Before Stella Blu – Getting to Dee Why Beach by Tram and Bus in the 1920s

Long before Stella Blu became a Dee Why landmark, visitors in the 1920s travelled by tram as far as Pittwater Road, before transferring to a bus down to Dee Why Beach.

Today, with traffic congestion, crowded car parks and changing road layouts shaping the Dee Why experience, it’s easy to forget how differently people once arrived at the beach. In the 1920s, the tram ran to Pittwater Road, where passengers transferred to a bus for the final stretch — a system that, in many ways, moved people more efficiently than today.

This photograph captures the Guy & Bailey store on the corner of Howard Avenue and The Strand at Dee Why Beach, on the site now occupied by Stella Blu. Far from being just another old shopfront, this building was at the heart of early beach life in Dee Why and played an important role in the area’s transport story.

The business operated from about 1916 until around 1970 and was run by James and Mary Bailey, together with their daughter Gladys and her husband Tom Guy. During the First World War years, the Bailey family had built a holiday cottage in Oaks Avenue and travelled from their home at Willoughby by horse and sulky to spend weekends at Dee Why.

Around 1916, they leased this beachfront corner and began in modest fashion, setting up a shed and awning where they sold sweets and provided boiling water for picnickers. A few years later, around 1920, James Bailey, who was a carpenter, built the more substantial two-storey corner premises seen in this photograph, incorporating both the shop and living quarters for the family.

At that time, Dee Why Beach was still developing as a holiday destination, with small cottages and only a handful of businesses serving visitors and locals. The Guy & Bailey store quickly became a focal point. It stocked almost everything people might need, apart from fresh fruit and vegetables, which were sold by Frank Corkery from a shop on the opposite corner. Groceries were delivered in cane baskets, while beach visitors could hire swimming costumes, enjoy afternoon teas, or buy billy cans of hot water to take down to the sand.

The store was also closely tied to Dee Why’s early transport links. Although the tram line reached Dee Why in 1912, it stopped at Pittwater Road rather than at the beachfront. To carry people the rest of the way, Tom Guy bought a Model T Ford and, with his brother Trevor, ran a bus service between the tram terminus and Dee Why Beach. On Sundays, they also operated a return service to Manly Wharf for day-trippers. Later, a hand-operated petrol bowser was installed in Howard Avenue to service the buses.

In April 1920, Tom and Gladys Guy purchased the land on which the store stood, identified as Lot 10 in Deposited Plan 6953. By 1925 the business had expanded significantly, with additions including holiday flats, a restaurant and a milk bar. For a period, it was the only place in Dee Why where visitors could sit down to a proper meal, served on white tablecloths. Even the arrival of a refrigerator to replace the old ice chest was notable enough to be remembered.

During the Second World War, soldiers camped at Brookvale Oval would often run down to Dee Why for an early swim and stop at the store for refreshments on their way back. After Tom Guy died in 1953, the property passed to his daughter Gwen Jack, who leased it to grocers Cecil and Ronald Hutchings.

The old building later became a pizzeria, but was destroyed by fire around 1975. In 1977, Umberto and Stella Russo bought the site and built new premises with a café called Donna Stella and a residence above. Over time, the adjoining shop was used for several purposes, including a billiard room, before evolving into a restaurant. When their son Victor took over, he expanded the business and renamed it Stella Blu, which remains a well-known Dee Why landmark today.

It’s hard not to wonder whether a return to integrated public transport might once again shape how people experience the Northern Beaches.

This photograph forms part of the Lost Manly archive — a growing collection of historic Manly, Dee Why and Northern Beaches images documenting coastal life across the 20th century. Many of these photographs can be carefully restored and brought back to life.

👉 If you have an old photograph you’d like repaired, enhanced or reprinted, you can get a free assessment here:

👉 If you have an old photograph you’d like repaired, enhanced or reprinted, you can get a free assessment here: