Soundtrails is proud to announce the launch of the Henry Halloran Soundtrail on Saturday the 16th of May. About 40 people turned up along with federal member for Paterson, Meryl Swanson, the state member for Port Stephens, Kate Washington and local councillor Jason Well to celebrate this, our latest publication. Starting off at the impressive land gates, then heading down to the ocean overlooking what was once meant to be Port Stephens city, the Soundtrail brings to life with great panache, the legacy of former property developer, Henry F Halloran. This project is the love child of the inimitable Robyn Cragg who is the driving force behind the local Port Stephen’s Family History Society. With Tanilba Bay being a legacy of Halloran’s garden city design in post-war 1920s Australia, Cragg, herself an authority on Halloran, was determined to pull this one off. And pull it off she did, taking us all into many rich, unexpected and unknown places: from photo shoots to a 1920s ball in the Tanilba Bay hall where the locals dressed up and danced. Different from many of our projects to date which rely heavily on oral histories, and adopt the radio documentary approach to audio walks, this one was almost entirely script based. While no less historical, because there’s no one alive to speak to this story, it’s more theatrical than our usual fare. The HFH Soundtrail is a lot of fun and owes a great deal to the voices of actors Alice Garner and Ian Bliss and multi instrumentalist, musician, Mal Webb, as well to Robyn Cragg who’s now taking a much-needed breather. Thanks again to all involved.
