Event Reports
Reports about events hosted by the Glebe Society, including Guided Walks and tours, Glebe Talks and Anzac Day Service events.
Glebe Society Guided Walks Annual Report, September 2026
Posted on 11th September 2026
The Glebe Society Walks program offered great opportunities to members and others to explore our neighbourhood and beyond.
Event Report: Visit to the Caroline Simpson Library Collection
Posted on 11th September 2026
A visit in August to the Caroline Simpson Library Collection at The Mint revealed many Glebe-related artefacts.
Glebe Society’s 2026 Walks and Talks
Posted on 10th August 2026
Glebe Society Guided Walks and Talks in 2026, so far.
Report on guided visit to the Sydney Heritage Fleet
Posted on 6th July 2026
A full Glebe Society visit to the Sydney Heritage Fleet enjoyed a sunny tour focused on the ferry Kanangra. We donated $650 to support the fleet. Thanks to Alex Byrne and the volunteers.
Max Solling’s 2026 Anzac Day address
Posted on 28th May 2026
Stan Arneil’s POW ordeal and powerful memoir, One Man’s War, anchor Max Solling’s address, which reflects on WWII’s impact on Australia, Glebe and the resilience shown at home and in captivity.
Max Solling on the pubs of Glebe and Forest Lodge
Posted on 22nd April 2026
Max Solling’s latest talk was held at the Forest Lodge Hotel on 1 March. But this wasn’t just a talk in a pub, it was a talk about pubs.
Guided Walks Program 2025: Reflections
Posted on 29th December 2025
The Walks Group organised six events in 2025 attracting close to 150 bookings. Our aim is for the walks to be educational, fun, not too strenuous and to encourage social interaction among our members.
An unexpected find
Posted on 23rd November 2025
A Glebe Society walk led to an unexpected find of photo of the original gates to Toxteth Park, now the home of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan and St Scholastica’s School.
Tour of Toxteth Park: September 2025
Posted on 1st October 2025
An insightful walking tour of Toxteth Park (also known as Toxteth House) led by historian Max Solling, with Joanna Mead, Archives & Records Manager at the Good Samaritan Congregational Centre in Toxteth House.
Glebe Walk report – Rookwood Cemetery, June 2025
Posted on 12th August 2025
Guided by Max Solling, we toured Rookwood Cemetery, visiting graves of notable Glebe figures including aldermen Michael Conlon, Ambrose Foss, and George Allen of Toxteth Park.
Event report: Glebe Society’s 9th Annual Biodiversity Lecture
Posted on 13th June 2025
On Wednesday 28 May, Glebe nature lovers made a beeline to Benledi to see and hear ecologist Tanya Latty’s presentation on how and why we should love and respect our diversity of local – but often unnoticed – insects and other invertebrates.
Anzac Day Service 2025
Posted on 8th May 2025
In his Anzac Day address, local historian Max Solling spoke about Australia’s involvement in WWII and how it reshaped the lives of Australians and Glebe residents.
Three of the best among Glebe’s treasured heritage
Posted on 8th May 2025
A special event in March honouring the Glebe Society’s former President, Ian Stephenson, focussed on Glebe and Forest Lodge’s ecclesiastical and architectural heritage.
Glebe Society Guided Walks 2025
Posted on 3rd April 2025
Read about upcoming Glebe Society Guided Walks. A great way to explore Glebe and our nearby neighbourhoods.
Layers of history in Forest Lodge: A walk with Max Solling
Posted on 2nd December 2024
Prominent local historian Max Solling led a fascinating historical walk through the streets, back lanes and waterways of Forest Lodge last month.
Glebe Talks: Lyn Collingwood and David Gaunt – Biscuits to Books
Posted on 2nd December 2024
49 Glebe Point Road, now occupied by Gleebooks, has been home to many different businesses over the last 153 years. A talk by David Gaunt and Lyn Collingwood in November explained all.
Walk Report: Discovering Ultimo
Posted on 28th October 2024
On 13 October, Patricia Hale, led a wonderfully researched guided walk past some of Ultimo’s historical and industrial sites, also pointing out the impressive recent urban regeneration and remarkable contemporary buildings.
The year in review: Guided Walks September 2023 to December 2024
Posted on 28th October 2024
The Walks Program has gone from strength to strength, with nearly 250 bookings on 10 walks in the last 15 months. Planning for 2025 will soon be underway and we welcome any ideas for new walks and any walks you would like repeated.
Guided Walk report: Bus tour to Rookwood Cemetery and back
Posted on 31st July 2024
On a Guided Walk at Rookwood Cemetery a busload of Glebe Society members enjoyed Max Solling’s account of the lives of some of its historic residents.
Guided Walk report: The Hidden History of Blackwattle Bay
Posted on 31st July 2024
A report on a Guided Walk in June by Ian Stephenson through the locations of existing and former sites connected to Blackwattle Creek.
Remembering their sacrifice: Max Solling’s 2024 Anzac Day address, part 3
Posted on 31st July 2024
Max Solling recalls the ‘war memorial movement’ that followed the First World War, when the design and construction of many beautiful monuments in our neighbourhood marked the grief and pride experienced by local communities at the tragic loss of so many young lives
Walk Report: The Glebe Estate – St Phillips and Bishopthorpe
Posted on 1st July 2024
Max Solling led Glebe Society Walks fifty years ago to raise awareness of the Glebe Estate’s significance. A successful campaign resulted in the protection of the Estate by the Whitlam government. Max led another fascinating Walk of the Glebe Estate in May this year.
More green time, less screen time – better health outcomes
Posted on 1st July 2024
The Society’s 8th biodiversity lecture in May was an informative and entertaining lecture entitled Regenerative Cities and Flourishing Communities: why more trees might mean less loneliness and better health by Professor Thomas Astell-Burt. He shared his knowledge and enthusiasm for the importance of nature and well-designed green space for improving the health of the world’s city-dwellers.
Max Solling’s 2024 Anzac Day address, Part 2
Posted on 1st July 2024
In this second extract from his 2024 Anzac Day address, Max Solling looks behind the public commemoration of WWI dead to the private grief of the many Glebe women who lost sons, brothers and husbands. As the bodies of WWI war dead were rarely repatriated, Glebe’s War Memorial in Foley Park became the focal point for remembrance and processing grief.
Indigenous Australians and the First World War
Posted on 29th May 2024
This article is the first of three drawn from Max Solling’s moving address at the 2024 Anzac Day ceremony at the Glebe War Memorial. Between 1,000 and 1,500 Indigenous Australians served in the AIF where they were accepted without prejudice, but on their return to civilian life were denied full citizenship rights. Their experience is personalised by tracing the service of some of them.
A wonderful Walk completed: Radical Glebe
Posted on 1st May 2024
A repeat of the ‘Radical Glebe’ walk was held on the 14th of April. Glebe and the walk’s guides are distinguished by the breadth of their political and social activism and the longevity of their involvement spanning many decades. The walk highlighted how much of this activism originated in Glebe.
Walk Report: Glebe’s Late Victorian Streetscapes
Posted on 1st May 2024
The first of three Glebe Society Guided Walks inspired by people and events 50 years ago is described. The walk, in April, explored the streetscapes of the Toxteth Heritage Conservation Area, an area now recognised for its historic and architectural significance and commemorated in the book by Bernard and Kate Smith, ‘The Architectural Character of Glebe’.
Anzac Day Service 2024
Posted on 27th April 2024
Upwards of 150 people attended the Anzac Day service at the Glebe War Memorial on Anzac Day morning. Here is a report of the proceedings and some images of the attendees.
Max Solling’s 2024 Anzac Day address
Posted on 26th April 2024
Glebe historian, Max Solling’s 2024 Anzac Day address touching on war memorials, Indigenous Australians in the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and the women of Glebe.
Glebe Society Guided Walks 2024
Posted on 28th February 2024
Details about the Guided Walks for 2024. A great way to see and learn about Glebe. The year 1974 was a big one for Glebe: the Whitlam government bought the Glebe Estate, protecting it from demolition, and local activists established Australia’s first women’s refuge, Elsie. Each of these events is recognised in upcoming Guided Walks.
