Historic Hero of Waterloo pub at The Rocks celebrates 170th birthday
It is an ode to Australia's Colonial past. When you enter the doors of the historic Hero of Waterloo pub, in The Rocks, it is akin to entering a time warp.
The Hero, as the locals know it, celebrates its 170th birthday on Thursday, and little has changed since those rambunctious days.
It is one of Sydney's oldest pubs and could lay claim to being the oldest continually licensed pub on the same premises.
Reminders of The Hero's notorious past are everywhere.
The downstairs cellars still have shackles on the walls and a smugglers tunnel used to run from there to the harbour.
According to legend, sink too many schooners, and there was every possibility that you'd wake up on a ship, embarking on a non-negotiable career as a man-of-the-seas.
Kazuko Nelson owns and runs The Hero, which was bought at auction 25 years ago by her late husband, Ivan Nelson, who passed away in January.
Hero of Waterloo licensee Kazuko Nelson shows tunnels and secret parts of the pub. She is pictured in the Basement function room.
The Hero was one of his great passions and Kazuko is determined to keep the flame alive.
"My husband came from a financial background, but he always liked really historic buildings,'' Mrs Nelson said. "I'd love all the Australian people to know that the 170th birthday is very special for this country.
"This building is such a strong link to Australia's history and I feel that I have a lot of responsibility to this country, to tell the story.''
During the last 25 years, changes have transformed The Hero's service and quality, but the history continues to drip from its original sandstone walls.
"I want to maintain exactly how it looks, the bar and inside,'' Mrs Nelson said. "I wouldn't modernise it, because of my loyalty to Australian history and my loyalty to my husband's wishes.''
Beneath The Hero's original exterior, there is a modern twist. The Hero has the largest cool room of any pub in Sydney, hidden below the original timber floors.
A shackle still bolted to the wall at the Hero of Waterloo pub at the Rocks.
That, Mrs Nelson said, is where the modernisation ends.
"They started to build here in 1815 and it was completed in 1843. Of course they didn't have the technology for a cool room back then, but Tooheys helped us set one up.
"When we took it over, it was a very run down pub. We've done a lot of work on the timber floors and windows, but we have kept them looking as they were originally. I don't want to change the way it looks; I want to keep this place as Australia's No. 1 historical pub.''
When you enter the doors of the historic Hero of Waterloo pub, in The Rocks, it is akin to entering a time warp.
The Hero, as the locals know it, celebrates its 170th birthday on September 5, and little has changed since those rambunctious days.
It is one of Sydney's oldest pubs and could lay claim to being the oldest continually licensed pub on the same premises.
David Bancroft has enjoyed an ale at the pub since 1966.
Reminders of The Hero's notorious past are everywhere.
The downstairs cellars still have shackles on the walls and a smugglers tunnel used to run from there to the harbour.
According to legend, sink too many schooners, and there was every possibility that you'd wake up on a ship, embarking on a non-negotiable career as a man-of-the-seas.
Kazuko Nelson owns and runs The Hero, which was bought at auction 25 years ago by her late husband, Ivan Nelson, who passed away in January.
The Hero was one of his great passions and Kazuko is determined to keep the flame alive.
"My husband came from a financial background, but he always liked really historic buildings," Mrs. Nelson said.
"I'd love all the Australian people to know that the 170th birthday is very special for this country.
"This building is such a strong link to Australia's history and I feel that I have a lot of responsibility to this country, to tell the story."
An undated illustration of the Hero of Waterloo pub.
During the last 25 years, changes have transformed The Hero's service and quality, but the history continues to drip from its original sandstone walls.
"I want to maintain exactly how it looks, the bar and inside," Mrs. Nelson said.
"I wouldn't modernise it, because of my loyalty to Australian history and my loyalty to my husband's wishes."
Beneath The Hero's original exterior, there is a modern twist. The Hero has the largest cool room of any pub in Sydney, hidden below the original timber floors.
That, Mrs. Nelson said, is where the modernisation ends.
"They started to build here in 1815 and it was completed in 1843. Of course they didn't have the technology for a cool room back then, but Tooheys helped us set one up.
"When we took it over, it was a very run down pub. We've done a lot of work on the timber floors and windows, but we have kept them looking as they were originally.
"I don't want to change the way it looks; I want to keep this place as Australia's number one historical pub."
Source: The Herald Sun, 31 August 2013
