AJ SadauskasWant to know why there's a sculpture of a bus in the middle of Parramatta Square? <br>
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In 1981, the Parramatta Eels won the grand final in the predecessor to the National Rugby League.<br>
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Many fans gathered at the team's home ground, Cumberland Oval (which was on the site of CommBank Stadium) and the celebrations got a bit rowdy.<br>
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And by "got a bit rowdy", I mean they burnt the stadium down to the ground.<br>
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Without a stadium, the following season the team held its meetings in a secondhand 1960s Leyland Worldmaster bus.<br>
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But that's not the only piece of local history commemorated by this sculpture.<br>
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One side of the bus is inscribed with the words "Flying Pieman". It's a reference to a local baker named William Francis King, who used to sell pies to people boarding the ferry to Parra at Sydney's Circular Quay in the 1870s.<br>
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After the ferry left, Mr King reputedly packed up his pie cart, then ran the 30-odd kilometres to Parramatta by foot. He would then set up his cart at Parramatta Wharf in time to sell more pies to passengers as they disembarked the ferry.<br>
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The other side of the bus is inscribed with the name "Rosie Bint Broheen". In 1922, Rosie became the first Lebanese woman to buy land in Parramatta.<br>
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The sculpture also includes some hidden messages, in reference to the Parramatta Industrial School for Girls, which was a notorious children's welfare institution that operated from 1887-1974. It was home to many members of the Stolen Generations.<br>
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