Punchbowl, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Punchbowl
city = Sydney
state = NSW


caption = The Boulevarde, Punchbowl
lga = City of Canterbury
postcode = 2196
est = 1869
pop =
area =
propval =
stategov = Lakemba, Bankstown
fedgov = Watson, Blaxland
near-nw = Mount Lewis
near-n = Greenacre|
near-ne = Lakemba
near-w = Bankstown
near-e = Wiley Park
near-sw = Padstow
near-s = Riverwood
near-se = Roselands
dist1 = 17
dir1 = south-west
location1= Sydney CBD

Punchbowl is a suburb, in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Punchbowl is located 17 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Bankstown and the City of Canterbury.

History

Punchbowl is named for a circular valley, called 'the punch bowl', which is actually located in the nearby suburb of Belfield at the intersection of Coronation Parade, Georges River and Punchbowl Roads. This feature gave its name to 'Punch Bowl Road' (now Punchbowl Road). In the 1830s, an inn built by George Faulkener, close to the corner of Liverpool Road, was called the "Punch and Bowl". John Stephens had a property here in the 1930s and his son is mentioned in the Wells Gazetteer in 1848, 'Clairville or Punchbowl, in the Parishes of St George and Bankstown, is the property of Sir Alfred Stephens'. When a railway station opened on this road in 1909, three kilometres away from the 'punch bowl' itself, the surrounding suburb came to be known as Punchbowl. [ "The Book of Sydney Suburbs", Compiled by Frances Pollon, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8, page 210]

In the 1920s and 1930s, Punchbowl was a higher-class suburb, with a number of popular theatres that unfortunately were closed down or demolished thirty years later. The Punchbowl Astoria opened on 17 July, 1935 with seating for 915 persons. The final programme was shown on Wednesday 4 February, 1959. The Astoria was eventually gutted and refitted as a three-storey office building. The Punchbowl Regent was situated on the corner of The Boulevarde and Matthews Street. Operated by Enterprise Theatres Ltd, the Regent opened on Saturday 24 May 1923 showing "The White Rose". It was a large cinema with seating for 1,287 patrons. The final programme was shown on Wednesday 4 February, 1959. The Regent was demolished in August 1964 and replaced by a block of shops.

Commercial Area

Punchbowl has a relatively small shopping centre, although the selection is diverse. It thrived until the advent of Roselands and Bankstown Square in the late sixties and its bisection by the upgrading of Punchbowl Road in the seventies. It is centred around Punchbowl railway station, along The Boulevarde and Punchbowl Road. Local businesses and clubs reflect the diversity of the population. The largest shop is an IGA Supermarket. Punchbowl RSL is located on The Boulevarde and The Mirage Hotel is on Punchbowl Road. Lebanese cuisine is well regarded in the suburb, to the extent that culinary walking tours of Punchbowl sell out months ahead [ [http://www.gourmetsafaris.com.au/page/sydney_safaris.html Gourmet Safaris] ] . There are a number of Lebanese sweet shops in the suburb.

For many years, Jack Walsh International Cycles on Punchbowl Road, was one of the longest serving shops in Punchbowl. It had been selling and repairing bicycles for over 60 years [http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/PARLMENT/hansArt.nsf/V3Key/LA20060308029 Tribute to Mr Jack Walsh NSW Parliament] until December 2007 when Mr Walsh was unable to continue the business.

Transport

Canterbury Road and Punchbowl Road provide the major road links into the suburb. The Boulevarde and South Terrace are also main roads. Punchbowl railway station is located on the Bankstown line of the CityRail network. The line was opened in 1895 and electrified in 1926. Trains take around 25 minutes to Sydenham and 40 minutes to Central station.

The Punchbowl Road railway bridge replaced an old two lane bridge in 1981. The foundations of the old bridge can still be seen west of the current one. The new bridge greatly aided traffic flow through the area but at the cost of effectively cutting the shopping centre in half.

Housing

Punchbowl is a mainly residential suburb. Much of the suburb was developed in the late 1800s and early 1900s, especially after the railway line to Bankstown was built. The suburb features a mixture of Federation, Art Deco and contemporary homes. Parts of Punchbowl have been redeveloped since the turn of the 21st century, with flats, townhouses and modern detached houses built.

Schools

Punchbowl Public School is located on Canterbury Road [ [http://www.punchbowl-p.schools.nsw.edu.au Welcome to Punchbowl Primary School] ] . St Charbel's College is located in Highclere Avenue [http://www.stcharbel.nsw.edu.au St Charbel's College] .

Punchbowl Boys High School located in Kelly Street, [ [http://www.punchbowlb-h.schools.nsw.edu.au Punchbowl Boys High School] ] was established in 1955. The school had a strong focus on cricket and rugby union in the 1960s and 1970s. It produced two Australian cricket fast bowlers, Len Pascoe and Jeff "Thommo" Thomson. Punchbowl Boys High School has been described as the toughest school in Australia, although students and teachers have criticised these comments, branding them as "incorrect and exaggerated". The school was notorious for having a large barbed wire fence that faced inward. Recently however, the school has received much praise for programs such as "the homework centre", and also the "fit club", where students were accompanied by teachers for a jog around the area to encourage the students to lead a healthier and happier lifestyle.

Churches

St Jerome Catholic Church, St Charbel Maronite Catholic Church, St Barnabas Anglican Church, St Saviours Anglican Church, Punchbowl Baptist Church, Punchbowl Presbyterian Church, Punchbowl Uniting Church.

Population

Demographics

The first inhabitants of Punchbowl were Aboriginal tribes. The first Europeans in the area were British and Irish settlers in the nineteenth century. By the mid-twentieth century, the suburb had absorbed many migrants of Italian, Greek and Slavic origin. From the mid-1970s, Punchbowl became a very popular location with migrants from Lebanon.

Notable Residents

* Comedian Vince Sorrenti, who came up with the famous quote "All bad roads lead to Punchbowl".
* Comedian Akmal Saleh
* TV host "Baby" John Burgess
* Poet Lex Banning
* Hardcore Band The Hard-Ons
* Actor Danny Adcock

Culture

Punchbowl is colloquially known as 'Punchy'.

Pop Culture

* Punchbowl has featured in several Australian books including the satirical They're a Weird Mob by "Nino Culotta" (a nom de plume of John O'Grady), which was made into a feature film. The Mirage Hotel was referred to in the movie as "the bloodhouse".
* The movie "FJ Holden" (1977) featured several locations in Punchbowl including the Sundowner Hotel on the corner of Punchbowl and Canterbury Roads, a popular pub and band venue until the licence was sold. The buildings served as a Croatian Club until a new club was built.
* The television drama series Dangerous was set in and around Punchbowl.
* Trent from Punchy is a popular character on YouTube. It is debated whether or not Trent is a real person or an actor. Some believe him to be played by Nicholas Boshier as seen in the fake film Touching my Son. [http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24278869-5007132,00.html]

External links

* [http://www.canterbury.nsw.gov.au/www/html/870-history-of-punchbowl.asp Canterbury City Council - History of Punchbowl]

References