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The suburb of Toorak (now Toorak Gardens) was first developed in 1912. Prior to this, the land had largely been used for farming, most notably occupied by Prescott Farm and the Fergusson Family’s Montreith Farm. Prescott Farm had covered almost 300 acres from Fullarton Road to Portrush Road and continued as a working farm throughout the first decades of subdivision, until December 1938. In 1853, the Fergusson family leased the land adjacent to Prescott Farm, where they also continued to live and work throughout subdivision, until the family home was demolished in 1923.

One of the most significant sites in Toorak Gardens is Attunga House (photograph), a large 14-room mansion built by Adelaide architect Frederick William Dancker for businessman and soap manufacturer Benjamin Burford. After Burford’s death in 1905, Attunga was purchased by an investor from Broken Hill, Otto von Reiben. In 1944, von Rieben donated Attunga House to the Burnside Council for use as a hospital, and its extensive Edwardian gardens for use as a rest and recuperation area for the hospital’s patients. While the Burnside War Memorial Hospital replaced Attunga House in 1956, Attunga continues its association with the hospital, housing Attunga Medical Centre, the Breast and Endocrine Centre, and Nurture Women’s Care Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Other significant sites in Toorak Gardens include Fergusson Square, Rose Park Bowling Club, and the Anglican Church of St Theodore.

Photograph: “Attunga”, c.1919. Courtesy of the State Library of South Australia B 49764.

Chess has seen a massive resurgence in recent years, fuelled by the rise of online content creators, viral tournaments, and the global influence of grandmasters like Magnus Carlsen. Once viewed as a quiet, traditional pastime, it has transformed into a fast-growing, culturally relevant sport enjoyed by millions across the globe. Beyond its competitive thrill, chess is celebrated for building problem-solving skills, sharpening focus, and encouraging relentless imagination.

Riding this wave of renewed popularity, the Burnside Chess Club has created Progressive Chess 5 - an innovative, social twist on the classic. Players begin on randomised boards and rotate to a new opponent every five minutes. A checkmate keeps you in the game, while a loss or draw means you’re out. But smart play isn’t just about surviving - it’s also about leaving the board in a tough position for the next player to inherit. The cycle continues until one board remains, where a final checkmate declares the champion. No clocks, just strategy, adaptability, and lively competition. Progressive Chess 5 makes every round a fresh challenge.

Burnside Chess Club offers Progressive Chess 5 at two levels: Social for beginners and Open for all players.

Burnside Chess Club meets Tuesday and Friday morning at the Burnside Civic Centre. Come along and experience it for yourself! The club is welcoming of all skill levels and ages.

Bowel cancer is one of the most common and deadly cancers in Australia however it is also one of the most preventable. Each year around 15,000 Australians are diagnosed with the disease, with those over 50 at the greatest risk. Early detection through screening can significantly increase the chances of successful treatment, but participation rates remain low.

To help raise awareness and empower our community, the City of Burnside invite you to a special information session on Monday 23 June with Dr Sergei Bedrikovetski at the Burnside Library. An early career research fellow specialising in Colorectal Cancer Treatment at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, Dr Bedrikovetski will discuss his research and its relevance to the community and provide insights into early signs, risks and prevention strategies around bowel cancer.

If you can’t attend the session, it’s still important to stay informed. Australians aged 45 to 74 are eligible for a free at-home bowel screening kit through the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program every two years. The test is simple, hygienic and could save your life. Speak to your GP about other screening options and ways to reduce your risk through diet, exercise, and regular health checks.

To learn more about the Burnside Library session with Dr Bedrikovetski visit the City of Burnside website and register your place.

Link: Bowel Cancer Prevention Information Session

Dr Bedrikovetski will be presenting on 23 June at the Burnside Library

Did you know that Stonyfell was the home of the first quarry in Adelaide, beginning operation in 1837? Stone and slate mined from the quarry was used in the construction of much of Adelaide’s early infrastructure, including the Adelaide Gaol. In 1858, a portion of the quarry was sold to Henry Clark and his fiancé Annie Martin, who named the land Stonyfell after the English term 'fell', used to describe a barren piece of land on a hill or other high-altitude landform. The Stonyfell Quarry was acquired by Boral in the 1880s and remains an active quarry today, producing road base, raw materials, and washed sands for the manufacture of concrete. Boral recycles their own concrete waste, and also receives pond sediment from Burnside Council, which assists Council with revegetation and environmental rehabilitation programs.

Stonyfell was also the home of the Stonyfell Olive Company, founded by Joseph Crompton, William Mair and Sidney Clark in 1873, which was South Australia’s largest producer of olive oil in 1932. Significant sites remaining in Stonyfell today include Stonyfell House, Clifton Manor, and Chiverton House (now part of St Peter’s Girls’ School).

Photograph: Stonyfell Quarries and Wattle Park, 1956. Burnside Local History Collection.

There has been plenty happening in the City of Burnside these past few weeks! We've enjoyed Reconciliation Week celebrations, a wonderful National Volunteer Week event, another successful Local Native Plant Giveaway and much more - find out all the details in this episode of Burnside Highlights.

Did you know that, following a re-division of Burnside in 1941 which saw the number of suburbs in the District reduced from 82 to 26, St Georges was expanded to include the former suburbs of Glenunga Gardens, Glenunga Gardens Extension, and Highfield?

A prominent early settler in St Georges was Sir William Morgan, who was the Premier of South Australia from 1878 to 1881. Sir William was known for his lavish parties and, as President of the Royal Society of St George, it is likely that his connection with the area is responsible for the suburb’s present name.

The former suburb of Highfield was named after ironmonger Edward Drew’s Highfield House Estate. Drew first purchased the 134 acres which made up the Estate in 1849 and eventually constructed Highfield House on the southwest corner of the Estate in 1880. Highfield House, an elegant two-story Georgian-style residence, remains one of the earliest significant buildings still standing in Burnside.

Photograph: Highfield House, c. 1870. Burnside Local History Collection.

Did you know the much-loved Kensington Oval, which has hosted sporting icons including Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Bobby Charlton and Cathy Freeman, celebrates its 150th birthday this year? Opened in 1875, this oval has a unique and special history, which we explore in this episode of Burnside Highlights.

Since the single-use plastic ban, many everyday items have transformed from plastic to compostable. This exciting change means we can now compost single-use coffee cups, fruit and vegetable produce bags, cardboard takeaway containers, and much more.

To keep our composting system effective, it's crucial we avoid contamination in our green organics bins. Composting facilities rely on clean material to produce quality compost for local farms and gardens. So, play your part, only put garden waste, food scraps, and compostable packaging clearly marked as compostable into your organics bin.

Remember, never place plastic bags, hard plastics, or other non-compostable materials in your green bin.

Not sure if something's compostable?

Check if the packaging clearly states it's compostable, and ensure no plastic items are included. Still uncertain? Visit the handy Which Bin website at www.whichbin.sa.gov.au to search for specific items, or call their hotline on 1300 137 118.

Let's all do our bit to ensure our organics bins stay clean and contamination-free!

While the recent rain has given our parks and trees a much-needed break, it wasn’t long ago that Penfold Park was feeling the heat. During those hot, dry weeks, City of Burnside residents John and Oria, along with other community members, quietly stepped up, carrying buckets of water to newly planted trees to help them survive the tough summer conditions.

Their generous act didn’t go unnoticed, and the City of Burnside would like to thank them and all others who went out of their way, for their hard work, initiative and community spirit.

As a result of the prolonged dry season Council extended the tree watering program to support our urban forest.

Thanks to residents like John, Oria and others across Burnside who have been lending a hand, our community continues to show what it means to care for the environment.

The suburb of Skye was created in 1958, out of a 1950s subdivision by Skye Estates Ltd. The name came from the Gaelic word sgiath (meaning ‘a wing’), and was named thus because the shape of the new suburb was similar to that of the Scottish Isle of Skye.

When development of Skye began in the 1960s, the expense of creating new infrastructure to service this new suburb on the outskirts of developed land meant that it was never connected to the mains water supply. When a re-drawing of Council boundaries in the early 1990s saw Skye absorbed into the Burnside Council area, it became the only suburb in Burnside not connected to the mains water supply. It wasn’t until 2015, after lengthy negotiations between State Government representatives and SA Water, that householders in Skye were presented with the opportunity to commit to a 15-year payment plan to connect their homes with the State’s mains water supply—a deal which was accepted by 92 of the suburb’s 138 homeowners.

Before the subdivision, the land was mostly used for sheep grazing, and Bertram Cox’s 1952 book ‘Farming is Fun’ provides a humorous account of a hopeful accountant-turned-sheep farmer’s attempts to run his own farm on a plot of land in the area that would later become Skye.

Photograph: Newspaper real estate advertisement for Skye, courtesy of the Burnside News Review, December 1958.