Learning Works specials

Coming to CRN in September 2014 is a series of four documentary/feature programs from the archives of Learning Works, produced and presented by Tony Ryan of PBA-FM.

These Learning Works specials will play on CRN on Fridays in September from 13:04 to 13:32 EST, filling the weeks between the end of the series In Search of a Good Death and Tony Ryan's new series Creative Male Ageing.

Contact CRN for access to files for delayed broadcast - [email protected] / 02 9310 2999.

Friday 5 September - Steaming from Central

As today’s electric trains from Sydney Airport emerge from underground close to Central Station, on your left you will see an old building that looks just like a church. But no, it is Sydney’s historic Mortuary Station – where for over 70 years, and amidst clouds of smoke, trains departed - with coffins and mourners on board – on the 17-kilometre journey to Rookwood Cemetery – the largest cemetery in the southern hemisphere.

We hear about Sydney’s Mortuary Station and also about a similar railway station in Rookwood Cemetery that was demolished in 1957 and is now a historic church in Canberra. PBA FM’s Tony Ryan speaks with John Oakes from the Australian Railways Historical Society. (First broadcast in 2008)

Our second iconic steam-era landmark not far from Central Station is the Eveleigh Workshops complex, for over 100 years, the massive main railway workshop for the NSW Government Railways. Day and night, it was a satanic-like scene of massive steam engines and carriages being built or readied for the day’s travel, accompanied by much noise and shunting, roaring fires and smoke, and soot everywhere. Adelaide film director and author John J McGowan talks about the fascinating link between the Eveleigh Workshops in the late 19^th century, and The Railway Man, Hollywood’s first Australian film director.

Image: After over 70 years of service, this Mortuary Station in Rockwood Cemetary was demolished in the late 1950s and is now a beautiful church in the Canberra suburb of Ainsley.

Friday 12 September - Walk in the Garden

So what happens when an active and passionate broadcaster retires? One answer of course is to remain active, and find something else to be passionate about. For many years, Laine Langridge was Program Manager at 5UV (Radio Adelaide). In this award-winning program from the Learning Works archives, join volunteer Laine Langridge in a gentle exploration of the Adelaide Botanic Garden. She also talks about a fascinating link between some of Mozart’s music and the Adelaide Botanic Garden. As Laine says, “Who wouldn’t enjoy coming here? (First broadcast in 2007).

Friday 19 September - The Spanish Flu of 1919

Based on his own family history, Tony Ryan discovers more about the grandfather he never knew – Charles Leo Kerin. As soldiers returned to Australia at the end of World War One, some brought with them the dreaded Spanish Flu. Estimates of people killed worldwide by this pandemic exceed 60 million! As a railway worker, Charles Leo Kerin did not go to WW1, but his essential work at Cooma Railway Station in southern NSW brought him into contact with returning soldiers.

In this program, we hear from family member Kathleen Woodgate who, in July 1919 and at the young age of 20, went to Cooma to be quarantined for several weeks with the Kerin family, following the death of Charles and one of his infant daughters – like many others who died at this time, both are buried in unmarked graves. We also hear from Professor Chris Burrell from The University of Adelaide about the rapid spread of this pandemic in Europe and the terrible consequences for Australia in 1919. (First broadcast in 2007)  

Friday 26 September - The Hans Heysen Story

Most Australians are familiar with the legendary paintings of Australian gum trees in South Australia, by Sir Hans Heysen. From an early age, he fell in love with the Adelaide Hills – the inspiration for some of his very early works. Following some years in Europe and then after his marriage in Adelaide to Selma (Sally) Bartels, in 1929 Hans Heysen purchased The Cedars, a rural property close to Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills.

Today on location, we hear from Alan Campbell, present day Curator at The Cedars, and we also hear from Exhibition Curator Rebecca Andrews as she took Tony Ryan around an exhibition of the works of Sir Hans Heysen at the Art Gallery of South Australia. (First broadcast in 2009)

From Friday 3 October - new series Creative Male Ageing - read more here.