed with yoghurt rather than apple juice, and the shredded green apple was part of the mixture rather than placed on top.  Instead, placed on top were poached peaches, and sprinkled around were toasted hazelnuts.  Yum!  The coffee was fine, although not quite hot enough; so we had our seconds at the kiosk on the opposite side of the station.  This is a free-standing timber building, until about a year ago a shoe repairs business.  Several tables and sets of chairs were scattered nearby in the open air.

Positioned to catch commuters, and with splendid coffee and a range of cakes and pastries, this little enterprise has more life than the rest of the area combined.

Gary Andrews