The Cooks River is a 23km long river that stretches from Yagoona in the south west of Sydney to Botany Bay in the east. Since European settlement, it has undergone many transformations and alterations, not all in the best interests of the river. Changes in the past few years are starting to bring the river back to a healthy state.
This part of the river was the home to the Wangal clan of the Dharug (Daruk) nation and as such we pay our respects to the elders past and present for allowing us to travel through this land.
The Cave Road residential precinct was developed in 1960 on the site of the former Northcote Private Golf Course. The twenty-one acres of land, was privately owned by Clara Australia Thompson. The Strathfield Golf Club eventually acquired the course from Miss Thompson but in 1955, the Club decided to close the Northcote Golf Course and sell the land.
A development application was lodged with Strathfield Council in 1957 for a large drive-in regional shopping complex. Approval was granted by Strathfield Council for a shopping centre facing Liverpool Rd with 2,500 parking spaces. However, the Club opted to develop the land for residential purposes in 1958.
All streets in the Cave Road precinct are named for former Mayors of Strathfield (Cave, Hedges and Morgan).
In 1985 Cave Road Reserve was renamed ‘Chain of Ponds Reserve’. The name is from the Journal of C A Henderson in a paper provided to the Royal Australian Historical Society in 1923 describing the Cooks River ending in a ‘chain of ponds’.
Information sourced from: Dictionary of Sydney, Strathfield Heritage, Cooks River Alliance, City of Canterbury and Wikipedia
Thanks to FlutterbySquishy for the container and initial swag