Published on Wednesday, 5 January 2022 at 9:18:05 AM
Pages Beach by Lorin Cox
It is summertime and this is Geraldton so of course we must present you with a topical image, in this instance featuring Pages Beach, named after Ray Page who was heavily involved in the locations’ development. Ray was a Geraldton Town Councillor, a crayfisherman (for a short while) and also established Pages Auto Electrical. Originally born in Fremantle, Ray Page became familiar with Geraldton while spending time here during World War II and made friends within the fishing community. He was determined to move back to Geraldton when the war ended.
In 1945 he was able to make his dream come true. Accommodation was very scarce during this time so Ray lived in a simple beach camp and reconnected with his fishing friends. Works at Page’s Beach commenced from 1964. The very popular West End Beach was disappearing underneath the construction of Berth 4 at the harbour. Ray thought it was important that a replacement beach was created for families with small children. He enlisted the help of volunteers to help clear scrub, gravel a parking area and construct beach shelters. Somewhere along the line the apostrophe disappeared and the name of the beach morphed in to Pages Beach. Today the park area is maintained by the City of Greater Geraldton and the sheltered beach has become one of the area’s most popular places for local families to spend time by the water.
Image # P 1868, Aerial photograph of Pages Beach, approximately 1984, courtesy of Geraldton Telegraph.
Snapshots is an initiative of the Geraldton Regional Library. For more information, or to donate a historical photo or slide to the Library, contact Heritage Services at the Geraldton Regional Library on 9956 6659 or library@cgg.wa.gov.auAerial
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