Sarah Peninton Reserve

Women played an important role in the three branches of the Labor Party that Glebe supported during the first half of the twentieth century, but as with other parties they rarely achieved public office (only two were elected, and Sarah wasn’t one of them). Sarah Peninton was prominent in the Glebe Branch during the 1930s, and was one of a number of female Labor stalwarts to be commemorated in this way.

The playground is at the base of a cliff recently reinforced to ensure its stability. At the top is the row of houses accessible only from a footpath, now called Keegan Avenue after the State Member for Glebe, 1910-35, but previously, and more logically, called Grant Place after a stonemason. Running beside the playground is Bayview Street, which has not enjoyed views of Blackwattle Bay since industry established itself there in the late 19th century. There are currently two major industrial zones in Glebe, both of them of long standing, and on this walk we will see all of this one (the other is along Parramatta Road). Both have survived because they are on busy roads and some distance from housing.

The cliff face is man-made and is probably the highwall of a former quarry. The exposed rock (Hawkesbury Sandstone) is both massive and cross bedded and shows prominent vertical jointing at the northern end of the reserve. Some of the jointing is so closely spaced that rock bolting has been carried out to ensure stability. At the southern end of the reserve there is an excellent example of thick cross bedding, with foreset dips to the south-east.