Awesome Adelaide – Page 13 of 49 – A photoblog of Adelaide's abandoned buildings, underground tunnels and places to explore. Urban exploration (urbex), off-limits, spelunking, drains, derelict buildings & ruins.

November 25, 2016

Urban Exploring: The Comms Tunnel

Early Adelaide telephone lines were copper wire. They traversed the city mounted on poles along the street, leading from your home (or place of business) all the way back to the telephone exchange. As you’d imagine, city telephone exchanges had a mass of incoming wires.

As the amount of customers grew, so did the amount of wires. Extra cross-arms had to be added to telephone poles to support more wires. They were extremely noisy in the wind, ugly, and broke during extreme weather events. Repairs were costly and took a very long time.

Adelaide Telephone Exchange c. 1909 — Top: Adelaide Telephone Exchange, Franklin Street, Adelaide c. 1909.
Bottom: Adelaide Telephone Exchange Back Entrance c.1909.
Photos courtesy State Library of South Australia.

The invention of the cable helped! Individual wires were grouped together and covered in a waterproof sheath. This allowed the wires to be placed underground, into tunnels, solving the problems associated with above-ground lines. Most cities have large cable tunnels under the main roads and footpaths, and these cable tunnels are still in use today.

Cable Tunnel to Telephone Exchange. — Top: Chris Ross, a cable repair access technician, inspecting an underground cable tunnel.
Bottom: A cut 1000-pair-cable showing the individual copper wiring.

Incoming cables from the cable tunnels are brought up from the underground tunnels into the exchange. The wires are broken out of their sheath and each pair of wires are terminated at a set of terminals on a Main Distribution Frame (MDF). The MDF also carried fuses which allowed lines to be connected or disconnected, as well as tested for faults.

Telephone exchange cable tunnel and Main Distribution Frame. — Left: A cable chamber, showing the cables on bearers and turning upwards to the MDF on the floor above.
Right: Cables from the cable chamber below connecting to the Main Distribution Frame (MDF).

From there, lines are connected to sophisticated digital switching computers that, when required, connect your line to phones locally, interstate and around the world.

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October 31, 2016

Urban Exploring: Cabin in the Woods

Most explorers will tell you it’s rare as hen’s teeth to find a place that’s old and full of its original contents – as if its occupants just got up and left, leaving their belongings behind. And so it came as a bit of surprise when I opened the door to this place; a cabin way out in Adelaide’s rural scrubland.

The cabin may not look like much, but in its day it was exceptionally modern. The high roof would have reduced the effects of South Australia’s hot climate. Sawn redgum flooring would have been chosen for its durability and strength. Timber cladding selected for its decorative and sound-absorbing finish.

Cupboards overflowed with household items from the 1920’s and 30’s. A bottle of Bickfords Tasteless Castor Oil sat high on a shelf gathering dust. Long before Raid-brand insect spray existed, Shell Tox delivered its convincing concision: “Shell Tox Kills”. A pair of Laubman and Pank spectacles from the 1920’s nobly displayed its Adelaide origins.

The Trafalgar Cold Safe, invented in Australia in the late 1800s and promoted as “Cold Storage Without Ice” sat proudly in the kitchen.

1913 Trafalgar Cold Safe Advertisement from an Adelaide Railways Timetable. (Photo courtesy Denis Bin)

The Hapsburg Beale piano, unopened for years and covered with a thick layer of grime, no longer permeated its sound through the house.

One of the many disused houses I’ve been in, this one was unique. It was a chance to step back in time and ponder the joy and hardships this family once experienced. Hopefully, in the years to come, when I return to this cabin-in-the-woods, it will be just as I left it, left frozen in time so I can experience it once more.

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October 18, 2016

Urban Exploring: The Maughan Church

I found myself sitting in the Maughan Church on its last public opening. A handful of people were there saying their final farewells, some visibly upset. An elderly lady told me how she had come here each week for the last 20 years. To her, it was like an old friend was being ripped from her life.

Looking up, words could hardly describe what i was thinking – it was breathtakingly beautiful. The architecture of the ceiling was a masterpiece.

The Maughan Church, Adelaide — The Maughan Church Model and Scaffolding during Construction in 1965. (Photo courtesy Uniting Communities)

The Maughan Church was named after Rev. James Maughan (October 1826 – 8 March 1871). Built in 1965, it superseded a previous church on the site. Its design incorporated an octagonal, twenty-four-gabled roof designed by architect Sir Eric von Schramek.

Now demolished, a new building is to be erected on the site providing much more than the previous one. A new space for worship and church activities will be constructed, including space for conferences, large gatherings, and community events. It will also provide for disability and respite accommodation.

The new Maughan Church, Adelaide — A mock-up of the new building expected to be completed by mid-2018. (Photo provided by Uniting Communities)

	Retirement Units	Disability Units	Respite Units
Old Building	nil	nil	nil
New Building	46	21	18

What could be salvaged from the building has been saved and re-utilized elsewhere. Organ pieces have been sent to the Payneham Road Uniting Church while the intricate organ pipes (hidden behind the rear wall) have been transplanted to other churches and organisations throughout South Australia and Victoria.

Below are some pics, taken during my multiple explorations of the Maughan Church, of her beauty and final days.