My suburb was meant to be the Toorak of the north but our reputation took a nefarious turn

My suburb’s story is one of what might have been. Just 13 kilometres from the city, it was once thought that Glenroy might become the Toorak of the north. Elevated and with clear air, it’s almost the perfect place to live, even if a ranking of Melbourne’s suburbs from not so long ago listed it at a lowly 184th place.

Steven Carroll, author of the Art of the Engine Driver series of books that fictionalised a 1950s Glenroy, recalled in 2001 how any mention of the suburb would create fear in taxi drivers, many of whom had to be tricked into driving past Pascoe Vale. He said that when he arrived at university, any discussion of his origins on Melbourne’s northern fringes with fellow students had been met with awkward silence.

But Glenroy isn’t that bad; just ask a Glenruffian. We have had a past that’s hard to forget, as well as some more recent crimes and tobacco shop fires, but Justin Avenue isn’t feared today as it once was. And, yes, it’s true that we locals prefer to describe our suburb as north of Essendon and not south of Broadmeadows, but which suburb isn’t guilty of some snobbishness?

Glenroy’s wealthy promoters, who included MP Frank Stuart, had grand plans in the 1880s that it might become a most fashionable and populous suburb which could match the magnificence of the south-east. The Travelling Contributor writing in the North Melbourne Advertiser in 1888 described Glenroy as one of the “beauty spots of Melbourne”. He extolled the features of the area with its newly constructed mansions (a few of which remain to this day), saying the rail trip was more pleasurable than the Brighton line, featuring an entrancing landscape of cosy cottages and snug farmhouses. But it turns out this praise was motivated entirely by upcoming land sales.

The sales of 1888 didn’t reach the expectations of the Glenroy Land Company, and with world wars and depressions, the dream of a Toorak of the north didn’t materialise. The splendid isolation of the semi-rural area came to an end in the 1950s when the Housing Commission built thousands of homes on the suburb’s northern boundary to accommodate waves of migrants and others experiencing the housing shortage of the post-war years.

After that period of rapid growth, Glenroy marked the edge of the urban fringe. To the north of the shopping centre, only the Broady town hall stood among paddocks of thistles. And it was so when my family settled here in 1970 after I’d spent a stint teaching in the bush. In those days, it had everything we needed.

Today, Glenroy is a busy business precinct in Merri-bek, providing for the needs of a multicultural community that is well-served by the Craigieburn rail line, now thankfully underground at Glenroy, and for some, the Upfield line, although there are never enough trains. And we’re still not favoured by some taxi drivers, though these days it’s because Glenroy is only a short trip from Tullamarine Airport.

Once you get away from the busy Pascoe Vale Road (the old Sydney Road) Glenroy doesn’t have the hustle and bustle of Melbourne’s inner north. It has even become somewhat gentrified recently, as many of the Housing Commission homes have been replaced with modern townhouses. It is well-served with quality schools, which is a welcome change from the 1960s when they were overcrowded and rated among the most disadvantaged in Melbourne.

Glenroy is divided in two by the railway line, a plateau to the east and the valley of Moonee Ponds Creek to the west, offering views of Essendon Airport and the 100-year-old trestle bridge to allow freight to bypass one of Victoria’s steepest rail inclines up from Pascoe Vale. We almost bought a house in Valley Crescent in 1970 but decided against a sloping block. However, Glenroy has some great views of the city, especially from Chapman Avenue.

Northern Golf Club, which once hosted the great Arnold Palmer on its championship course, has been rightly described as the lungs of Merri-bek, with more than 1000 Murray River red gums. The oasis of green must contain most of Merri-bek’s trees, and its boundary together with West Street has become the Tan of the north with an endless stream of walkers who have numerous choices of coffee stops along the way. There are more of those magnificent gums at the Northern Memorial Park.

Dairy Queen, unrelated to the American chain, is a popular meeting place on Pascoe Vale Road that has been in the area since 1956. Nearby family business A.E. Gibson Real Estate boasts that it is Victoria’s longest-running business name in continuous use. We have a Post Office Place without a post office and a shopping centre that was the brainchild of an active Glenroy Chamber of Commerce, which bought up neighbouring properties in the 1960s for parking before the concept of shopping centres. There are no pubs in Glenroy but a welcoming RSL and, recently, the Nepalese community introduced their cuisine to the strong sub-continental offerings in the area.

Glenroy has a strong sense of community that includes Rotary and Lions Clubs and numerous sporting organisations. Glenroy Football Club has played on Sewell Reserve since the 1940s and Roys home matches always attract a crowd. Sadly, my once-thriving tennis club has closed and the courts are locked up, but the bowls club still survives. Land trimmed from the golf club driving range has been repurposed for a skate park, basketball courts and a recently opened dog park. It has become a festival site and a pleasant picnic area. The library has been relocated to the former Glenroy Primary School grounds and is now a new centre for Glenroy. The Hub, as it’s known, provides a great community service.

Frank Stuart would be chuffed that his mansion, Alanbrae, still survives even if his vision of a Toorak of the north didn’t succeed. Glenroy can’t match Toorak, but is nevertheless a great ’burb to call home.

Michael Church has been a Glenroy resident since 1970. He has taught at nearby schools, is a local historian and enjoys golf at Northern.

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