When you work in an environment, day in
day out, it is easy to take your surroundings for granted even in the unusual historical
setting of our own K and L sheds at The Queen Victoria Market. But this is one
environment that deserves to be respected.
Our building is from another
era with its heavy steel girders, and rivetted cross braces, arches, and supports. When you
are concentrating on earning a living from the market, the structure might take
a back seat although it is obviously important as a weather protector and a
location point for many of our shop fittings. And it gets pretty rough
treatment as we go through the process of setting up and packing up our stalls
each day – forklifts, storage boxes, shop fittings, vehicles and even simple
things like ropes, tapes and hooks all take their toll on the structure.
K & L Sheds were constructed in 1923
and you might notice a name on some of the posts –
Hand driven rivets were a very robust
part of steel construction and they were used in various industries including
ship building. Rivets were heated in a furnace adjacent to the work site,
quickly inserted in pre-drilled holes and then flattened with hydraulic rams to
secure the joint. It was time consuming work requiring skilled labour.
Dorman Long at the time were a
universal guarantee of quality in steel manufacture and fabrication. This might
explain why our sheds have survived so well. In today’s throw-away society that
longevity is rare. So the next time you see a trader or their worker bashing
fittings against some of our 90 year old steelwork, give them a tap on the
shoulder and suggest they treat the old girl with some respect. This is an historic place and we want to get
another 500 or so years out of her.
Thank you to Tim Moore for inspiring this story.
