Lost history finds loyal following

lost warrnambool — The Warrnambool Foreshore Caravan Park in the days before Winnebagos were invented. Image: Lost Warrnambool.

By Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #ABCCAB;”] P [/dropcap]reserving and, just as importantly, sharing our history is no longer only the preserve of museums, academics and a few dedicated souls prepared to pore over faded documents.

Social media has created a new kid on the old block and that is the so-called “Lost” movement, where Facebook sites have been set up for a particular city or town and people are invited to share their photographs and memories.

The Lost Melbourne Facebook page, for example, has more than 41,000 followers who contribute and comment on photographs that capture a past life in Victoria’s capitol city.

Closer to home, we are fortunate to have a Lost Warrnambool Facebook page that has almost 3ooo followers who are united in their love of nostalgia.

convent — Do you recognise this? The Warrnambool “Convent of Mercy”. Image: Lost Warrnambool.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #ABCCAB;”] T [/dropcap]he page is maintained, monitored and updated by a Warrnambool man whom we won’t name here, because he doesn’t name himself on the page, mainly because the page is not about him.

It is about us: where we come from, who we are, how we have grown, what has changed, what hasn’t.

It is a social forum, a fun forum, like a giant reunion where we share our bond to this city by the sea.

But it also involves a lot of hard work and Lost Warrnambool shares photographs that he has either purchased, been given, or been sent – and anyone who writes a blog or maintains a Facebook page knows that this all takes time.

Lost Warrnambool is creating and maintaining an important social record and opening up our history for us all to enjoy, so, for this, we consider Lost Warrnambool to be a Quiet Hero. Well done, Lost Warrnambool.

Please visit the Lost Warrnambool Facebook Page and spread the word about this wonderful site.

[box] The founder of Lost Warrnambool will receive a $20 voucher from Wyton Cellars, 127 Kepler St, Warrnambool: thankyou to Steve and Jo from Wyton Cellars for your support of our Quiet Heroes.[/box]