Category: Journal 2003

by Fay Priora (nee Leach) as told to Judith Lewis

I was born at Beaconsfield in Sydney and lived in Botany until 1942, when the Japanese submarines visited Sydney Harbour. We moved to Riverstone and lived in a shed behind my Auntie Maudie and Uncle Jack’s home in Melbourne Street. Nearly all my aunts and uncles lived in Riverstone. Dad bought a block of land on the corner of Edward Street and Riverstone Parade overlooking the Meatworks’ paddocks and the railway line to Richmond. Dad built our home himself, with most of the timber coming from Anthony Horderns in Sydney. He would bring the timber home on the train and throw it out as the train passed our block on the way to Vineyard. He would then walk back from Vineyard station. Dad owned a fruit run delivering to Marsden Park and Cow Flats (Schofields, near the border of the aerodrome). Dad would visit the Sydney Markets with old Dick Stacey.

Next door lived Fred Alcorn, a lovely old fellow, who knew a lot about the early days of Riverstone. In the summertime a lot of dust storms blew across the paddocks because there was not a lot of grass there. When the storms were approaching Mum would lock up and head for Fred’s. The trains would blow their whistles at our place quite often because people crossed the line further down, at the Meatworks, going to work.

Down in the gully from us, in a bag humpy, lived Metho Lil , Old Mick and a few hangers-on. They drank and fought regularly and Mum was always ringing the Police. One day Nugget, whose home was near them, came running up to say Old Mick had cut Lil’s throat. Mum always said Metho Lil came from a well-to-do Windsor family who ran a business there.

Further along Riverstone Parade from us lived old Connie, the German. She would walk into town to do her shopping then catch the train home. As the train came level with her house she would throw the shopping out. Charlie Weaver’s father looked after the train line between Blacktown and Richmond. He was always up and down the line on his trolley. He commented to Mum that one day Old Mick would catch on to Connie’s trick and pick up her shopping before she could get back to collect it. Dirty Old Bill lived with Connie and was always very good to her.

On the corner of Loftus Street lived Red Indian Bill. He was given that name because he had a red face. He always rode a pushbike into town. He was forever blowing stumps out of the ground. It made a hell of a noise. Mum was a nervous person, so she asked Dad to speak to Bill. After this Bill rang a cowbell each time to warn Mum that he was about to begin blowing. It was a funny thing, he would also come down to ask if he could be heard and Mum would say “That’s O.K.”!

Sparks from the steam trains were always starting bush fires in the Vineyard scrub. An aboriginal family lived in a bark hut in the scrub and they were often burnt out. One fire came to our fence. We all left and went to town till it was over. We were never allowed to ride our bikes near the aborigines’ home. There were quite a few old people living in the bush near us. One of them, Old Paddy, lived in a house with a dirt floor. Another was George, who lived in a humpy also with a dirt floor.

I would often go bike riding around the Riverstone bush with Robbie Hurley, catching tadpoles in the creeks and dams there and over in the Meatworks’ paddocks. To get to the primary school we walked along Piccadilly Street. I was always in trouble because I was usually late home from school. I often played with the Mason kids who lived on the hill near the Catholic Church on Garfield Road. Helen Wheeler was another friend I played with. We all used to swim at the Creek even though my Mum had warned us not to. She would always say, “Lift up your dress!” and if my undies were brown she would know I’d been swimming. It took a while before I worked that one out!

I also played quite a lot with the Tozers. They lived in a big old house on Garfield Road, opposite the Presbyterian Church, where Croghans later on had a secondhand furniture business. This was eventually sold to my brother-in-law Ern Nichols’ family for their Service Station. We played tennis at the Presbyterian Church’s tennis courts, which were next door to Dr Boag’s house and surgery. He would call out, “Not too much noise there, please”. Zane Hillier and Warren Nichols would join us in a game. I loved to watch the football because my uncle, Len Belshaw, played for Riverstone.

When I went to high school I went to Richmond. We were always wishing floods would come and stop the trains from running so we could stay home. Robbie Hurley and I used to ride our pushbikes to the station and leave them at Conway’s shop and sometimes I left mine at Pop Nichols’ garage. One day I remember all the kids were perched on the paling fence of the paddock next to Conway’s. Old Jockey was sleeping stark naked under newspapers with his empty bottles beside him. Old Jockey also often slept on the steps of the Billiard Room on the corner of Market Street and Riverstone Parade, or on hay at the Taylor’s Produce Store just across from there. Old Pop told us of the time Jockey was cleaned up for Anzac Day, and then came into the garage for some sump oil to put on his hair as he was going somewhere! When I was older I would travel by train to Parramatta to shop and dock my bike at the Railway Station.

I met my husband John Priora when I started work at the Villawool Textiles, which was part of the Riverstone Meatworks. We married in 1957 and lived at Oakville for 22 years until we moved to larger farming acreage at Goulburn. Our three children did their schooling at Riverstone.

My sister Joyce married Ern Nichols from Nichols Service Station and had five daughters. Ern and Joyce lived in Riverstone until about 1987 when they retired and moved to Nambucca Heads.

My brother John (aka ‘The Bear’) lived in Riverstone until his death in 2001. He was an early member of the Riverstone Motorcycle Club and was active for quite a while in the RSL. A very ‘colourful’ identity, John was very popular with the locals. He would do anyone a favour anytime, day or night.

I still call Riverstone my home and I have lovely childhood memories of growing up there. Riverstone hasn’t changed that much, but the whistles from the train and from the Meatworks must have been missed when they first stopped. They were the timepieces of our past!

by Judith Lewis

My husband Kevin and I recently returned from our fifth holiday on Norfolk Island. This time we were accompanied by my brother Rob, his wife Pat, our eldest son John, his wife Vicki and their twelve year old son Todd. Todd, when asked what he thought of Norfolk Island replied, “It was really good, but a bit boring.” I’m not surprised that Todd found it boring. By the age of ten, he had holidayed in London and Paris and spent most annual holidays either at a Gold Coast beachside apartment or Coffs Harbour resort, where children are entertained from sunrise to sunset.

I wonder how Todd’s generation would classify the holidays we so looked forward to as children? “Boring” would have been the last word I would have used for the annual two weeks’ holidays we spent, firstly in the Blue Mountains, at Katoomba, then, as we grew older, at North Narrabeen.

The first holiday I can recall at Katoomba was when I was three years old. I remember our Grandfather Reilly accompanied us. He died later that year. The house we rented had verandahs around three sides and my older brother Bill and I had great fun playing chasings through the hall, out the back door and in again through the front (till some adult put a stop to such rowdy behaviour).

The trip to Katoomba was an adventure in itself. Travelling by steam train sometimes you had a box carriage all to yourselves. Being told not to put your head out the window because you would get soot in your eye didn’t stop you, till you did get soot in your eye and realised how painful it was! At Valley Heights the train had a second steam locomotive coupled to it for the long haul up the mountains to Katoomba. At Katoomba there was a turntable onto which the second engine would be driven, to be turned round and sent back down the line to Valley Heights to do the trip again.

I don’t recall my father staying with us through the week, but he certainly went with us and was there each weekend. One of my aunts, Auntie Vera, or a cousin, Lucy Teale, are two people I recall staying to help my mother on different occasions. Katoomba had some wonderful parks, especially Kingsford Smith Park in a natural hollow near the railway line. It had slippery dips, swings, a type of merry-go-round we called a “razzle dazzle” and an elegant band-stand.

We always visited Echo Point to marvel at the Three Sisters. A photographer, with a model of a “mountain devil” for you to pose with, was always there. I was apprehensive of that mountain devil and quite convinced that there were more real ones like him living in the mist! My mother, in her younger days, had been a keen horsewoman, so we were also treated to pony rides. They weren’t a treat for me! Always afraid of the ponies, I pretended to enjoy myself, all the time longing for the final lap of the circuit to appear.

Once we were considered sensible enough to handle ourselves in the water our annual holidays moved to North Narrabeen where we again rented a cottage for two weeks each summer. The cottage we rented for the first two years was in the best location, in Ocean Street, right at the bridge. We could sit up in bed at night and watch the lights from the camping area across the lake and, in the early mornings, we’d watch fish jumping in the lake.

Our favourite activity at North Narrabeen was canoeing. My two brothers, Bill and Rob, and I, plus any adult who could either coax or tip us out of one, would share two hired canoes for an hour at a time. It was the best fun. One year we had a cottage in Lagoon Street closer to Narrabeen township, or terminus as it was then known. The house block backed onto the lake and its owner lived in a flat underneath the holiday house. He owned a rowboat and allowed us to use it. That was also heaps of fun and the three of us fitted in the one boat.

North Narrabeen may have been chosen as our holiday destination because my father had had aunts who once lived there in a two-storey house in Ocean Street backing on to the beach and near the Surf Club. My Auntie Vera pointed the house out to me as one where she had once stayed. The house was referred to as ‘The Castle’ because of its turret-like structure at one end.

We did get to meet a very elderly family friend who lived in a small weatherboard cottage on the other side of the Surf Club. Ma Mullins lived there with her sons who were North Narrabeen lifesavers. One of their mates was Johnny Bliss, a beach sprint champion and footballer with Manly Warringah Rugby League team. I recall going into the Mullens’ backyard, which also backed on to the beach, to be shown a huge wooden surfboard which I believe had been given to them by the Hawaiian surfer Duke Kanahamoku, who introduced surfing to Australia. It was probably about twelve feet long and I couldn’t imagine anyone carrying it, let alone surfing on it!

As with the Katoomba holidays, getting to Narrabeen was also an adventure. We usually went across mid year to book our accommodation with one of the letting agents. This meant a steam train ride to Central, electric train to Wynyard and either a bus from there to Narrabeen or a ferry ride to Manly followed by a bus ride to Narrabeen. The bus was usually a double decker or, as Rob, when he was little, called them “Debbil Duckers”. Travelling either of these ways laden with holiday luggage was fairly arduous so my father decided to hire a tip truck and driver to take us to Narrabeen each year. He hired the truck from Mr Clem Kelly. My mother told us Mr Kelly used to cart manure with the truck through the week and clean it up to take us on the Saturday.

Travelling à la truck meant we could take much more luggage. My father or mother travelled in the cab with Clem and we three kids sat in the back. We were even allowed to stand up behind the cab if we stayed in the centre and held on tightly. I can still relish the glorious feel of the wind blowing in my hair! We usually took at least one cane chair so we had turns sitting in comfort. At Pennant Hills Hotel the two men stopped for a beer and we were brought out a most welcome lemonade. It was the grandest trip.

Saving money to spend on our holidays became very important. One year I believe I saved as much as twelve pounds. That money was ours to spend as we wanted. Most of mine went on strawberry milkshakes or, the ultimate treat, banana splits, three scoops of ice-cream, half a split banana either side, with chocolate flavouring and crushed nuts to top it all off! Yum! At North Narrabeen, near the Surf Club, there were two milk bars on opposite corners of Ocean Street. One of them had a pinball machine, which fascinated my brothers but I preferred the milkshakes.

My father usually stayed with us at Narrabeen and aunts and uncles would visit for weekends. In those days you hired the house and there was no extra charge if visitors came to stay, not like today where they charge per person! One year our neighbours, the Parkinson family, Frank, Edie and son Peter, also rented a house at Narrabeen. My father and Mr Parkinson used to catch the bus most afternoons into Narrabeen. My mother told us they were “going to the clinic”. It was much later that I learned the “clinic’ was the Narrabeen Hotel!

Another year the Robbins family, Tom and Alice, and children Dorothy, Jim, Tony, Margaret and Carmel, holidayed at Collaroy and we sometimes met on the beach. One year there was a pantomime playing at the picture theatre at Collaroy and Rob and I were allowed to go alone. We caught a bus there, enjoyed the pantomime, then decided to walk home along the beach. It was a very long, hot walk in the middle of summer. I remember thinking we’d never get there. I guess we did it to save the bus fare (maybe it would buy another milkshake?), but probably also because it seemed a fun thing to do. We would have been no more than eight and eleven years old respectively. My mother was not pleased with me when she learned we had walked home and I was sternly lectured on the foolhardiness of my actions.

Our last annual family holiday was in 1950, as my mother died in July that year. When Kevin and I bought our first caravan, in the late 1960s, the first place we went, with our three sons, John, Peter and Paul, was to North Narrabeen. I guess I was trying to recapture some of the great times we had had then. Simple holidays, no added entertainment, just a family being together, swimming, canoeing, taking walks, going to the movies, playing games, enjoying each others’ company. Boring? Never!

Judith’s story of going on holidays on the back of Clem Kelly’s truck may bring back other memories for some of our readers. How many would remember the outings with the Presbyterian Fellowship group on the back of Norm Powe’s truck in the late 1940s- early 1950s? Sitting on forms or egg boxes… Picnics all around the district – Wallacia, Cattai, Bobbin Head, Patonga, Ettalong, Audley, Hollywood Park… Dances at Wilberforce, Marayla… Carol Singing at Christmas. Singers on the back of the truck with the pedal organ also hoisted aboard to supply the music.

by Clarrie Neal

Compiled by Clarrie Neal from photos and information provided by – Laurie Hession and Ron Mason (Rouse Hill and Nelson), Sid and Terese Bye, Peggy Webster, Lachie Lumsden, Phyllis Knight, Beryl Teale and Bill Griffin (Marsden Park and Schofields), Eric Brookes, Des Cartwright (Riverstone) and from the Cumberland Argus and the Windsor & Richmond Gazette.

From the earliest days of white settlement it appears that social cricket matches were played on a regular basis between teams from Marsden Park, Schofields, Quakers Hill, Rouse Hill, Box Hill, Nelson, Riverstone and Forresters (now known as Maraylya).

Box Hill-Nelson. Members of the Mason family have always figured prominently in the teams of the district and Ron Mason has in his possession medals presented to two brothers Mick and Sam by the Riverstone Club in 1894-5. Also in his possession is a medal presented to Ern Mason, another brother, in 1909 for the best bowling average with the district Cumberland Cricket Club.

In the book Riverstone Schofields A Community Survey, Henry Saundercock in an interview in 1934 recalled a cricket game played in 1883 between four members of the Hayes family and four members of the Mason family finishing in a tie.

Cricket pitches in the late 1800s were often no more than a levelled area of ground in a cleared paddock. Some may have had a half concrete slab at one end, which in later years may have been covered with a bituminous layer of malthoid. Sometimes a coir matting was used to cover the concrete to provide a better playing surface.

In the late 1800s there was a cricket pitch located in Mason’s paddock alongside the Nelson Public School. Old district family names such as Robbins, Smith, Hynds, Ouvrier, Cusack, Hession and Mason figured prominently amongst the players.

There was also a concrete cricket pitch located on Hughie Mason’s property at the end of Nelson Road. Along with Hughie and his sons Jack and Martin, other regular players were Reg Keen, Stan Edwards, Vince Hession, Leff Aksamentoff, Frank Maguire, Bob Purvines, and Danny Rasmussen.

Forresters (Maraylya). The team of 1906 included H. Mason, J. Hession, W. Mason, J. Smith, W. Shields, O. Hobbs, R. Hobbs, Green, L Fletcher, R. Mason and H. Forrest. The Forresters pitch was located in Will Cusack’s paddock at the corner of Boundary Road and Maguires Road

It would appear that most of the teams from the district were formed only when enough players were keen enough to organise themselves, and seldom had the support of an ongoing club. The Gazette in 1902 reported on a cricket match between the single and married employees at the Riverstone Meatworks.

Social matches against neighbouring areas have always been popular and were regularly played. This is understandable when one considers the problems of transport in those days. Occasionally these towns would enter a team in the Parramatta or Hawkesbury competition, maybe playing for several seasons before interest waned.

The book A Battle Against The Odds refers to the pitch near the Nelson school being the venue of many exciting cricket matches, where the men of the district gathered to display their talents in sport. Some large trees still standing on the Nelson Road frontage would have provided shade for the participants and the spectators.

The Windsor & Richmond Gazette 10th April 1897 reported on a match between Riverstone and Nelson with 10 members of the Mason families in the two teams. The Nelson team was comprised of four members from each of the Mason and the Hession families, two Smiths and a J. O’Keefe. The Riverstone team consisted of six members of the Mason family and F. Jones, A. Wiggins, W Hansell, A. Montgomery, and S. Schofield. Nelson beat Riverstone outright in this match, scoring 180 to Riverstone’s 23 and 43, with P. Hession and J. Hession the best bowlers. The game was watched by 100 spectators.

Marsden Park. The club was formed in c1932 and it was a family affair with Joe Griffin as Captain, Bill Griffin as Secretary and their father Tom looking after the ground. Their pitch was located in Tom’s paddock on the corner of Carnarvon and Clifton Roads. It was a concrete pitch that was covered with coir matting for their matches.

The club entered a team in Parramatta competition and some of their regular players were ‘Dinky’ Knight, Les and Bert Alderton, Vic and Eric Gallen, Harry Nairn, Ken Bruce, Bill and Ronnie Carr, Jim Voysey, Jack Vidler, Ernie Benny, Darcy Mills, R .Valt, L. Strachan, W. Lambert, A. Cuddihy, and Jack Mills.

The team often travelled to their away games on the back of a table top truck owned by Bill White. The players paid Bill two shillings each for their fare, and also paid another two shillings each to pay for the ball and the umpire.

During the 1940s and 50s Ted Gallen and members of his family were prominent in these teams, with Eric Gallen taking over 100 wickets in the season on four occasions. Vic Gallen was the team’s wicket keeper and proved very handy with the bat, scoring 157 not out in one match.

Tom Aisbett, the local school headmaster was another regular player. Other regulars were Sid and Lew Bye, Norm Schofields, Dick Dwyer, Frank Riley, Dan Rasmussen, Fred Burden, and Jack Mason.

One of the better known players with the club was Jack Mills. Jack is best remembered for the day he disagreed with the umpire when given out LBW. No matter how hard he tried to explain that he wasn’t out, the umpire refused to change his decision, so Jack clobbered him. The result was that Jack was banned from playing cricket and never played competition again. He was offered the opportunity to return if he apologised but refused to, saying the umpire should apologise to him. The ban remained for many years.

The club’s ground was a popular venue for teams from all over Sydney seeking a social game in the country. Bill Griffin recalled many of these games against teams from Rozelle, the Police Dept. and also the occasion the Cumberland 1st grade side came up for the day.

The club played regularly in the Parramatta comp. from the 1930s to the 1950s. Several of the Marsden Park players transferred to the Schofield club when it was formed in the late 1950s.

Schofields. The Schofields club was quite active during the 1920s with the club fielding a B grade team in the Parramatta competition for several years and in 1927 they entered two teams, one in B grade and one in C grade

Wally Williams, who owned the Produce and Hardware Store at Schofields for more than 40 years was the club’s greatest supporter. He was a good batsman, has scored over 500 runs in a season, and became the club’s patron for many years. Other names featured in the teams of this era include Stan Allen, R. and E. Palmer, W. Chandler, K. Rabey, A. Jeffery, F. Pye, R. Bell, W. Bassell, A. Kerim, J. Schofield, G. and J. Alderton, G. Pomfret, W. Turner and W. Saundercock.

The Schofields Cricket Club lapsed for some time and was again formed on 30th July 1958 with Bobby Hobbs – President, Jim Demmery – Treasurer, and Siddie Bye as Secretary. The club entered two teams in the Parramatta District Competition, a senior team and an under 15 years junior team. Their home ground was Schofields Park, located between St Albans Road and Station Street.

The following season the club entered teams in the B3, B5 and under 15 junior team, with the B3 team winning the competition. In the 1960-1 competition the club entered three senior teams one junior U/15 team. President that year was Albert Christie, with Ron Sandell the Secretary and Jim Demmery the Treasurer.

After a promising start the club struggled and disbanded at the end of the 1965 season. It reformed in the 1973-4 season with Lachie Lumsden as President and Geoff Pfister as Secretary and entered two teams in the Parramatta competition. The support of a strong committee has allowed the club to continue to prosper to the present day. Over the years it has proved to be the district’s strongest and most successful club.

In 1976 the club transferred from the Parramatta district to the Hawkesbury District competition, entering five senior teams, one in each grade, and two junior teams. For its home games the club used the ovals at Schofields Park, Oakville and sometimes the oval at Vineyard.

The backbone of any good club is its committee members and the Schofields Club has honoured the following players with Life Membership – Herb (Dinky) Knight, Siddie Bye, Vic McWilliam, Lachie Lumsden, John Pringle, Laurie Lane, Ken Birdsey, Colin Coleman, Vince Cole, Brian Whelan, George Stanley, Geoff Lopez, and Geoff Pfister.

Many of the player’s wives became keen supporters of the various clubs and carried out the duties of scorers. Two ladies who regularly performed this task were Terese Bye and Grace Mills.

Riverstone. It is believed the first Riverstone pitch was located at the rear of where the Hotel now stands. During the 1920s-30s the pitch was located in the Meatworks paddock, which at one stage was the Riverstone showground.

Des Cartwright recalled two of the stories related to him by old timers – the day ‘Treacle’ Alcorn hit a ball from the pitch in the Meatworks paddock over to Knights garage – a mighty hit; and how the oldtimers used to sneak over to the hotel to fill their billy cans with beer to help them through the game.

Some cricket reports in the Windsor and Richmond Gazette show –

20th January 1900:- “W. Mason playing with the Riverstone team last Saturday carried his bat through the innings putting together a score of 100. The other player to go over the century was Arthur Sherwood, who is also with the Riverstone club.” The point score showed Riverstone running 2nd and playing against teams from Pitt Town, Oakville, Windsor, Richmond, Castlereagh, H.A. College, Park Villa and Military.

January 1906:- a Riverstone team of B. Eather, B. Freeman, Dr Blue, J. Myers, B. McCarthy, J. Stubbs, L. Eather, A. Eather, Drayton, Anderson and Mellish. In a match against Ashfield Dr Blue scored 101 not out.

October 1921:- Riverstone fielding an A Grade team and a B Grade team in the Hawkesbury competitions. Names that appeared in A grade were Frank Mason, W. Mason W. Andrews, W. Wiggins, Herb Freeman. B grade – C. Schoffel, T. Fletcher, S. Clark, C. Robbins, W. Anderson, F. Rosa, A. Wood, B. McCarthy, J. Freeman, H. Davis, and B. Hurley.

The Cumberland Argus shows Riverstone teams in the Parramatta A grade competition from 1926 to 1930. Some of the players were – Frank Mason, Horace Bambridge, Frank Parkinson, Herb Freeman, Ossie Robbins, A. Brookes, J. Somers, D. Beutel, Charlie Robbins, Wally Williams, T. Woods, R. Wenman, Harry Davis, Darcy Mills, N. Wiggins, N. Alcorn, Freddy Burden.

The Cumberland Argus reported Frank Parkinson scoring a double century in one of their matches. The club also entered a C grade team in 1928 with the players – R. Wilson, N. Pye, Arthur Britton, Roy Gavin, J. Schofield, ‘Tiger’ Locke, Dave Jennings, A. Gavin, T. Gavin and O. Day.

The Gazette in 1936 shows teams from Riverstone and Vineyard playing in the Hawkesbury competition. Players in the Riverstone team were Arthur Britton, Wally Cornwell, T. Greentree, ‘Tiger’ Locke, F. Alcorn, H. Bambridge, Les Britton, Dave Jennings, J. McCarthy, Ted Asher, D. Powell and P. Cassidy.

In the late 1930s the Riverstone Meat Co. supported B and C grade teams in the Parramatta competition – they were known as Riverstone Imperial. In addition to the names above, new players included Milton Jarrett, W. Miller, Ron Andrews, F. Walls, R. Higgins, Lawson Banks, and Sam Lane.

Eric Brookes recalls playing in a C grade competition in the Parramatta district in c1947. Some of the boys he played with were Kevin Greenhalgh, Laurence Glew, Barry Allen, Colin Schofield, Ray Brookes and Ron Brown. He recalled Basil Andrews keeping the gear in a shed at his place. It was just after the war with the gear in a very dilapidated condition and due to a scarcity of materials it was difficult to replace.

They played against teams from Rydalmere, Parramatta, Westmead, Girraween and Doonside and travelled on the train to their grounds. It was often a long walk from the station to these ovals and he recalled when playing Doonside they would catch the train to Blacktown, then walk along the railway line carrying all their gear to the ground at Doonside.

Des Cartwright recalls Riverstone playing in the early 1950s in the Parramatta competition with their home ground on Griffin’s paddock at Marsden Park. He too remembers travelling by train and the long walks to the grounds at Wentworthville and Girraween. Some of the players were Alwyn Mills, Colin Crouch, Kevin Lewis, Charlie Weaver, Colin Bull, Johnny Waters, Matty Johnston, ‘Butch’ Grey and Ronnie Brown.
In the mid 1950s the football club supported a team in the Parramatta C grade competition and along with the players mentioned above were ‘Dosser’ Drayton, ‘Butch’ Drayton, Jim Patterson, Dick Dwyer, Dick Greenway, Manny McCarthy, ‘Binjo’ Webster, Norm Schofields and Colin Hayward. Records show Ron Brown won the best bowling average in 1955-6 for this grade.

Most of the above mentioned players formed the nucleus of the team the Riverstone RSL Club supported for several seasons in the Hawkesbury competition, commencing 1958-9. They won the 2nd grade comp. in 1958-9, and were again successful in 1960-1 when they won the 3rd grade competition with an undefeated record. The Riverstone RSL Club continued to support the Cricket Club throughout the 1960s and 1970s, playing in both the Hawkesbury and Parramatta competitions.

Vineyard. Several boys from Riverstone played for a Vineyard team in the Hawkesbury competition in c1952, including Norm Jennings, Alwyn Davis, Neville Stockwell, Ronnie Brown, Charlie Weaver, and Clarrie Neal.

The game of cricket continues to be popular in the district, with teams still being fielded by Riverstone and Schofields. These days the competitions extend to both men and women with junior teams consisting of boys and girls.

by Vikki Durrant

On 5 November 2002, an Official Ceremony was held recognising the consolidation of the Infants and Primary Departments of the Riverstone Public School on to the one site in Elizabeth Street. Vikki Durrant, President of the Parents and Citizens Association gave a moving speech on the day. At the request of the Historical Society Vicki provided a written copy for the journal.

For Judith, as requested a copy of my speech that was greatly influenced by your commitment and dedication to our school and community, you’ve been an inspiring role model.

Hello, I’ve been asked to speak today as the representative of our school community. On this special occasion, commemorating our consolidation we need to take a moment to recognise the major contribution of the very many people that aren’t able to be here celebrating with us, but who, without their input, we would also not be here today. To all the families and staff, too numerous to mention, that are our history. The importance of this endless list of people is very difficult to express, except to say, there is no present without the past.

As a member of today’s Opening Ceremony committee, I know how difficult it was to decide on today’s guest list, and due to space restrictions, impossible to include everyone from our past.

On behalf of today’s school community, we would like to take this opportunity to extend our thanks, appreciation and gratitude to those absent friends for all they did to get us to this point in time. We ask everybody here today to please share these sentiments with the wider community.

Riverstone began as a semi-rural country town. If it needed or wanted something, the community had to work together to get it. That is why, here in our town, we have almost every kind of sporting club, religious group and recreational activity available, because in Riverstone you don’t sit back and wait for things to happen, you get together and work out how to get it done! It is because of that ethos that Riverstone has so much to be proud of which is reflected in our wonderful Riverstone Fair.

Riverstone Public School is a major and important component of the foundation of Riverstone. It began from a need to provide an education for the children of this community and next year we will be celebrating 120 years of doing just that. We DO plan to celebrate and everybody is invited!

The many changes this school has endured as it has developed into what we have here today is not only a great credit to our staff and students, but also to public education, which, over time, has expanded to provide this community with our own Riverstone High School, founded in 1962 and, more recently, Wyndham College in 1998. Riverstone also now has ‘Casuarina’, another public education facility for children with specific needs, to be based in our old infants’ site and due to officially open in the near future.

Riverstone Public School was founded in 1883, in the building known today as the Riverstone Historical Society Museum in Garfield Road, and then it began to grow. It relocated across the street, to what is affectionately known as “the old infants’ site” in Garfield Road, in 1929. The school continued to grow and, in 1957, the primary students moved to this site, Elizabeth Street. Again it grew to meet the needs of the community, so that, in 1977 our own Preschool opened in Piccadilly Street. There we stayed, on three sites for 25 years, until this year, 2002.

Many years ago a few Riverstone people got together and started talking, as you do in Riverstone. They decided that being split over three sites wasn’t good enough for our students. Our children deserved better. Our school needed to be together on one site and so the battle began.

For those of us here today we need to pay tribute to those that went before us in our fight to consolidate. This has been a team effort, a marathon relay race where most of us here at the finishing line have never met those who began the race. And yet, over the years, we have been able to hand the baton on, because we all had the same determination to reach our goal, “one school on one site”.

Our school is family based. Many of our ‘all star’ students sitting here today are members of families whose parents and grandparents were students of Riverstone Public School. It is that community spirit and influential parental involvement that has been integral to our survival and the force behind our consolidation.

I believe that our community spirit stems from our pride in Riverstone, which for most of us, begins with our pride in, and our love of, our children, the stars in our eyes. Every generation has wanted to provide the best they could for their sons and daughters, and this was the inspiration behind demanding we have a school that our children deserved. Even though our older children will never have the opportunity to benefit from the new facilities. They were the reason the baton carriers kept going and the flame stayed alight.

What does this consolidation mean for our school’s future?

• For parents it means dropping off and collecting your children from one school.
• For the P & C it means one modern canteen, only having to employ one supervisor, one roster, one Uniform Shop, and being able to focus our fundraising on one site.
• For staff it means only one lawn to mow and one site to maintain, no more walking or driving to each site, one staff room downstairs and no more us and them.
• For the school community it means one office, one address, one assembly and better communication and for our students it means brothers and sisters together on one site.
• It means no more wasting time walking the streets to get to the library, computers, special days or whole school assemblies and then, walking back again.
• It means bright, modern classrooms and furniture, clean, new toilets.
• It means assemblies inside our new hall.
• For these students, and the students of the future, their school lives will include many more hours of education our past pupils spent “in transit”.
• It means we finally have a school to match the quality of education that has always been provided on the inside.
• It means this school is now like other schools, “one school on one site”.
• It means a wonderful future for Riverstone Public School.

As our P & C Association started to believe that the consolidation was to become a reality, and we began to glimpse that light at the end of the tunnel, we decided it was time to officially commemorate our school’s history.

Through the hard work and research of one of our very dedicated parents and past students Mrs Karen Stalker, nee Keegan, with Mrs Judith Lewis, past student, teacher and parent, and to whom our library is dedicated, and the Riverstone Historical Society, Riverstone Public School’s P&C Association is proud to present the school with two gifts, in recognition of our Consolidation Celebration – A Principals’ Honour Board and a past School Captains’ Honour Roll Board, dating from 1960, which I now present to Ms Mavromati.

I would like to close by saying, as the song says, “Only shooting stars break the mould”, well, we set our sights high, and we have finally broken that split site mould! Lastly, to everybody who has ever been or will ever be a part of our wonderful Riverstone Public School BE PROUD, because I know I am!

Thank you.

by Clarrie Neal

Aub Gillespie was born in 1917 in Bathurst, NSW and lived there until 1940. Like many other lads in country towns he only had a few years of schooling. As a youth he was a keen cyclist and loved road racing, being a regular competitor in the Bathurst to Lithgow and the Bathurst to Orange races. As a 16 year old he competed in the Goulburn to Sydney Classic and though he finished in the middle of the field he was the youngest competitor that year to finish in the stipulated time.

For Aub to get to Goulburn was quite an achievement in itself. On Thursday he rode his bike from Bathurst to Sydney and stayed overnight at the Peoples Palace. On the Friday he rode his bike from Sydney to Goulburn, stayed overnight, then competed in the big race to Sydney on the Saturday. He spent Sunday resting in Sydney and on Monday he rode the bike back home to Bathurst.

Aub loved boxing and at the age of 17 was billed as the Lightweight K.O. King of the West. Aub said he now looks back on a career of 40 fights in the ring, 300 tent fights and 40 street fights.

Later Aub developed an interest in motor bikes – his first bike was a B.S.A., then an Ariel and his last bike was an Indian. It was on the Indian that he performed his stunt riding, appearing with the American Putt Mossman and his group that were touring the western towns. Sometimes these appearances were followed by an exhibition boxing match, often against Putt who Aub said was a very good boxer. Putt wanted to take Aub back to America to perform but the war intervened so he enlisted in the RAAF, doing his initial training at Richmond, NSW, then Mildura, Victoria and finally at Charters Towers, Queensland.

Two trophies in the cabinet that he is very proud of are the Vultee Aircraft Trophy and the Old Mill Stadium Cup, won in 1942 at Mildura, Vic. The Vultee was a fighter plane used to train the U.S. and Australian pilots during the war, and the trophy was donated by the American pilots.

He then spent four years of service with the RAAF in New Guinea and the Pacific Islands. He was a man who firmly believed in physical fitness and as he loved boxing, he figured prominently in their regularly held boxing tournaments. Aub said although he got along very well with the Yanks, he loved fighting against them because they always had more money and better trophies.

After the war he was discharged in 1946 and came to Riverstone, buying a house in West Parade, then known as Railway Parade. It was here in this backyard he built the “Outer Town Gym”. Besides the boxers training there the gym proved very popular with the local footballers and some of the names Aub remembered were Peter Rosa, Barney Doolan, Bill McNamara, Dickie Stacey, Eric Gunton, and Dessie Cartwright.

Aub had the misfortune to lose a lot of equipment from the gym when it was flooded to a depth of four feet during the flood that swept the area in 1961. Equipment destroyed included all the padding on the floor of the ring and surrounds, gloves and mitts, a piano and a film projector that was used to show old time boxing and training films.

Several of the boys who trained under Aub in the gym went on to become very competent boxers and won NSW and Australian titles …

• Colin Clarke from Maraylya – was trained early in his career by both Aub and Georgie Cafe and went on to become the Lightweight Champion of Australia.
• Norm Harvey – won the Light Heavyweight Championship of NSW.
• Georgie Cafe – fought under the name of ‘Digger’ Williams and is described by Aub as being the best street fighter he has ever seen in action.
• Merv Cobb – from Seven Hills was another well known and successful heavyweight fighter. Aub recalled getting Merv to don 26 ounce gloves that were imported from America to save his sparring partners getting hurt.
• Jimmy Woods – another heavyweight who trained regularly at the gym and had many successes. Jimmy was the last man ever to fight the great Dave Sands.
• Alan Williams – held both the Light Heavy and Heavyweight championship titles of Australia.
• Other well known boxers who trained at Aub’s gym were Jimmy McHenery, Johnny Blumanis, Arthur Luland, and Jack Dempsey (it was his real name).

Aub’s first job when he came to Riverstone was driving a truck for Don Lamont who had a carrying contract with Riverstone Meat Co. Later he bought Joe Smith’s taxi and a year later bought Norm Heather’s taxi, with Norm continuing to drive for Aub.

Aub remembered the rough dirt roads that existed around Riverstone in those days, the corrugations and the gutters, and when it rained, getting bogged. He said the roads in the Marsden Park area were notorious for getting the taxis bogged.

The taxi business in the 1950s was not a great money earner. Aub said you would often drive to the station to meet the arrival of a train and not get a fare. However he operated the taxis for 25 years, finally selling the four cabs to a Mr Lowenthal.

To get additional income in the 1950s Aub used to travel to the boxing tent events that were held at all the districts shows and carnivals. These boxing tents were run by such showmen as Jimmy Sharman, Les McNabb, and Dickie Tuite. Aub said in those days you received ten shillings per round which wasn’t much but you could always get a bet on the side.

Aub commenced his career as a showman and comedian in the Islands during the War when doing a tap dancing and comedy act at the concerts for the troops. Somebody who recognised him from those days introduced him to the hypnotist, the Great Franquin, and he was invited to appear on the stage with him.

His first appearance on the stage resulted in Aub becoming appropriately enough, Cassius Clay (now known as Muhammed Ali). As he performed his skipping, shadow sparring and “I am the greatest ” routines he was so successful he brought the house down.

This success led to Aub appearing on many of Franquin’s shows. However, there was the time Franquin changed the script slightly and Aub became the world’s greatest violin player. Aub felt terrific, played with such charm and to him it sounded so great, and was delighted after the show to receive the compliments from so many in the audience.

Aub really believed he was on to something and some time later went up to Windsor and bought a violin. No matter how hard he tried he could never play it, he still can’t, and after 30 years still has the violin, and it has never been played.

Aub became very good friends with Franquin, with daughter Gail Gillespie becoming Franquin’s stage hostess and travelling all over Australia and New Zealand with the show. This exposure on the Franquin show enabled Aub to become a part time actor who has appeared in over 60 films and TV series, and numerous TV advertisements.

• Films and TV series he has appeared in include –
• Love Boat – as a wealthy tourist and seen with a girl on each arm.
• Cries from Beyond – as a priest.
• Phar Lap – as another horse trainer.
• Five Mile Creek – appeared in early episodes as an English gentleman, Mr Abernethy.
• In The Timeless Land – Aub played dual roles as an English gentleman and as a convict. Much of this TV series was filmed on site at Schofields and Aub recalled that when watching shooting dressed as the gentleman there would always be a girl on his arm. When dressed as a convict nobody wanted to know him.
• The Dismissal – played the role of the Minister Fred Daly.
• Country Practice – appeared in numerous episodes of this TV series as a country gentleman, as a piano player, and various other roles.
• The Young Doctors – often played the role of a sleeping patient and recalled the day he did go to sleep and the rest of the cast left him there. He also played the role of a patient in Sons and Daughters.

Other films and TV shows he appeared in include Mad Max, Burke and Wills, Kitty and the Bagman, and Archer.

Some of the better known advertisements he has appeared in are –

• The Jeldi ad – as a bagpipe player.
• Smith Chips – as the Stage Coach driver
• Kentucky Chicken – has appeared in two ads, as Colonel Ponsonby and then as a Digger.
• The Raine and Horne 100 year ad – played the grandfather.
• I.M.B. Building Society – the wounded farmer.
• Grace Bros. – the German musician playing the piano accordion in the Octoberfest ad.
• Sitmar Cruises – played the role of a gentleman passenger. Aub said it was tough work to make this ad – he had to go on a 14 day Sitmar cruise around the Pacific Islands while the ad was being produced!

Aub Gillespie passed away on the 1st April 2002 aged 84, and was buried at St Matthew’s Church at Windsor.

by Rosemary Phillis

Jack Pearce passed away on the 2nd June 1998, aged 97. In January 1996 I had the pleasure of spending a morning with Jack sharing his memories of his life in Riverstone. Later his daughter Dorothy Bridle kindly added some information to update the article.

I was born on the 14th March 1901 in the family home in Lytton Road, behind the Riverstone cemetery. My parents were Arthur and Emma Pearce whose ancestors arrived in Australia in 1802 and settled at Yarramundi. I was the youngest of seven children, (five sisters and one brother).

When I was young my family moved into the township, first Piccadilly Street, and later to 24 Mill Street. There were too many floods and bushfires out in Lytton Road and life was hard.

My father was the caretaker of the Meatworks Manager’s home, his name was Mr Quinn. I also had to take care of all his animals, poultry, cows and pigs; two of my sisters, Chris and Ivy were employed to do the housework and cooking.
I attended school in the town, it was where the local museum is now. My first job was at Stewarts Shoe Store, situated at the end of the Parramatta Arcade. Wages were low, so I had the opportunity to become an apprentice jockey, the wages were better and board was included. I trained and rode at the Randwick stables and handled all Samuel Hordern’s horses, and rode in some races. In those days there were plenty of good experienced jockeys like Alby Woods and Jimmy Pike, and they would be chosen before me. I had two days off weekly and would usually ride in country races.

During World War 1 there were many events at Mulgrave, Penrith and Clarendon to raise money for the war effort and I rode many winners. I was a jockey for about three and half years, then gave up because of my weight. I started at 6 stone 10 pounds and when I terminated I weighed 10 stone.

I was interested in many sports and took up bike riding, we had a bike club in town. I purchased my first bike at 14 years of age, my mother took me to Sydney to buy it. A good bike would cost about 5 or 6 pounds (10 or 12 dollars).
My father was the main wood cutter in town for many years. My brother Percy (known as Joe) and I helped him to cut the wood out at Jericho (near Windsor Downs). We had three or four horses and drays working and a small sawmill at the back of our home in Mill Street. We would saw down the trees, split them into portions using a wedge and a maul, and once the wood was in smaller pieces, load it onto the drays and bring it back to the sawmill. Using the circular saw it was cut into posts and bakers wood, taken to the railway station, loaded onto rail trucks and transported to Sydney.

The circular saw was run by a small motor that never caused us any problems for six years, the only maintenance required was to sharpen the blades. This was done by Clarrie Magennis, an expert sawman who was head of the railway sawmill (where the produce store is now). They would cut two or three rail truck loads a day there.

Jim Ouvrier would also bring in timber from his sawmill at Box Hill. He had a horse team and wagons and would drive down Garfield Road, sometimes having problems if the railway gates were closed and the horse team had to stop; it was a bit tricky making that right hand turn to the sawmill, though often someone would lend a hand.

I can remember riding my horse out in the bush just to watch this man bring his horse team fully loaded through the bush tracks, just missing tree stumps by inches. It was a marvellous sight, he was a very good horseman.

My father also carted water for the people in town, as running water was not connected until 1934.There were two private water wells in town, Petchells and Lobbs, and during the droughts these two wells helped keep the town supplied. We loaded the water by hand, pulling it up in a bucket and pouring it into a tank on the back of a horse drawn dray. The tank had a tap which allowed the water to run into containers. A lot of families would go to the creek to do all the family washing.

My brother and I carted manure from the Meatworks, collecting it from the sheep stage, loading it onto drays and carting it to whoever ordered it. Rumery’s orchard needed a lot for their fruit trees. We also worked carting gravel from the side of Rumery’s hill, at the top of Garfield Road, and this was used on the Windsor Road, before 1921.

After 1921, I worked at the Meatworks in every section. Money and jobs were in short supply and sometimes I would work all day then go back and do the night loading, it was all hard work.

Like most boys in town I used to box. I can remember taking part in boxing matches in the Picture Show, where there were five or six matches every second night. One of the boys, Billy Teale became a champion boxer in the Army. After the war he returned and taught boxing, in my time you mainly taught yourself. In later years Aub Gillespie had a boxing gym over the railway line.

I also played cricket and football. We had many good players and the Meatworks committee organised various sports. About 1930 I joined the Windsor Bowling Club and played for years.

I was always keen on fishing and fished from Eastern Creek through to Windsor and Pitt Town. South Creek was good as it was tidal, I would catch mullet, eels, perch and sprats. I had to look out and be careful of the snakes, as they would swim across the creek and I had to hit them with a stick before they got me. Some of my fishing mates were Jack Chalker, George Ardle, Garnet Shepherd,Charlie Johnson and Jack Gunton.

Storekeepers from times gone by were John Darling, Bambridges, Charlie Davis and Cohens. Griffin and Beutel were shoe repairers in the town but I would always repair my own as I learnt shoe repairing at my first job. In my time I learnt whatever I could, just to survive.

In 1935 I married Grace Field at St. Paul’s Church in Riverstone and we first rented a house in Mill Street, then purchased land in William Street and lived there for over 30 years. There was no water connected in the street until about 1950. We had to depend on tank water and when it ran out, had to draw water with a horse and cart. We had a mixed farm and had some greyhounds, we grew whatever we could just to make ends meet.

My wife and I had four children. As we were both getting older, we decided to sell our property and in 1971 purchased a house in Regent Street. My wife passed away in 1992 and I intend to stay here for the rest of my life, I have excellent neighbours around me, so what more can I wish for.