The Canberra Tradesmen’s Union Club, Badham Street, Dickson 1964. Photo: Supplied.
When Ainslie Primary School was looking for help to support two scholarships for its violin program 12 years ago, The Tradies club at Dickson was the first group approached.
CEO, the late Rob Docker, had no hesitation in providing funding assistance for two young students who would otherwise not have been able to join the program.
It was the same when Dickson Swimming Club, Majura Football Club, and any other community sporting or cultural organisation for that matter, came calling. Many of the beneficiaries probably had no idea of the help provided by The Tradies over the past 60 years.
This penny farthing once featured at The Tradies as part of the bike museum. Photo: Supplied.
Others have vivid memories of lining up in the cold, in a queue sometimes stretched around the block, to secure holiday accommodation owned by The Tradies. At one stage the club had 76 units covering Australia’s coastline from the Gold Coast to Adelaide. It became a way of life for many Canberrans to enjoy their summer holidays in beachside units owned by The Tradies.
More recently there are memories of dining in trams in the club bistro or being greeted at the front entrance by a penny farthing, reflecting the cycling passion of then CEO, Rod Driver.
The club has evolved alongside the community it so effectively serves. The penny farthing is no longer front and centre and just one tram remains as a reminder of the past.
One of the trams moved to The Tradies, Dickson. Photo: Supplied.
The support provided to the Inner North community through a range of functions catering for families, seniors, youth and the workers remains as it has from the club’s foundation days.
While acknowledging the evolution to a modern-day club, it’s worth paying homage to the foresight of a group of construction union members to go out on a limb to establish a meeting place – the Canberra Tradesmen’s Union Club – to provide food and beverages at affordable prices.
That was 1964, the same year the then outer Canberra suburbs of Dickson, Downer and Watson were established. Scrivener Dam was completed the same year.
The trams were a feature of The Tradies at Dickson for many years. Photo: Supplied.
As documented in Phil Lynch’s excellent publication looking at the first 50 years of The Tradies, the only infrastructure in Dickson at the time was the Telecom Depot and weigh bridge in Cape Street.
Forty years before the Canberra Tradesmen’s Union Club, or Dickson, Watson, Downer, even Lake Burley Griffin existed, the area now occupied by the Dickson playing fields was an emergency airfield on the Sydney to Adelaide route. It served as an airport of sorts before it closed in 1928 when the airfield relocated to Fairbairn.
The area has witnessed considerable change over the years. But as Canberra’s Inner North continues to transform, The Tradies is a constant. And it remains committed to the community it serves.
Construction of the Canberra Tradesmen’s Union Club (now The Tradies) in 1964. Photo: Supplied.
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