From identifying whales to finding long-lost cousins, the Bass Coast Post sometimes works in mysterious ways. Photo: Wonthaggi Historical Society
By Catherine Watson
TIM Shannon, a distinguished architect, wrote his first essay for the Post in 2014 and became a regular writer over the next few years.
Most of his essays were related to architecture but they were nothing to do with stresses and trusses and Corbusian style. What Tim really wanted to talk about was delight – the idea that some feature of a building, however humble, could give real pleasure to humans.
TIM Shannon, a distinguished architect, wrote his first essay for the Post in 2014 and became a regular writer over the next few years.
Most of his essays were related to architecture but they were nothing to do with stresses and trusses and Corbusian style. What Tim really wanted to talk about was delight – the idea that some feature of a building, however humble, could give real pleasure to humans.
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Readers' comments reassured me that I wasn't the only one interested in the ideas he expressed in a field of which I knew little.
Tim's series on architecture, which he called In Search of Delight, became the basis of a design studio for architecture students that he ran at Melbourne University in 2016. And now it has been published as a limited edition, beautifully bound and presented book, An Architect’s Story, a source of delight if ever there was one. |
Finding my island
Feb 3, 2026 - A long relationship with Phillip Island has provided the balance in a sometimes stressful architectural life, writes Tim Shannon. |
Last weekend I was invited to the book launch at Jimmy Watson’s in Carlton, where I expected to be the odd one out amongst Tim’s learned colleagues from the worlds of architecture and academia.
Instead I found myself talking to Philip Heath and Bryony Cosgrove, from Inverloch. It turns out Bryony edited Tim’s book. Small world indeed! The jolly crowd also included a smattering of Phillip Islanders, because Tim and his wife Jill have long holidayed on the island.
At the launch Tim gave generous acknowledgement of the Post’s role. I felt a little proud to be associated with such an elegant enterprise. Driving home, I started thinking of some of the unintended consequences of the Post. You never know who might read a Post story and where it might lead.
Many of the queries I receive relate to historical matters and I forward them to the various historical societies around Bass Coast.
In 2024 Professor Trevor Branch from the School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences at the University of Washington wrote to the Post to find out more about our famous whale, the one that washed up on the Harmers beach in 1923 and whose jawbones mark the entrance to the Wonthaggi Hotel.
Professor Branch wanted to know what species our whale was as he was researching historical records of strandings of baleen whales around the world.
I forwarded his inquiry to Mark Robertson at the Wonthaggi Historical Society. Mark sent him photos and records. We had always thought ours was a Pygmy Blue Whale but thanks to the prof, we now know it was a Fin Whale.
Other queries take a more personal turn. I’m often asked to pass messages on to Post writers. No debt collectors or jilted lovers so far, as far as I know, just old friends and colleagues who’ve changed email addresses or phone numbers along the way and lost touch.
Instead I found myself talking to Philip Heath and Bryony Cosgrove, from Inverloch. It turns out Bryony edited Tim’s book. Small world indeed! The jolly crowd also included a smattering of Phillip Islanders, because Tim and his wife Jill have long holidayed on the island.
At the launch Tim gave generous acknowledgement of the Post’s role. I felt a little proud to be associated with such an elegant enterprise. Driving home, I started thinking of some of the unintended consequences of the Post. You never know who might read a Post story and where it might lead.
Many of the queries I receive relate to historical matters and I forward them to the various historical societies around Bass Coast.
In 2024 Professor Trevor Branch from the School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences at the University of Washington wrote to the Post to find out more about our famous whale, the one that washed up on the Harmers beach in 1923 and whose jawbones mark the entrance to the Wonthaggi Hotel.
Professor Branch wanted to know what species our whale was as he was researching historical records of strandings of baleen whales around the world.
I forwarded his inquiry to Mark Robertson at the Wonthaggi Historical Society. Mark sent him photos and records. We had always thought ours was a Pygmy Blue Whale but thanks to the prof, we now know it was a Fin Whale.
Other queries take a more personal turn. I’m often asked to pass messages on to Post writers. No debt collectors or jilted lovers so far, as far as I know, just old friends and colleagues who’ve changed email addresses or phone numbers along the way and lost touch.
“The Post has gifted me some quite unexpected and wonderful encounters over the years." |
Several of these messages have gone to Linda Cuttriss, a Post regular since 2013. Through them she has caught up with old school friends and learned more about her grandfather’s early years.
“The Post has gifted me some quite unexpected and wonderful encounters over the years,” she writes.
“One afternoon a few weeks ago a message from the Post turned out to be the best news ever. As usual I took my time to process it as you can never be too careful these days. There were enough keywords to make me feel it was genuine and as I was considering how to respond, it suddenly hit me that this could be my long-lost cousin who’d been adopted at birth.
“Beside myself with excitement I picked up the phone and called straight away. Yes, it was true. All these years he’d been living only 2 hours away. Within a week or so my brother John and I met our cousin Barrie and his family. What a lovely man. I will never forget that first big hug.
“We speak on the phone and are meeting up again in a couple of weeks. Other cousins are eager to meet him too and he is now planning a trip with his wife to visit them and to meet our only surviving aunty now aged 92.”
That made my day!
“The Post has gifted me some quite unexpected and wonderful encounters over the years,” she writes.
“One afternoon a few weeks ago a message from the Post turned out to be the best news ever. As usual I took my time to process it as you can never be too careful these days. There were enough keywords to make me feel it was genuine and as I was considering how to respond, it suddenly hit me that this could be my long-lost cousin who’d been adopted at birth.
“Beside myself with excitement I picked up the phone and called straight away. Yes, it was true. All these years he’d been living only 2 hours away. Within a week or so my brother John and I met our cousin Barrie and his family. What a lovely man. I will never forget that first big hug.
“We speak on the phone and are meeting up again in a couple of weeks. Other cousins are eager to meet him too and he is now planning a trip with his wife to visit them and to meet our only surviving aunty now aged 92.”
That made my day!