{"id":1519,"date":"2023-02-17T07:47:13","date_gmt":"2023-02-17T07:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/?p=1519"},"modified":"2023-04-15T03:49:48","modified_gmt":"2023-04-15T03:49:48","slug":"the-basket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/2023\/02\/the-basket\/","title":{"rendered":"The Basket"},"content":{"rendered":"
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J. H. Howarth, Passenger transfer by basket for the SS Orara at the Jetty, 1920 (1920). Coffs Collections, https:\/\/coffs.recollect.net.au\/nodes\/view\/45570<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A poem, by Rosemary Nisted<\/p>\n

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Once upon a time Coffs Harbour Jetty had a track.\r\nIt bore a little crane that trundled out and trundled back.\r\nWhen little ships came sailing to Coffs from Sydney town    \r\nThe crane was used in every case to set the cargo down.\r\nIt carried food and barrels and drums tied in a net,\r\nThough for transferring humans they'd thought of nothing yet.\r\nIt swung cattle though, and horses, suspended in a sling.\r\nIt carried pigs and sheep I'm told, and every living thing,\r\nAnd in return it loaded ships with timber tied with chain.\r\nBut that people could not go that way was obviously plain.\r\nYes. Humans were a problem. They were fussy as could be,\r\nThey feared the nets and slings and chains might drop them in the sea.\r\n(though most young men and children thought the sling might be good fun,the ladies knew to travel thus was simply never done.)\r\n\r\nUntil one day a weaver cried 'I have a bright idea\r\nI'll weave a sturdy basket, it will work well, never fear.'\r\nAnd so he did. And so it did. And all were happy as you please\r\nTo be picked up and swung across the gap of raging seas.\r\nSo then each Sunday afternoon folk came from far and wide\r\nTo see the doughty travellers taking their basket ride.\r\nThe crane, to give the kids a thrill, was friendly as could be.\r\nIt would put them in a basket and dip them in the sea.\r\nThe lighthouse keepers too were glad to see that basket come,\r\nFor food and fuel and visitors from ship to shore were slung.\r\nSpare parts and books and cleaning cloths, and tools and boots and more,\r\nSwung in that sturdy basket across the rocky shore.\r\nAnd so it was through two world wars, through fifty years no less,\r\nThe basket swung both to and fro. It was a great success.\r\nUntil at last, the travellers used cars, and rail and plane,\r\nAnd put an end to steamer ships - they never came again.<\/pre>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Written in August 2000; published\u00a0 in the Coffs Coast Advocate, 6 March 2001, p.12<\/p>\n
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Percy Crook, The SS Orara II disembarking passengers by basket at Coffs Jetty, 1908 (1908). Coffs Collections, https:\/\/coffs.recollect.net.au\/nodes\/view\/45589<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A poem, by Rosemary Nisted Once upon a time Coffs Harbour Jetty had a track. It bore a little crane that trundled out and trundled back. When little ships came sailing to Coffs from Sydney town The crane was used in every case to set the cargo down. It carried food and barrels and drums … Continue reading “The Basket”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1519"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1550,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519\/revisions\/1550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}