Stories

In 1927 at age 4, construction of the Southern Portland Cement works was started. Dad secured a job there as “Outside Yard Foreman”, we moved to a half completed house on the corner of Taylor Avenue and Howard Street while a home was completed by the company at the end near the bush in Argyle Street. While living in the first place mum did her washing and quite a lot of her cooking on the open fire in the backyard with a few sheets of iron for a Roof. 

New Berrima as it was known in those days consisted of about 30 homes, newsagent and grocery store, a bake house, and a shoe store run by a Mr Pendergast a tall straight man with a moustache. I think he was quite harmless but all kids gave him wide birth. 

Tom Stevenson came twice a week with fruit and veggies and Sid Cupitt delivered meat from Southern Mountains Butchery in Bowral and there were two or three hawkers with their covered carts who called regularly. Mail came through the post office at Berrima which we picked up on the way home from school. 

I started school Berrima primary just before my fifth birthday. We had to walk the 2 miles also through the bush and village of Berrima to the school which was at the northern end of village. It consisted of one main building divided into two rooms. The smaller one was for the first second and third class. The larger one had stepped tiers for the fourth fifth and sixth classes. Junior teacher was Miss Cosgrove and headmaster was Mr Brown who lived in the home attached to the school. He was a great believer in nature and instilled in all of us a love for the garden ,trees and natural bush life. He took great delight in taking us on nature walks in the bush which in those days surrounded the school. One morning after assembly he took the whole school on a half mile hike into the bush to show us a tree which have been splintered from top to bottom by a lightning strike the night before. I was fortunate to see a repeat performance was standing on our Veranda when a large tree all by itself in the paddock was hit. It made great kindling wood. 

As the depression years settled in dad was fortunate to have the job at SPC with five hungry kids to feed – me Dorothy, Donald, Marian, and Elsie – he was earning approximately 5 pounds (about $10) a week. Most of our vegetables were grown at home and chooks supplied eggs and meat. There were a pits dug at the back of the cement works which then consisted of one kiln in the hollow, so we get several kids together, form a line and drive rabbits till they fell into the pits which were four to six feet deep. Baked rabbit was always loved by all. 

Saturday we would go rabbiting with ferrets.  There were only three or four large landholders around in the works at that time, Stamn, Reynolds and Cowly’s on whose properties we roamed far and wide, although old man Stamn used to love to chases on horseback with the stock whip so we never got too close to his home. Reynolds brothers and Cowly brothers would offer us a drink and a stern warning to close the gates we went through. 

We would wander the bush watching and observing birds and their nests and saw a kookaburra kill and swallow a snake on a couple of occasions. 

Our home was close to the bush track we went to school on so all the kids from the subdivision congregated here in the morning and at precisely 8 o’clock we were sent on our way by Mum. First stop was about 300 yards into the bush where a large hollow log received the majority of the mob’s shoes and socks. This caused a spot of bother when a bushfire started during the school days. One kid got there and managed to save the shoes otherwise I think they would’ve been all a few sore bottoms that night. 

The Bush Telegraph swung into action if wind change brought smoke from the Works towards Village for Women to get clothes off lines otherwise they became a Sooty mess. We relied on the works whistle for time keeping: 6:30am, 7:30am, 8:00am, 12 noon, 4:00pm and midnight. 

Some days instead of taking the direct bush track from near the Catholic Church we would go straight up the highway to Taylor Avenue where we met Jack Missingham with his team of bullocks hauling logs to the SPC works sawmill. It was a slow and leisurely trip which we all enjoyed sitting at top the logs arriving home quite late from school. The mill was situated on the western side of the road near the water tank on the hill. 

Our main playground was a cement works themselves as all our fathers worked there. We would go down after school and weekends and had free run of the place. There were boys from from the Fraser, Smith, Anthon, Hill, Callaghan, McCarthy, Burgess, McDonald, McKay, Mc Dougal, and McKinnon families.  Note all the Scottish names and there were many more Scots who worked in the coal mine.

The works had a truck whose wheels were removed and railway wheels substituted. This was used by the paymaster Mr Richards with dad driving to take the pay to the miners at Midway Colliery 10 miles distance so they often had kids as passengers, legs dangling over the side of the tray. 

We would get jobs in the storeroom sorting bolts and nuts and general items on a Saturday morning and receive 3pence (3 cents) or 6pence (5 cents) which I think came out of the managers own pocket (a Mr Mackay).

On 24 May (Empire Day) we always had a huge bonfire. Dads, mums boys and girls all hopped in to lend a hand. A huge stack would be built approximately 12 to 15 feet wide and up to 20 feet high. A similar one would be built on the hill leading out of old Berrima near Harpers Mansion and both would be lit about the same time. The whole of New Berrima would attend, we had a wonderful time.