Dorries’ Corner & Cosy Corner Tearooms 1930s

Locals affectionately refer to this site as “Dorries’ Corner”, named after Henry Knighton Toll “Blue” Dorries and his wife Ethel Mary “Molly” Dorries, who ran a general store from 1948 to the early 1960s.

The building that once stood here had a long history — first operated by the Thornton Bros from 1933, then by J.W. Swinhoe from 1937 until 1948, before the Dorries family took over. Their shop was a true community hub, selling everything from groceries and clothing to hardware and wool, with a petrol pump out the front for locals and travellers. In the late 1960s, the shop closed as people could travel more freely by car to Bunbury to buy goods.

Daisy the Cow now proudly stands on the corner, a Friesian cow created by Albany artist Elsie Manning and installed by the Lions Club of Brunswick in 1973. She celebrates the success of dairying in the Brunswick district.

The site across Beela Road was once home to the Cosy Corner Tea Rooms — a popular meeting place from the 1930s. It changed hands several times, being run by the Jacksons, McPhees, and then the Dorries family after the shop’s closure.

The Tea Rooms are fondly remembered for Mrs McPhee’s white cockatoo, which would call out, “Mrs Mac! Mrs Mac!” — especially when local boys cheekily stole cool drink bottles to trade for lollies. It was also the location of the bus stop for travellers heading to Bunbury.