Even though I’ve walked past it several hundred times (if not more), I didn’t know there WAS a Cleveland Lane, Surry Hills until earlier today.

Anxious to try out my new camera, and engaging in my ongoing photographic project – taking random photographs of various streets and laneways in Surry Hills – I set out to look for somewhere new. That’s when I decided to try a laneway I’ve walked past many times, but have never actually been down before.

And what a pleasant surprise it was. Cleveland Lane has greenery, terraces, some new apartment blocks, some street arts, and a very intriguing backyard to the hardware store on the corner. I love the hardware store. It’s one of those great “old fashioned” (pre-Bunnings) hardware stores. And behind it is a large forest-like backyard you might not otherwise expect to find in Surry Hills. It’s great. It gives Cleveland Lane an interesting level of depth that you find less and less with the so-called “gentrification” of Surry Hills.