![A sketch of Kinlyside Hall from the Memories of Hall book. A sketch of Kinlyside Hall from the Memories of Hall book.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/ddaffab3-840c-4bf3-a9ae-d2be7f4bd5bf.JPG/r0_493_4032_2760_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
There must be something in the water at Number 6 Victoria Street in Hall.
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Take George Kinlyside who built the distinctive corrugated iron structure at this address back in 1900. Officially, Kinlyside was a wheelwright and coach builder, but he was also renowned for his skills in carpentry, tank making, painting, building, mechanics and blacksmithing. He even dabbled in undertaking. Talk about a jack of all trades.
![Kinlyside Hall soon after it was built as a wagon painting workshop in 1900. Picture: Hall School Museum & Heritage Centre Kinlyside Hall soon after it was built as a wagon painting workshop in 1900. Picture: Hall School Museum & Heritage Centre](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/c686d7c5-e720-454e-84d9-0e07bb9238c2.jpeg/r93_0_588_278_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Now consider current custodian of the Hall landmark, Shaun O'Connor, who runs the eclectic Hops and Vine cellar door which sells more than 350 different craft beers and local wines from the same address. Just like Kinlyside was a mover and shaker about town, if something is happening in Hall today, this 51-year-old knock-about Ned Kelly look-alike, entrepreneur-extraordinaire is probably behind it. When he's not pulling the levers at his other businesses (there are several), O'Connor can be found wrangling the 'Hall Bushrangers' women's rugby team or swinging his way to another woodchopping trophy for his village club. He's also served on more local committees than you can poke an axe at, including the Hall Progress Association (where you guessed it, Kinlyside was the first meeting in 1906). And if that's not enough, he's also responsible for that full-size replica TARDIS in the main street. But more about O'Connor later.
![Shaun O'Connor's TARDIS sits adjacent to a Telstra payphone in Victoria Street, Hall. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man Shaun O'Connor's TARDIS sits adjacent to a Telstra payphone in Victoria Street, Hall. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/cdd33ad5-3115-494d-be10-e9015a1837c7.JPG/r0_0_4032_3024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
For now, back to Kinlyside who originally built the structure at Number 6 Victoria Street as a specially ventilated coach painting shop, but as Hall's population began to grow, so too did demand for a community meeting place.
So, in 1907, Kinlyside generously threw open the doors of his workshop to the public and for the next 60 years or so it served a variety of functions including as a base for many clubs and societies, the change room for the Hall football club and a fundraising centre for the Red Cross in World War I. "Kinlyside Hall", as it became affectionately known, even doubled as a temporary Anglican church until St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church was built up the road in 1948.
However, arguably the most celebrated function of the Kinlyside Hall was as a popular venue for dances, concerts and movies, with silent films being shown using hand-operated projectors as early as 1911.
![Victoria Street in Hall in the early 1900s. Kinlyside Hall is on the far right. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man Victoria Street in Hall in the early 1900s. Kinlyside Hall is on the far right. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/2b6ea143-953b-47dc-9345-08ee6b8b5d12.jpg/r0_32_2048_1183_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Bevis Brown who has lived all of his 84 years in the village, longer than any other current resident, fondly remembers the movie nights held every second Saturday throughout the 1950s and early 1960s as "a highlight of the fortnightly social calendar".
"Most of the films showed to full houses of about 60 people who sat on fold-up wooden chairs neatly arranged in rows," he explains.
While Brown can't recall if Jaffas were rolled down the aisle, he does remember rowdy groups of young men, who, during intermission or during dances, would "dash outside and consume the contents of bottles squirreled away in brown paper bags while hiding underneath the hall".
Hailing from a strict Methodist family, Brown kept well clear of such surreptitious behaviour, but there was another reason Brown never ventured outside, especially in winter. "It was just far too cold," he laughs.
![Hall's 2021 streetscape, featuring Kinlyside Hall on the far right. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man Hall's 2021 streetscape, featuring Kinlyside Hall on the far right. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/7031c940-24ba-4838-8233-463d883e2250.JPG/r0_40_1985_1156_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Despite its cavernous proportions and poor insultation, it was surprisingly cosy inside the hall. "Earlier in the night, Colin Southwell, local farmer-cum-projectionist, would light a fire in a 32-gallon drum, then just before everyone arrived, he'd haul the red-hot drum inside the hall using a long pole," says Brown. But it didn't always go to plan. "The first few times we got smoked out so Colin ended up adding a pipe to the drum leading to outside, a sort of chimney," he laughs.
Keith O'Mara, who was brought up with four brothers in a tiny fibro house in Hall, also remembers the novel heating system. "Those glowing 32-gallon drums made the 'Cowboy and Indian' movies more realistic, especially when the wagons were burning," he recalls.
Brown also remembers creeping up the rickety outdoor stairs to take a peek inside the projectionist's booth which boasted two manually operated projectors. "Colin had to watch carefully for the dot on one reel to appear and quickly switch to the other reel, but sometimes he missed seeing it and the hall temporarily fell into darkness while he cranked up the next part of the film," he recalls. "But that was all part of the fun."
![The projector sits just were it was left in 1963 when the last film was screened at Kinlyside Hall, now home to Hops and Vine. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man The projector sits just were it was left in 1963 when the last film was screened at Kinlyside Hall, now home to Hops and Vine. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/11d785e6-b5dd-40ce-9a86-a6e0773d951d.jpg/r0_0_960_1280_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Since the demise of the much-loved film nights in 1963 (prompted by the arrival of television to Canberra), the hall has housed a string of notable antique peddlers including Athol Salter (of subsequent Dirty Janes fame) who leased the hall initially from Jim Rochford (who lived to 103 - told you there was something in the water!) and then from Brian O'Connor who purchased the hall in 1975.
The building's rich past isn't lost on Shaun O'Connor who after recently taking over the reins from his dad, undertook extensive renovations to ensure the hall's longevity for future generations.
![Inside Kinlyside Hall, now home to Hops and Vine, a unique wine and craft beer destination. The projectionist's booth is behind the red curtain at the far back. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man Inside Kinlyside Hall, now home to Hops and Vine, a unique wine and craft beer destination. The projectionist's booth is behind the red curtain at the far back. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/0430c831-13a8-4ef4-bd48-4e0cc6f46dff.JPG/r0_376_4032_2867_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I'm so lucky to be part of this continuing tradition," says O'Connor who has a soft spot for the projectionist's booth, which, apart from donating one of the projectors to the village's museum, he's left exactly as it was when the last film screened almost 50 years ago. A real time capsule, dust and all.
![Shaun O'Connor peers out of the projectionist's booth at Hops and Vine. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man Shaun O'Connor peers out of the projectionist's booth at Hops and Vine. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/89f9d543-1e37-40a4-9cf8-929a979fa275.JPG/r0_54_4032_2769_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Kinlyside Hall is proof that it's not just bricks and mortar (or timber slabs and corrugated iron) that make a building worthy of historical significance, often it's the stories associated with the building that are the real treasure.
Oh, and on my next visit to Hops and Vine I think I'll ask for some of their water instead of a beer!
Peeling back the layers of history
Empty beer bottles stashed beneath the creaking floorboards dating back from 1950s film nights weren't the only hidden gems Shaun O'Connor found when renovating Kinlyside Hall, now home to Hops and Vine.
Disintegrating Dictator
In the southern wall near the front of the store, O'Connor discovered old newspapers had previously been used as insulation. "I pulled out one page, it was very old and frail," says O'Connor. "It was the front page of a Canberra Times dated 1936."
"The article was about a certain dictator in Germany beginning to cause some grief," he recalls. "As I read it, I thought this is really amazing, I've got to keep this, what history here in the walls."
Unfortunately seconds after touching the fragile page, it disintegrated in his hands. "It literally turned to dust, like in the movies," laments O'Connor, adding "it was such a pity as it was a tangible reminder of the tumultuous times the people of Hall were about to experience with the subsequent onset of World War II."
Have you found old newspaper in a building? Can you beat 1936?
Mystery Message
At the back of Hops and Vine is a small room previously used as a dressing room for actors and musicians. It is likely this is also where the first owner of the building, George Kinlyside, carried out his undertaking duties.
Here, if you look closely on the wall behind some shelves, scrawled in black paint is "Prof D'Almaine Nov 22, 1922".
![A hypnotist's calling card. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man A hypnotist's calling card. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/9a188a0d-a6ef-4252-b55f-5dfebf547f6c.jpg/r0_0_4032_2124_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
According to O'Connor, Professor D'Almaine was an American stage hypnotist who undertook a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1922-23. "While getting ready for his show here at Hall he must have scrawled his name on the wall," he explains. Information on D'Almaine is hard to come by, so if you know anything further about his visit to Canberra, I'd love to know.
WHERE IN THE REGION?
![Recognise this building? Picture: Glenn Schwinghamer Recognise this building? Picture: Glenn Schwinghamer](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/75fefd10-b56d-45b8-afab-ffb3c2dde3d6.jpg/r0_290_6520_4840_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Cryptic Clue: One for all the 'neighsayers' out there
Degree of difficulty: Medium - Hard
![Weetangera church. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man Weetangera church. Picture: Tim the Yowie Man](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/20f5403f-c9ba-44a1-a6ce-648e64c17ee1.JPG/r0_54_4032_2661_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Last week: Congratulations to Terry Sheales of Melba who was first to correctly identify last week's photo as the former Weetangera Methodist Church which stood adjacent to the small cemetery on the western side of William Hovell Drive near its intersection with Drake Brockman Drive. The church (and cemetery) opened in 1873 but after falling into disrepair was demolished in 1955. A door handle from the demolished church was set into a cairn which was designed to resemble an outdoor pulpit and which marks the spot where the church stood.
How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and suburb to tym@iinet.net.au The first email sent after 10am, Saturday August 28, 2021, wins bragging rights. Double passes to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema will be offered again as prizes once cinemas re-open.
SPOTTED
![Miss Jean Southwell in the Hall Premier Store in 1979. Picture: Hall School Museum & Heritage Centre Miss Jean Southwell in the Hall Premier Store in 1979. Picture: Hall School Museum & Heritage Centre](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/fa5cfb04-ecac-4d2b-a54a-ff3e387b864d.jpg/r0_0_2048_1252_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Many readers of last week's column searched in vain for the 1979 photo of Miss Jean Southwell serving in the Hall Premier Store that was referred to in my "Top 7 Secrets of Hall". "I pulled out my magnifying glass and searched your pages for the photo in case you ran it extra small as a challenge," wrote John Smithers of Kambah. Meanwhile, Penny Standen of Kaleen even called her neighbour to check his version of the paper didn't contain the photo. 'Talk about a secret, the whereabouts of that photo is the real secret," she grumbled. Oops, sorry folks, the photo was inadvertently omitted from the hard copy version of my column. My apologies. The photo did however flush out several online readers who fondly remembered Jean, including Jenny Morris who, while working in the Hall post office several years after Jean retired "will always remember the shushing sound which heralded the arrival of Miss Jean on a wet day to collect the mail". "Her sensible bread bag over-shoes were worn on wet days and generally were not matching. Whichever brand she cared not, they kept her feet warm and dry." Gee, an upcycling environmentalist well ahead of her time.