in Melbourne: Mornington

We were able to do so because there was an unkempt nature strip lying between the heritage railway line and the extremely busy industrial area populated by a myrard of small businesses on Watts Rd.

This kind of netherworld, which is either urban nor rural, is more commonly seen on the swathes of land on the urban fringe such as Cranbourne. There the agricultural land with its production methods that drove out the animals and plants is in the process of becoming housing estates. They are everywhere.

The unruly nature strip was an edgeland or drosscape that was largely ignored and undervalued in spite of its recreational potential and railway history. The rubbish was minimal. This kind of netherworld, which is either urban nor rural, is more commonly seen on the swathes of land on the urban fringe such as Cranbourne.

Although there was a path that wound through the forsaken and neglected edgeland no one was walking along it whilst we were exploring it. The psychogeographers, topographical photographers, or poets and writers with their notebooks seeking out the historical traces of old Mornington in this rough space were nowhere to be seen. Those who visited this interface would probably be the local kids on their bikes.

It is in this edgeland within a built-up area that we see the traces of history –eg., the old branch railway line that has been preserved as a heritage line after it fell into disuse and then neglected.