Published on Tuesday, 23 September 2025 at 10:53:31 AM
Happy #TimeWarpTuesday ! This week we continue our virtual exhibition of the entries made to the 2025 Local History Awards. This week we feature Madeleine Tingey’s entry for which the judges awarded Madeleine 2nd Prize.
Personal Memoirs
Kate Reserve: A Hidden Gem
By Madeleine Tingey
PH00478-01 Kate Street Reserve, East Victoria Park, 1992.
Courtesy of Madeleine Tingey. Local History Collection, Town of Victoria Park Library Service.
The year was 1992 when I went to look at a cottage for sale in Lake View Street, East Victoria Park. At that time there were still many unrestored houses in the area. The house was an old weatherboard in desperate need of a renovation and was exactly what I had been looking out for. Priced at below a hundred thousand dollars, which seemed a lot of money then, it matched my budget. I could see past the rotting stumps, the bleached boards and the rusty tin roof and imagine the house resotred to its original character as a 1920’s worker’s cottage. This traditional home definitely had the potential to become a pleasant and enjoyable place to live.
However, it was not just the house that captivated me. It was Kate Reserve, the beautiful park directly opposite. Imagine opening your front door to that lovely tranquil view every day! It was a vista that could never be taken away and that I would enjoy through the changing seasons. I certainly did not want to give up the possibility of having a park on my door step. This parkland, bounded by Kate Street, Norseman Street, Lake View Street and the laneway now called Bickford Lane sets the mood for the area.
These four small character-filled leafy streets take you back in time to a more community-minded era. A community which in the early 1900’s was strongly influenced by the excitement of gold discoveries and everything that was happening in Kalgoorlie and on the Goldfields. Kate Street was probably named after the Lady Kate mine at Callion west of Menzies in the Eastern Goldfields, which was operating in 1896, while Lake View Street was named after the Lake View Consols Goldmine which was located on the Golden Mile, Kalgoorlie. Floated in 1895 Lake View Mine had quickly become a significant talking point in Perth.
Other street in this location are Norseman, Boulder, Bank, Mint and Dane Streets; they were all named after Goldfields mines. These streets were laid out and first offered for sale in 1904. With this important historical provenance East Victoria Park was destined to become an area filled with character.
The original owner of the 8 lots that comprised Kate Reserve was Thomas Walter Orchard, a Murchison Goldfields publican. He appears to have been a larger than life, colourful, entrepreneurial character who had made a lot of money in Kalgoorlie not from gold mining but from selling water at a shilling a bucket to the miners. The story goes that he was so wealthy he could afford to light his cigar with a rolled up ten pound note, which he then proceeded to do. Thomas became a publican and later either owned or managed the Claremont Hotel, Perth. It is not obvious what the exact appeal for him was of a piece of land in the new development of Victoria Park, or what ideas he had in mind for it, but he must have had a vision when he purchased it.
Thomas Orchard sold the 8 lots to the Victoria Park Municipal Council in late 1914 or early 1915 for recreational use. It was a gift to the people. The land was then cleared.
Throughout my house renovation Kate Reserve was a constant in my life as I slowly progressed through the phases of re-stumping, filling up the cracks that opened alarmingly in the lath and plaster walls and searching for original Jarrah floorboards for the new extension at the back of the house.
PH00478-02 Kate Street, corner of Lake View Street, East Victoria Park, 1992
Courtesy of Madeleine Tingey. Local History Collection, Town of Victoria Park Library Service.
When I first moved in Lake View Street a neighbour told me interesting stories describing what East Victoria Park was like when she came to live there in the 1950’s. I discovered that the house a few doors down from my place had been the first aid post where injured workers were rushed after industrial accidents at the State Timber Mill on Mint Street, the site where the [East] Victoria Park Primary School now stands. Man of the workers and their families would have lived in the streets surrounding the State Timber Mill.
I also heard how another lady had, as a child, travelled to Victoria Park on the tram and then walked to her aunt’s home in Kate Street. She had enjoyed playing in the park with other children and balancing on the white bollards and chains that border the park and remain there to this day.
However the park has not always been so attractive and well-maintained. For years it was a rough, almost wild overgrown area boasting an enormous metal slide as its central piece of play equipment. The metal monster was quite frightening for younger children and caused at least one serious accident. For some children Kate Reserve was a more threatening than relaxing place to be.
In between polishing boards an painting walls I would have morning tea on the front veranda, a cool place in summer but warm and dry in winter, and gaze across a the park. It has been an unchanging timeless vista for me and it is a delight to watch the changes in nature according to the season.
In summer rain veils the playground and dog walkers dash out for a brisk cold walk while on summer evenings they meet and chat after work, lingering in the cool evening after a hot day. Children play there are the year round, the games changing from soccer to cricket and other ball games. There are children’s parties and picnics, tai chi and gold practice. This park is used for so many activities and shows that season do not necessarily pass unremarked in the city.
The trees in the reserve had always been sources of pleasure but the magnificent Moreton Bay Fogs deserve a special mention. Their massive gnarled trunks and vast leafy canopies are a joy to behold and provide shelter for so many birds who feast on the purple berries. At dawn the noise from the trees rises in an exuberant dawn chorus heralding another day. Hopefully these tree will not succumb to PSHB.
From when they were toddlers all my four grandchildren have crossed the road to the playground in Kate Reserve and as a family we have benefited enormously from this open space. It has been a bonus that the children could run home when needing a toilet.
In 2015 an artwork by Abdul-Rahman Abdullah was installed in Kate Reserve. This features the figure of a Triceratops dinosaur while a plaque on the base gives its title ‘Everything is True’. Everything is True is the perfect name for an artwork in a park where children play every day.
I wonder what Thomas Orchard would think if he could see the land he bought now developed into a park that is used by many people in the community. We are fortunate that his legacy was to provide public open space that has been and will continue to be enjoyed every day.
-The End-
Don’t forget we are always happy to accept donations of photographs, memorabilia and stories about the suburbs within our Town. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us via telephone: 08 9373 5500, email: vicparklibrary@vicpark.wa.gov.au or in person at 27 Sussex Street, East Victoria Park.
References
In-Herit – State Heritage Office [database]
Tasmanian Ancestry September 2002 ‘Thomas Walter Orchard’ by Alison Cairns
#LoveVicPark
PH00478-03 Lake View Street corner of Shepperton Road, 1992
Courtesy of Madeleine Tingey.
Local History Collection, Town of Victoria Park Library Service.
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