1913

Tearooms and skating rinks

The stalls on the beach transformed into permanent tearooms offering refreshments and dancing.

In September 1913 Miss Tessa Donovan’s Indiana Tea House opened on the north side of the jetty entrance. In 1914 Mr and Mrs Lowick opened their Ocean Tea Rooms on the south side. Miss Irene Griffin’s Surf Tea Rooms lay to the north of the Indiana just below John Street.

About 1915. A view down the jetty showing the Indiana Tea House and the bandstand in the middle of the jetty. Lowick’s Ocean Tea Rooms are hidden behind the bandstand.

Mr and Mrs  William Lowick ran the Ocean Tea Rooms opposite the Indiana Tea House. William Lowick was a member of the inaugural committee of the Cottesloe Life Saving and Athletic Club. He was remembered as having performed some brave rescues as well as dealing with sharks. Along with his sons, they became known as the “Shark Kings”. [fn] Trove: Sunday Times, 12 March 1922, p14.[/fn]

The opening of the new Hostel Manly was advertised on the 1 December 1913. Built by George Henry West on the corner opposite the Hotel Cottesloe, it was a popular family holiday destination, particularly for goldfields residents.  In summer the iron bedsteads on the verandas provided ocean views and cooling breezes and the shops on the ground floor catered to beach visitors.

When West died in 1921  the Melvin family took over and extended the Hostel to the south. It remained a popular destination for many years and was finally demolished in 1970. 

About 1914. Looking north from Mudurup Rocks with Lowick’s on the south side of the jetty. Indiana and the Surf Tea Rooms on the other side of the jetty. Behind lies the Hotel Cottesloe and Hostel Manly (Le Sands).

1913 On the headland above Mudurup Rocks a roller-skating rink and picture theatre enjoyed a brief flush of success before closing in 1914.

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