Melbourne's Forgotten Laneways: A Walker's Field Guide

Melbourne's laneways weren't designed to be beautiful. They were designed to be practical — narrow service alleys for horses, deliveries, and the removal of things nobody wanted to see on Collins Street. By the 1880s, some of the smaller lanes had become notorious. Little Lonsdale was a place respectable people walked past very quickly. Others hid opium dens, illegal gambling parlours, and the occasional Chinese herbalist quietly outlasting three property booms. When the gold rush ended and Melbourne's boom collapsed in the 1890s, the laneways collapsed too — literally. Whole sections were bricked up. Others were forgotten so completely that when developers rediscovered them in the 1990s, they had to consult city maps drawn before Federation. Today, Hosier Lane is world-famous for its street art. But the laneway with the most stories is one you've almost certainly walked past without noticing. On the tour, I'll show you which one — and why.