Grove History

Cottesloe Picture and Summer Gardens

Lewis Hatfield (186-1951) was a teacher at Waroona Primary School in southwest WA when he became disillusioned with teaching and decided to return to Perth and launch himself into the entertainment industry. Lewis would eventually start three popular Picture theatres in Peppermint Grove, Cottesloe and Mosman Park.
Lewis bought the Lido property at 2 Forrest Street, Cottesloe in the 1920’s first, then the property on the corner of Stirling Highway and Leake Street, Peppermint Grove in 1924. This building, known as The Well’s Hall, became the Cottesloe Picture Theatre. Later in 1937, Lewis leased the memorial Hall in Mosman Park to run the Buckland Hill Picture Gardens (Camelot today).
During the late 1920s Lewis (pictured in the bottom left of the first photo) developed the outdoor picture gardens on land behind The Wells Hall and the facility became known as the Cottesloe Picture and Summer Gardens. Due to its success the building was later revamped, and a new indoor 1150 seat theatre was designed in an ‘art deco style’ by Howard Bonner.
The outdoor theatre included a large grass area in front of the screen with deck chairs and the movie of the week was shown either inside or outside depending on the weather.
The garden theatre had a wonderful wall of bougainvillea, something Lewis fought vigorously to cut back each year, for which the purpose was not only beauty but to prevent unpaid guests from sneaking in! Thanks to Lewis Hatfield's grandchildren Lloyd and Cheryl for their kind donations.

Today I was emailed this black and white photo. Can anyone tell me which part of the swan river this might be? The bathers would indicate it was taken some time in the 1960s or 1970s.

What do you remember about Cottesloe Beach?
Come along to Sue Freeth's talk for Cottesloe Coastcare and see how it has changed. Sue will present her history talk on 1st September 2024 at 4pm in the Grove Library. Everyone welcome.
The Waves of Change exhibition is back at the Grove Library and will be on from the 1st to 15th September.
The exhibition includes maps, plans and photos many from the Town of Cottesloe’s archives.

These photos form part of a collection recently donated to the Grove library. The first photo was taken looking south from Warnham Road, Cottesloe around 1910. Warnham Road was named after Arthur Henry Scott (1873-1937) who came from Warnham in West Sussex and settled in Cottesloe in the early 1900s. Arthur Scott, known fondly as "Scottie" studied irrigation practices in Renmark, South Australia when he first emigrated. Scottie used these skills using windmills to gravity feed water from behind the house he built in Cottesloe to create a magical landscaped garden. Scotties garden, overlooked the sea and was bordered by John Street and Warnham Road. The garden was used for many tea parties and fetes by local families and by his own children and grandchildren over many years. Scottie built three shade houses, rolling lawns and planted many plants. Scottie's property bordered Claude Bernales land at the back (now the Cottesloe Civic Centre). The second image looks north from Scottie's house on Warnham Road, and the third shows Scottie sitting on his verandah in his garden. The last image is of Penny Smith, Scottie's granddaughter with Cottesloe Beach behind her on the property's John Street boundary. Penny still lives in and loves Cottesloe and kindly donated this wonderful collection of photos from her childhood. This collection will be on display at the library in its later this year.

Go along and enjoy a fantastic photo exhibition at the National Archives in Perth - starts Saturday 13th July 9.30-3.00pm.
See link below for more details...

Sea to suburbia | naa.gov.au Australian government photographers capturing the people, places and daily life of Western Australia over 4 decades.

Cottesloe Fish Supply

In 1922 Dimitri (Jim) Kanakis opened Cottesloe Fish Supply on Napoleon Street and, like Brunos fruit supply next door became a Cottesloe institution. The Fish Supply shop was located on the site Sorganic Café and bakery operates from today.
Jim Kanakis came to Western Australia at the age of 14, hoping to send money back to his family in Ithaca, Greece. Employed first doing odd jobs, he succeeded in saving enough money to open his Cottesloe Fish Supply shop in 1922 on Napoleon Street.
Operating on a tiny budget, Jim originally caught the train from Cottesloe to the Fremantle Fish Markets to purchase his supply of fish, carrying the goods home in a wet hessian bag. Jims’s deliveries were later made on a bicycle.
Cottesloe Fish Supply attracted many well-known customers, including a regular visitor, Prime Minister John Curtin, who lived nearby in Jarrad Street.
When Jim Kanakis passed away in 1958 his daughter Rita and her family took over the running of the shop and then Jims’s sons Stathi and Dimitri began working in the shop in 1978 and 1980 respectively. The brothers took over the business officially in 1985 and retired in 1993.
The Kanakis family ran Cottesloe Fish Supply for over seven decades and were the heart of the community for many years.
This beautiful copper cash register, made in Ohio USA was used by the Kanakis family in their fish shop and has been kindly donated to the Grove library’s collection this month.
The cash register will be on display next week in the library from 27th of May. Come in and see how magic it is and imagine what it was like to use it!

Pop into the Grove Library and beat the heat to enjoy a new Mosman Park Football Club Photographic Exhibition on display for the next two weeks.

Put it in your calendar - and we'll see you there.
Opening Nov 27th at the Grove Library.

Today Rube Gabrielson dropped in his magic old footy boots for the upcoming Mosman Park Football Club Photo Exhibition.
Rube played for Mozzie Park during the 1940s and 1950s including the Premiership Team of 1949, and with the undefeated Grand Premiership Team of 1950. Come along and enjoy our photographic exhibition 27 Nov-8 Dec at the Grove Library.