Kingsclear Books

Kingclear Books is a small but diverse Sydney based publisher. Our catalogue covers a wide spectrum from photographic histories of Sydney suburbs to health books, crime books and tourist books.

General Titles

Sydney Good Walks Guide
Sydney Good Walks Guide is now in its fourth edition. It covers all municipalities in Sydney with over 190 walks in bushland, coastlines, historic precincts and harbourside and river walks. All walks have distance, pace, time, how to get there, a map and a detailed description of the features of the walk. This book is reasonably priced at $19.95, portable and a pleasing insight into the hidden Sydney we all want to find on a Sunday afternoon.
Joan Lawrence is a walking expert having taken people on Sydney walks with the WEA for 20 years. Joan has also written many books on walks in the Rocks, Balmain, the Lower North Shore and the Eastern Suburbs.
She is the author of several histories of Sydney suburbs including St George, Pittwater, Lavender Bay to the Spit, Canterbury Bankstown and Sutherland Shire.

ISBN 978-0-908272-89-1

Illawarra: a photographic tribute
The Illawarra is 80 kilometres from Sydney. Visitors can enjoy breathtaking views from the escarpment or take the coastal drive through the Royal National Park. The new Sea Cliff Bridge is a gateway to the coastal towns of north Wollongong, rich with coal mining history. Wollongong visitors can dine at Belmore Basin and get views of the coast from Flagstaff Point. Travelling south, the town of Kiama offers accommodation in a semi-rural setting. Shellharbour is a great weekend getaway and Gerringong is lovely for camping, fishing and walking. Illawarra: a photographic tribute is 64 pages, full colour with 100 striking images by local photographer Dee Kramer. RRP is $12.95.
ISBN 978-0-908272-91-4

North Under Steam *NEW* A finely illustrated account of the closing chapter of Government steam operations in northern New South Wales, with introductory reflections on key locomotives, from the much loved and ever versatile "Nannies", to the massive Beyer Garratt articulated locomotives that were greeted with scepticism but emerged as saviours.
A comprehensive collection of over 200 previously unpublished colour and black and white images portray subjects ranging from suburban passenger working, including evocative scenes of pre modern Newcastle, to parallel running on the bustling quad tracks to Maitland, the belated introduction of the "Pigs" on main north mail working, high performance locomotive 3616 at work, Werris Creek goods and wheat traffic, recall of the 59 class to the short north coast, the Newdell coal trains, Muswellbrook local traffic, and much more.
With glimpses of privately owned locomotives and latter day heritage operations, this book surveys more than 40 years of steamworking in northern New South Wales. North Under Steam is a unique archival record of a bygone era, and is a must for the railway historian, modeller and enthusiast. It makes an ideal gift for anyone with fond memories of the age of steam. North Under Steam is available direct from Kingsclear Books for $49.95 plus $5.00 postage return.
Available also at the Australian Railway Historical Society Central bookshop.
See the links page for interesting railway sites on the web.
ISBN 978-0-908272-90-7

St Vincent's Hospital 1857 - 2007 150 Years of Charity, Care and Compassion is a new pictorial history published to celebrate the sesquicentenary of St Vincent's Hospital, the first Catholic hospital in Australia. It tells the story of St Vincent's from the departure of its founders, the Sisters of Charity, from Dublin in 1838 and their mission and achievements, to the present day. With over 300 colour and black and white photographs, it is a beautifully designed and presented narrative about the Sisters of Charity, the doctors and nurses, the buildings, the patients and the medical achievements of this historic Sydney institution. It chronicles the milestones, significant events, personalities and anecdotes for each twenty five year period from 1857 to 2007.

Author Dr Anne-Maree Whitaker is a committee member of the Royal Australian Historical Society, and has written several books in the pictorial history series including Pictorial History South Sydney, and Pictorial History Marrickville. Hardback, colour and black & white, with 212 pages. $35.00 plus $5 postage (includes GST). Normal trade discounts apply.
ISBN 978-0-908272-88-4

Appin The Story of a Macquarie Town This is a fascinating overview of the history of the township from Aboriginal to modern times. Located between Bulli and Campbelltown, Appin is well known to many travellers who picnic in its park on their journey east or west. Settled by Europeans in 1811, the town retains a number of sandstone buildings from the 1840s and 1850s. It was largely agricultural, regarded for some years as the granary of NSW. Another industry was dairy farming with some mixed farming.
Appin played a significant role in supplying water for the ever growing needs of Sydney, with the construction of the picturesque Cataract Dam which was completed in 1907. The Water Board owns much of the rural catchment area surrounding Appin. Appin Colliery was one of the first mines in Australia to introduce longwall mining, and the need to reduce methane emissions from the coal seams has lead to the production of electricity as another industry. BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal mines the area extensively.
Anne-Maree Whitaker is the author of Pictorial History of South Sydney; Much Writing, Many Opinions: the making of the Royal Australian Historical Society 1901 to 2001; Joseph Foveaux: Power and Patronage in Early NSW; Distracted Settlement: New South Wales after Bligh. The book retails for $19.95.

Hunter Valley Bushwalks (currently out of print) In the famous Hunter Valley you can stand in the snow and cast your eyes to coastal sand dunes and the ocean. You can explore world class wilderness on a track that leads straight into the heart of Australia's largest city. Here you can see some of the biggest and oldest grass trees in the country. The Hunter Valley region stretches from Forster to Wiseman's Ferry, from Newcastle to the Goulburn River. It is amazing. In these 50 walks (all accompanied by maps) ranging from one hour to one month, Hunter Valley Bushwalks covers the diversity of the region.
By Greg Powell. black & white. 172 pages. $21.95 plus $5 postage (includes GST).

Wollongong's Native Trees
If you want to know any tree that is in the Wollongong district or even the surrounding areas then this is the book for you. All descriptions have photographs to accompany them and all are set out for ease of identification.
By Leon Fuller. black & white. 338 pages. $16.50 plus $5 postage (includes GST).

Happy Days The Blue Mountains Guesthouses Remembered (currently out of print)
Can you remember what those guesthouses were like when you were a child? Lots of people have heard about the Carrington and the Cleveland, but what about the California and the Clarendon? Here we go back in time to when the guesthouses were thriving and the people of Sydney would travel to the Blue Mountains and spend their holidays in one of these idyllic retreats.

By Gwen Silvey. full colour. 134 pages. A4 size. $26.50 plus $5 postage (includes GST).

Jenolan Caves When the Tourists Came
(currently out of print)
A look at how Jenolan Caves came to be a tourist destination. We see how the tourists would catch a coach to view the caves when were not lit as they are today.

By Julia Horne. black & white. 72 pages. $10.95 plus $5 postage (includes GST).

 

Guide to the Gardens of the Blue Mountains A seasonal guide to 50 gardens open to the public (currently out of print)
Shows you the best gardens to see and when to see them including a full colour photograph of each garden to make your choices easier.
By Catherine Warne. full colour. 32 pages. A4 size. $13.20 for a box of 20 plus $5 postage (includes GST).