It’s the pub with many names and many stories, and it’s been a part of Maribyrnong life on the river for more than 150 years.
Sitting on the banks of the Maribyrnong River – once known as the Saltwater River due to the seawater that entered from Hobson’s Bay, into which it directly flowed – the Anglers was known at various times as the Anglers Arms, Anglers Rest, The Jolly Angler’s, The Bridge Angler’s and even The Bridge, the Anglers Tavern. The pub has a long and rich story.
The Anglers was built around 1870 next to a new bridge built in Raleigh Road. It was a well-known fishing spot and for many years the hotel offered boating facilities for fishermen. The hotel had access to a jetty for excursion boats to the popular Riverview Teagardens upstream.
In its early days the Anglers would have been a genial meeting spot for the industries in the area, including workers at the nearby meat preserving works, which employed about 250 people, a horse stud, a concrete pipe works, a cordite factory and an ordnance factory.
The Maribyrnong River – known as the Saltwater River until its name was changed in 1913 – was a focal point, featuring swimming carnivals, boating and fishing, all popular pastimes in Melbourne’s west. From its earliest days people were able to use boats and fishing tackle provided by the hotel. By the early 1900s the Saltwater River was a popular destination for picnicking and sailing, with people attracted to the area’s hotels, tea-rooms, cruise boats, and its open-air picture theatre.
The area around the Anglers was a popular gathering place on weekends, according to The Essendon Gazette which on 22 October 1908 reported the area attracted people with “motor boats and picnic parties”.
An earlier report in The Essendon Gazette – on 25 February 1892 – acknowledged the pub’s licensee, a Mr Johnson, for his kindness on the day of a business’s function.
“Sands and Macdougall Limited held their annual outing at Johnson’s Anglers Arms Hotel, Maribyrnong, on Saturday. They are conveyed to the ground in cabs from the Ascot Vale Station and after lunch a very enjoyable programme of sports was gone through.
“The enjoyments during the day were of a very varied character, including fishing, boating. Mr Johnson very kindly placed his boats at the disposal of the picknickers. Much of the success of the affair is due to the kind and energetic manner in which the proprietor of the Angler’s Arms assisted the picnic committee and that gentleman greatly added to the general enjoyment by his efforts.”
A few years later, on 22 October 1908, the same newspaper acknowledged another licensee, John Alves and his family. It noted that the pub was “so picturesquely situated” and it “excellently sets forth the scenic beauties of the river and its surroundings”. The newspaper reported: “It is with pleasure it will be noted the improvements made by the Alves family in this well-known hotel by the cool waterside.”
But it wasn’t always peaceful and enjoyable around the Anglers. Being close to the river the Anglers Tavern was regularly flooded over the years. After heavy rain the Maribyrnong River sometimes burst its banks and caused damage to the pub and the surrounding area. The original building was flooded and rebuilt at least once by the 1870s into a more modest structure, and has been redesigned several times over the years.
In September 1870 The Age reported on the effects of the rising river on the pub.
“A considerable amount of damage has been done by the flood in this neighbourhood.” It went on: “It is satisfactory to report that so far as Melbourne and its suburbs are concerned, the damage occasioned by the flood is far less serious that was at first anticipated.”
It reported that although the waters rose with “remarkable suddenness, the numerous manufacturers on the river bank had sufficient warning to take precautions to prepare themselves from serious loss. The Angler’s Hotel has suffered more than any other building on the river. At about half-past eight o’clock on Thursday evening the water was five feet deep in the house. Some of the outhouses have been carried away and those left greatly damaged.
“The piggeries were still under water at 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon, but the pigs, about 500 in number, were all saved. Two or three boats belonging to the hotel have been washed away but it is expected they will be recovered.”
The hotel clearly had its challenges over the years. “It might be a beautiful part of Melbourne but not everyone is there for the sights,” reported The Herald on 23 September 1892. “About half-past 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon a sneak thief entered the bar of the Angler’s Hotel, Maribyrnong, while it was left temporarily unattended. The thief carried away the bar till which contained about 10s [shillings] and a bunch of keys.”
Trading outside of “traditional” hours was forbidden for many years. They were very different times, with a sense of moral outrage that a public house would serve customers on the Sabbath. That mindset took decades to change. Many Melbournians remember the days when Sunday trading was banned. It wasn’t until 1987 that retail trading hours in Victoria were extended to include Saturday afternoon trading. But it was almost another decade until Sunday trading was introduced.
Sunday trading was certainly frowned on around the turn of the 19th century. In the Melbourne Herald on 28 September 1898, an article appeared titled “No Sunday Trading”. It reported an application had been made to transfer the license of the Anglers Arms Hotel from John Alves to Edith Sarah Ann Alves. It noted that the “transfer-ror had been twice fined for Sunday trading”.
Judge Molesworth told the court, referring to Edith Sarah Ann Alves: “Some of the landlords won’t object to Sunday trading because it helps pay the rent.” It quotes the man applying for the transfer, a Mr Cunningham: “She says that she is not going to do any Sunday trading.”
Newspaper reports from those early days provide a glimpse into the daily workings of the Angler’s, and also some clues about the people who ran it. The Angler’s Tavern one-time licensee John Alves died in 1882. In The Argus, a letter was published as a form of tribute but also a call to help John’s widow.
“Sir, Death carried off on Sunday last a good, true, frank and honourable man – John Alves of the Angler’s Arms Hotel. A sunny dispositioned, single-hearted fellow, a rare fisherman and a pleasant bright companion. Poor John. How many of your readers can recall his cheery manner, his skill in all things belonging to the gentle craft and the care bestowed by him on boats or tackle left in his charge. I regret to say that Mrs Alves is left to make her way in the world with seven young children but scant means.”
The letter writer goes on to ask “all fishermen and the kind-hearted public generally, through the mediums of your columns, to contribute… to help the fatherless and widow.”
Given the formality of the reporting and writing of the day, this letter about John Alves is remarkably revealing and moving. We learn of John’s warm personality and the large family he left behind. We also learn of his dear wife’s struggle, not to mention a compassionate early version of crowd funding. It’s tempting to imagine John cheerily welcoming visitors, setting them up in one of his boats and helping them with tackle and bait for a fish on the river.
For 160 years The Anglers has intimately shared its history with the Saltwater/Maribyrnong River. In 2011 State Emergency Services workers joined bar staff at the Anglers to help mop up after the pub was flooded. Heavy rains had flooded the beer garden and public bar, and hotel staff sandbagged the pub as the river rose during the day.
It speaks of the pub’s 150-year relationship with the river, literally experiencing its ups and downs. But it also speaks of the Angler’s resilience and its just-get-on-with-it pragmatism. “It’s not the end of the world,” the hotel’s area manager Craig Barnett told The Age. “We’ll be back trading again later today.”
The Anglers was owned in the late 1990s for several years by the Darcy family who made significant improvements. “An opportunity came up to purchase The Anglers Tavern, which probably needed a bit of a cuddle,” says Luke Darcy, former Western Bulldogs footballer and now AFL commentator. “It was a little bit tired and it was great fun to bring back such an iconic venue with such an incredible history.”
Having been involved in pubs since childhood when he and his siblings often lived upstairs in the pubs in South Australia his parents ran, Luke knows the importance of a local pub as a gathering place. “A good local pub means an enormous amount to a local community. As always with a good pub, you do it well and the local people in the community really appreciate the time and energy and effort.”
Luke says during his stewardship The Anglers Tavern was a popular spot for gatherings after the races at nearby Flemington Racecourse. It was also the pub of choice for his Bulldogs teammates to gather after training at the Whitten Oval in Footscray, although “they weren’t great payers, if I remember correctly”.
The Anglers Tavern attracted many locals, some of whom would visit daily. “There were some great characters who had known that place their whole life, whose Dad took them when they were kids,” Luke says. “A lot of them worked for us. An old bloke called Jack lived in the next street and he came to the pub every day. He’d be in the front bar telling stories about the coming and goings at the pub. He was one of the great characters at the Anglers.
“There’s a story of Jack’s love of animals. The circus was across the road. Jack might have had a couple at the Anglers Tavern. He thought the elephant looked a bit unhappy being chained to the post. So one night Jack untangled the elephant, walked it across the bridge and may have put it in his backyard.
“Next day the police knocked on his door asking if he knew anything about an elephant. It didn’t take a lot of police work to find out the elephant was in his backyard. I think the police saw the humour of it and it was returned safely.”
Given The Angler’s intimate relationship with the river flooding was a constant reality for the pub since it was built. “It’s part of the history, the beauty and the devastation of it,” Luke says. “It’s susceptible to the elements. The locals who were our regulars knew the history well. Some of them were there every day. They talked a lot about the floods in the 1970s. They talked about water being at the height of the bridge. They kept saying ‘It will happen again’. It would keep you up at night. You couldn’t imagine it was possible. But they were right.”
There have been several major floods in recent years but those of November 2022 around the Maribyrnong River were devastating for many homes and businesses in the area, including The Anglers Tavern whose ground floor and beer garden were inundated by floodwaters after heavy rain. It has since been closed until repairs are complete.
Soon after the floods Luke visited the pub that had meant so much to him. “I couldn’t help myself. I drove back thinking ‘I’ve got to go and see it’. I asked if they’d let me have a look because we used to think about it a lot during our time there. It looked like the place had been buried underwater for 30 years. The silt was bar-height.
“Knowing that place so well, there’s always the chance that the water will lap around the beer garden level, but you couldn’t imagine it above the second story, so that would have been a pretty horrific event.”
Luke is looking forward to visiting again when the Anglers re-opens. “You really want local venues to be thriving. You want them to do what they do really well, provide those great meeting places. There have been so many great times sitting in that beer garden on a Sunday afternoon having a cold beer by the river. It’s a pretty special setting that one.”
Luke is pleased the Anglers Tavern is undergoing work so it can soon return to doing what it does best, as it has done for more than 150 years. “Anyone who’s going to back a local pub we should celebrate. They require a bit of investment, but when they’re run well and done well they’re a really important part of the community.”