Lockleys, South Australia

History

The area was inhabited by the Kaurna people before the British colonisation of South Australia.

The area was subject to flooding by the River Torrens, which originally ran into an area named "The Reedbeds" in the upper reaches of the Port River. In the 1930s the Torrens Channel, also named Breakout Creek, was cut through the coastal dunes to Gulf St Vincent, to drain the wetlands and eliminate the flooding. A large part of Lockleys is within a bend of the River Torrens.

Hence, prior to subdivision, the area was renowned for its rich soil, market gardens and greenhouses. The name comes from a property (section 145) owned by Charles Brown Fisher, then Edward Meade Bagot and Gabriel Bennett, who built a course there for amateur horse racing. The property was rented by trainers J. Eden Savill and C. Leslie Macdonald for their Lockleys Stables where many good racehorses were prepared.

Hank family

The area was divided for housing. However, the Hank family lived on Torrens Avenue, Lockleys and had established 11 acres of market garden there after world war I. The Hank brothers (Ray, Bill and Bob) all attended the Lockleys Primary (now called the Brooklyn Park Primary) School in Brooklyn Park and would all become footballers for the West Torrens Football Club in the SANFL. Bob Hank would go on to become an AFL Hall of Fame inductee, winning the Magarey Medal in both 1946 and 1947 and winning a record 9 league best and fairest awards for his club. A pavilion in the eastern grandstand at Adelaide Oval is named the Bob Hank Pavilion and the grandstand at Thebarton Oval is named the Hank Brothers Stand after these Australian Football legends. Bob Hank also famously clean bowled Sir Donald Bradman in a District Cricket final in March 1947 whilst playing for the West Torrens Cricket Club against Bradman's Kensington Cricket Club.

John Martin's warehouse

The former John Martin's department store had a bulk warehouse on Pierson Street, which was also a storage location for the floats used in the company's annual Christmas Pageant. The warehouse was converted by EDS for a data and call centre, which opened in 1996, and later owned by the Maras Group and operated by Westpac as a mortgage processing centre.

Windsor Theatre

The Windsor Theatre, located at 362 Henley Beach Road, was originally built as a RSL hall in March 1925, with the construction cost of £3,800 covered by community fund-raising, with much of it donated by John Mellor. It was called the Lockleys Memorial Hall. On 10 October in the same year, the hall was used by Lyric Theatres Ltd to screen a film, and soon became a successful movie theatre.

The Windsor Group acquired the cinema in October 1948, renaming it as the Windsor Theatre, During the 1950s the cinema was substantially upgraded. The "Nostalgia Walk" was created, with hundreds of original movie posters lining the walls.

The Windsor ceased operating in August 2012, and remained mostly vacant for a couple of years after that. In 2018, the theatre was purchased by the City of West Torrens., During demolition, a hidden basement was rediscovered, containing a kitchen and supper room.

Lockleys now features many large modern homes including one shown on the Grand Designs Television show.

Sport

Lockleys is home to the Lockleys Football Club, known as the Demons, their home clubrooms on Rutland Ave are a modern two-story facility that has won a state award for its architecture. The club play in the South Australian Amateur Football League. AFLW player Ebony Marinoff played for the club, as well as former AFL player Jimmy Toumpas and Brooklyn Park local and Port Power draftee Thomas Scully

The Lockleys Football Club facilities are shared with the West Torrens Baseball Club. The South Australian Badminton Association is also located in Lockleys, neighbouring the football club and baseball club. The Kooyonga Golf Club is also located in Lockleys. Kooyonga was the name of the suburb before it became Lockleys.

Government

Lockleys is in the City of West Torrens local government area, split between the South Australian House of Assembly electoral district of Colton and electoral district of West Torrens, and in the Australian House of Representatives Division of Hindmarsh.

Education

White

Green Gold Two schools are located in Lockleys – Lockleys North Primary School and St Francis School. Despite its name, Lockleys Primary School is located in neighbouring suburb Brooklyn Park.

Lockleys North Primary School

Lockleys North Primary School is a coeducational grades R-6 school located on Malurus Avenue. Students come from a wide variety of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds due to the demographics of West Torrens area.

History

With the expansion of the western suburbs of Adelaide the school was built in 1960. The school celebrated its 50th anniversary with an open day for old scholars and old staff on 14 November 2010.

Facilities

In July 2010, two new school buildings opened – "Tirkandi" (Library) and "Torrens" (classrooms for year 6-7's). The library was opened by Steve Georganas, the Member of Parliament for the seat of Hindmarsh. The school grounds also have a soccer pitch which have not only used by the school, but also local sporting clubs. The gymnasium has also been used for badminton by local sporting clubs.

Special programs

Specialist programs are offered in science, physical education, music, German and Greek.

File:Lockleys North 02.jpg|Auditorium File:Lockleys North 03.jpg|Sports fields File:Lockleys North 05.jpg|Quadrangle

St Francis School

St Francis School is a coeducational grades R-6 school located on Henley Beach Road. It is a private Catholic school.

References

References

1. (28 June 2021). "Adelaide's West Leads Employment Surge". IN Daily.
2. Horton, David R.. (1996). "Map of Indigenous Australia".
3. "Manning index of SA Placenames: Lockleys". State Library of South Australia.
4. (28 July 1928). "Reflections from the Racecourse". [[The Mail (Adelaide)]].
5. Kay, Brian. (2003). "The Master: the Bob Hank Story". Peacock Publications.
6. (2010). "Best of Both Worlds: The Story of West Torrens, Woodville and the Eagles Football Clubs". Hyde Park Press.
7. (23 September 2013). "Greats Honoured".
8. (16 June 2012). "The Last Goodbye with Bob Hank". The Advertiser.
9. [https://www.marasgroup.com.au/our-properties/data-centres/mortgage-processing-centre/ Westpac Home Ownership Service Centre] Maras Group. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
10. [https://cpa.org.au/z-archive/g2001/1058west.html Westpac sells off call centre workers] ''The Guardian'', 15 August 2001 – via Communist Party of Australia. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
11. In September 2021 a development application was announced for rezoning the [[call centre]] and adjacent child care centre, to allow a medium density residential development to be built on the site.[https://plan.sa.gov.au/_data/assets/pdf_file/0010/898921/Lockleys_Code_Amendment-_for_consultation.pdf Lockleys Code Amendment - for consultation.pdf] [https://plan.sa.gov.au/have_your_say/general_consultations PlanSA Portal]. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
12. Roe, Ken. "Windsor Theatre in Adelaide, AU".
13. (28 October 2020). "Urban Exploring: Remembering the Windsor Theatre".
14. "Lockleys Sub-Branch Memorial Hall, Lockleys, South Australia, Australia".
15. Hennessy, Antoinette. (2016). "Entertaining the Classes: An archaeological investigation of historic cinemas in Metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, and their development in relation to social class, 1896-1949". [[Flinders University]].
16. (7 August 2019). "Grand Designs Australia Season 8 episode 4".
17. (10 June 2021). "South Australian Architecture Awards 2021 Winners Announced". InDaily.
18. Lordonic, Marissa. (22 March 2022). "Its been a wild ride: Inaugural Crow Marinoff reflects on 50 AFLW games". ESPN.
19. (9 February 2023). "AFL Players Thomas Scully".
20. (17 July 2021). "West Torrens Baseball Club".
21. "South Australian Badminton Association".
22. "Site information - Lockleys North Primary School". [[Department of Education and Children's Services]], [[South Australian Government]].
23. (2022-10-10). "". link
24. (2011-06-17). "Welcome to Lockleys North Primary School". [[South Australian Government]].
25. (2 September 2010). "Celebrating 50 years of Education 1960-2010". [[Department of Education and Children's Services]].
26. (2010-07-23). "Lockleys North Primary School opens new $3.2 million BER library and classrooms". [[Australian Labour Party]].
27. (2011-12-15). "LATEST TITANS NEWS". Adelaide Titans Football Club.
28. "Important Dates (for Glenelg Breakers)". Glenelg Breakers Badminton Club.
29. "Greek Language Schools". Greek Orthodox Community of S.A..
30. (2014). "St. Francis School".