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Punchbowl is a
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
in the south west of
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, South-West of the
Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...
, in the
local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
of the
City of Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown Council, trading as the City of Canterbury Bankstown and stylised as CBCity, is a Local government areas of New South Wales, local government area in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Th ...
, in the
state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...
of
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. At the , Punchbowl had a population of .


History

Punchbowl is named for a circular valley, called "the punchbowl", which is actually located in the nearby suburb of Belfield at the intersection of Coronation Parade, Georges River and Punchbowl Roads. This feature gave its name to "Punch Bowl Road" (now Punchbowl Road). In the 1830s, an inn built by George Faulkener, close to the corner of Liverpool Road, was called the ''Punch and Bowl''. John Stephens had a property there in the 1830s and his son is mentioned in the Wells Gazetteer in 1848, "Clairville or Punchbowl, in the Parishes of St George and Bankstown, is the property of Sir Alfred Stephens". When a railway station opened on this road in 1909, away from the 'punch bowl' itself, the surrounding suburb came to be known as Punchbowl. In the 1920s and 1930s, Punchbowl was a higher-class suburb, with a number of popular theatres that were closed down or demolished thirty years later. The Punchbowl Astoria opened on 17 July 1935 with seating for 915 persons. The final programme was shown on 4 February 1959. The Astoria was eventually gutted and refitted as a three-storey office building. The Punchbowl Regent was situated on the corner of The Boulevarde and Matthews Street. Operated by Enterprise Theatres Ltd, the Regent opened on Saturday 24 May 1923, showing ''The White Rose''. It was a large cinema with seating for 1,287 patrons. The last programme was shown on 4 February 1959. The Regent was demolished in August 1964 and replaced by a block of shops. The Punchbowl Maintenance Depot was closed to the storage of electric trains in 1995. Until 1987,
Roselands Roselands is a suburb to the south-western Sydney, south-west of the Sydney CBD, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Roselands is located 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the City of Canterbury-Banksto ...
was a neighbourhood within Punchbowl, though they still share the same postcode today (2196).


Commercial area

Punchbowl has a relatively small shopping centre, although the selection is diverse. It thrived until the advent of
Roselands Shopping Centre Roselands Shopping Centre (previously known as Centro Roselands) is a shopping centre in the suburb of Roselands in South Western Sydney. Transport Roselands Shopping Centre has bus connections to Greater Western Sydney, Inner West, St George ...
and Bankstown Square in the late 1960s and its bisection by the upgrading of Punchbowl Road in the 1970s. It is centred on Punchbowl railway station, along The Boulevarde and Punchbowl Road. Local businesses and clubs reflect the diversity of the population. Punchbowl RSL was located on The Boulevarde until it closed in 2010 and The Mirage Hotel is on Punchbowl Road. Lebanese cuisine is well regarded in the suburb, to the extent that culinary walking tours of Punchbowl sell out months ahead. There are a number of Lebanese sweet shops in the suburb. In 2009, a gym opened at the Astoria theatre site. For many years, Jack Walsh International Cycles, on Punchbowl Road, was one of the longest-serving shops in Punchbowl. It had been selling and repairing bicycles for over 60 years, until December 2007 when Walsh was unable to continue the business. In December 2013 a new shopping centre, "The Broadway Plaza", was opened in Punchbowl "Broadway" near its train station. It comprises two levels of retail stores including Woolworths and Chemist Warehouse. The Plaza is surrounded by a complex of seven blocks of new apartments.


Transport

Canterbury Road and Punchbowl Road provide the major road links into the suburb. The Boulevarde and South Terrace are also main roads. Punchbowl railway station is located on the Bankstown line of the
Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the brand name and operator of Railways in Sydney, suburban and intercity train services in and around Greater Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The metropolitan part of the network is a hybrid urban rail, urban-suburban r ...
network. The line was opened in 1895 and electrified in 1926. The station was closed on 30 September 2024 to allow for the line to be converted to Sydney Metro standards; the Metro trains will subsequently serve the rebranded
Metro North West & Bankstown Line The Metro North West & Bankstown Line (numbered M1) is a rapid transit line, rapid transit rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The first and currently only line on the Sydney Metro network, it commenced operation on 26 May 2019, o ...
. The Punchbowl Road railway bridge replaced an old two-lane bridge in 1981. The foundations of the old bridge can still be seen west of the current one. The new bridge greatly aided traffic flow through the area but at the cost of effectively cutting the shopping centre in half.


Housing

Punchbowl is a mainly residential suburb. Much of the suburb was developed in the late 19th century and early 20th century, especially after the railway line to Bankstown was built. The suburb features a mixture of
Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
,
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
and contemporary homes. Parts of Punchbowl have been redeveloped since the turn of the 21st century, with flats,
townhouses A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residenc ...
and modern detached houses built.


Schools

* Punchbowl Boys High School in Kelly Street, was established in 1955. ** The school produced two Australian
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
fast bowlers, Len Pascoe and Jeff Thomson. * Punchbowl Public School is located on Canterbury Road. * Saint Charbel's College is located on Highclere Avenue. * Saint Jeromes Catholic Primary School is located on Rossmore Avenue,


Demographics

The first Europeans in the area were
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
and Irish settlers in the 19th century. By the mid-20th century, the suburb had absorbed many migrants of
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
and
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
origin. From the mid-1970s, Punchbowl became a very popular location with migrants from
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
. At the , there were 21,384 people in Punchbowl. 45.0% of people were born in Australia; The next most common other countries of birth were
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
12.3%,
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
5.4%,
Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
3.0%,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
2.8% and
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
2.7%. The most common reported ancestries were Lebanese 26.9%,
Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...
12.0%, Chinese 6.8%, Vietnamese 6.8% and English 6.7%. 22.3% of people only spoke English at home; other languages spoken at home included
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
33.7%, Vietnamese 6.9%,
Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
4.0%, Bengali 3.9% and
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
3.4%. The most common responses for religion were
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
38.4%,
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
22.6%, No Religion 9.6% and
Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
7.2%; a further 8.4% of people elected not to disclose their religion.


Notable residents

* Lex Banning (1921–1965), poet *
Mark Bouris Mark Leigh Bouris (born 30 November 1960) is an Australian businessman who is best known as the founder and chairman of Wizard Home Loans, Australia's second largest non-bank mortgage loan, mortgage lender behind Aussie Home Loans. He is now t ...
, businessman *
Al Lawrence (distance runner) Allan Cleave Evan Lawrence (9 July 1930 – 15 May 2017) was an Australian long-distance runner. He won a bronze medal for Australia in the 1956 Summer Olympics. Lawrence was born in the Sydney suburb of Punchbowl. He competed for Australia in ...
, athlete * Akmal Saleh, comedian * Vince Sorrenti, comedian * Paul Zammit, politician * The
Hard-Ons The Hard-Ons are an Australian punk rock band, that formed in 1982 in Punchbowl, New South Wales. Its founding members were Keish de Silva on lead vocals and drums, Peter "Blackie" Black on guitar and backing vocals, and Ray Ahn on bass guita ...
, a punk rock band


Fictional characters

* Trent from Punchy


In popular culture

* Punchbowl has featured in several Australian books including the satirical '' They're a Weird Mob'' by "Nino Culotta" (a nom de plume of John O'Grady), which was made into a feature film of the same name. The Mirage Hotel was referred to in the film as "the bloodhouse". * The film '' The FJ Holden'' (1977) featured several locations in Punchbowl including the Sundowner Hotel on the corner of Punchbowl and Canterbury Roads, a popular pub and band venue until the licence was sold. The buildings served as a Croatian Club until a new club was built. * The television drama series '' Dangerous'' was set in and around Punchbowl. * YouTube celebrity Trent from Punchy is a fictional character portrayed by Nicholas Boshier. The character's name is derived from his claim to be from Punchbowl.


See also

* Sydney punchbowls


References


External links

* {{City of Canterbury-Bankstown topics, state=collapsed City of Canterbury-Bankstown Suburbs of Sydney