Jephson's Corner

(Gosford walkies #13)

The trouble with air-conditioned buses is that when a bloke who smells like a rancid badger gets on, there's no getting away from the whiff. This guy smelt like he'd been drinking since April and sleeping on a compost heap.

Weather was good though. Sunny and warm. Bugger all breeze. Lovely walkies day. I wandered about pretty much at random for a bit then got down to the business of photographing a building that might be demolished soon.



Jephson's Corner is nearly empty and that usually spells a change in fortunes for a commercial building. Might be renovated, might be knocked down. As you can see it's not in a bad way. I couldn't find any real structural damage or decay on the outside, back or front.



The only damage I could see was superficial. A broken window, the usual chips and knocks of half a century's wear and tear.



It's empty except the curry shop on the corner and the milkbar that looks deserted but claims to be open.


(Click photo for text of plaque)

In 1907 Horace Jepson bunged up a two storey brick building on the corner and in 1913 he added three shops on the Mann Street side. The style of the Mann Street frontage was Federation Free Classical (circa 1890 - c. 1915). In the black and white photo on the Heritage plaque it looks like brown or red brick with white trim.

The current building looks like Inter-War Functionalist (circa 1915 - c. 1940). That certainly fits the age of the materials. (And gives me some clues about several Woy Woy buildings too but that's a whole other post.)



Round the back you can see three clear stages of building. The oldest part in brown brick with the flat arches (bricks laid vertically over a window or door), an Inter-War bit in beige brick and the addition on the right of the alley in reddish brick (just visible on the left).

From the street it looks like the 1907 and 1913 sections are completely gone but the flat arches on the brown brick section here at the back suggest a bit is still standing.



Included the Annousa Building and the tyre shop for the hell of it. Handily, this one has a date on it. 1949.







Voodoo Tattoo moved out at least a year ago but there's some of their painting on the wall out the back and I guess the car with a Voodoo Tattoo sticker on it parked out the back means the owner still lives over the shop.



The tyre shop I can't date with certainty but I'm getting an Inter-War Art Deco vibe (circa 1915 - circa 1940).

It's nippy again now but it was lovely out in the sun today. Rain's forecast for tomorrow but most of the time the forecast's wrong. Probably it'll be another sunny warm winter day.