Laughing in the Library

Wednesday 19th September - Over the last months Wednesdy has been our regular meeting time at Mitchy Library. Some days start slow, this Wednesday did, but by about 3pm we were really busy scanning images, assisting with computers, recording stories.

And what great stories they were! There was the clothes prop man who lived up in the bush at Keperra, Micky Flynn. If children gave him any cheek he'd whip off his belt and start to chase them - a difficult thing to do as the kids were fast and Micky's trousers fell down around his ankles as soon as he pulled the belt off! Much laughter in the library. More laughter remembering Micky taking his horse to the Alderley pub where the horse would drink beer from Micky's hat.

And what about Charlie Tree's Dairy? Do you remember how the bull used to get out now and then and chase you! It was good to be a fast runner.

And catching the train home did you ever see a man who'd take out his bottom teeth and then his top teeth and swap them around? We all saw him that Wednesday afternoon when, for a while, we were all young again and laughing with glee and wonder at how strange and wonderful life can be. Then the stories of the night cart man - but maybe we'll save them up for another time!

Home in Glenholm

How many of our neighbours do we know? Two, three? Perhaps a few more? In the 1950's in Glenholm Street, Mitchelton lots of people knew each other. Christine Garrett created a map showing her neighbours when she was a child growing up in the street - plenty of people to play and talk with both sides and up and down the street. Here's a snippet of Christine's memories.

Growing up in Mitchelton in the 1950’s and 1960’s for me was great. Many of my friends either lived in my street or very close by, as did many of my relations. I was an only child but I was never bored or lonely. I always had people that I could talk and interact with. Looking back now I was very fortunate.

There was always someone to walk to and from school with. You just had to wait at the front gate for a couple of minutes and there would be someone going past that you could tag along with. After school there was never a shortage of people to play with. Some afternoons there could be as many as ten kids in one yard building cubbies or climbing trees or just riding bikes and scooters around.

For more of Christine's memories please visit her contribution 'Ten Kids Building a Cubby' on our Mitchy Memories wiki

Ferny Grove - a picnic and a platypus

Dawn visited the Mitchy Library to share some memories.
I went to Grandma’s day at St Paul’s school the other day and the kids asked me what we did for hobbies or entertainment and I said: “Go up to the graveyards and count the tombstones.” I don’t say that was very nice but that is what we did or go to Ferny Grove for picnics.

We were at Ferny Grove on a picnic when a team of ambulances went up Samford Road. We found out later that there was a train accident at Camp Mountain. I ask people now and they don’t even know that the train went further than Ferny Grove. I was at the station which was a big day for the opening of the electric train line.

We used to go to Ferny Grove for picnics a lot years ago. I remember my father caught a platypus out there, that was a novelty, you didn’t see many of them about then. For more memories Link here

Mitchy two up makes gardens grow!

On weekends in Mitchie there wasn’t a great lot to do. The young ones played sport (we had a great soccer team), cricket and tennis – while the older boys headed for the creek to play ‘two – up’ which of course was a no – no. So to be sure they were not caught by the police they needed a look-out person who was referred to as a ‘cockatoo’, someone who could climb a tree and run fast – hence my then husband had a little job on a weekend. His job was to give a warning to the players when the police were coming and then run like hell.

The players all scattered quickly and got into the Chinaman’s garden and picked up a gardening tool (fork or dagger) or just pretended to be weeding or picking thus escaping being caught.

I’m sure the policeman at the time, Sargeant Morris, knew all about the goings on and turned a blind eye.

Thanks to Betty Mead for her recollections - for more please visit our wiki
and here for another two up recollection

My Memories of Mitchelton

Are you ready for a dance? There were plenty of places to dance as Pauline Batterham tells us.

They held dances three nights a week. On Saturday at the Enoggera Memorial Hall. On Mondays at the hall which was on the corner of Glen Retreat Road and Samford Road, near the current cricket pitch. That hall was moved to the Convent of Our Lady of Dolours, it is still used as part of the school. Thursday night was at St. Matthews, “The Box” the best dance floor around at the time.

Then came the young girls turn, about a dozen of us became show girls. We did a revue at the Mitchelton Picture Theatre to raise money. I suppose for the war effort. I can’t remember, it was sooo good, we did two other shows one at Enoggera Camp and one at Redbank Plains Camp.

After the war the place quietened down, most of us married and continue to live here.

For all of Pauline's recollection visit our Mitchy Memories wiki.

Pounds, shillings and pence - some Marshall family memories

On the 28th. September 1953 Ron bought the 31.5 perches at 10 Ruby Road, Mitchelton for 240 pounds ($480-00). Most of the streets were unsealed at this time. About this time our Charles Hope fridge cost 100 Pounds ($200-00). On the 5th. July 1960 our HMV Kingstone TV from Jim Jeffrey, 40 Blackwood Road Mitchelton, cost 180 Pounds 5 shillings ($361-00). On the 7th June 1968 The Rover Mower and catcher from Gaythorne Mower Service cost $135 -00.

On the 10th August 1972 yearly rates were: General Rates $23-65, Water Rates $16-88, Sewerage $15-00, Cleansing $5-76 - Discount $5-76, Total $59-91.

In 1970 the telephone connection fee was $30-00 and $20-00 for six months rental.

Thanks to Beryl Marshall for these recollections. For more visit the Mitchy Memories wiki.

Sounds No Longer Heard in Mitchelton

Roosters in the early mornings,
The tinkle of milk bottles at the front steps in the early mornings.
The clanging of the rubbish tins as they were collected from the yard.
The sound of the council grader doing the road. Watched with much interest by young boys.
The postmans whistle when he delivered your mail on his pushbike.
The school bell.
The church bell at St. Matthews ringing at noon each day.
The steam train and the whistle when it left the station.
Beryl

Good swimming holes

My recollection of Mitchelton in the early twenties and early thirties, there were no bitumen roads or concrete channelling. Osborne Road was a blind street. No bridge crossing Kedron Brook. Many small crop farms. Some poultry farms all along Kedron Brook, even good swimming holes.

Talking about swimming holes, there were many along Taylor Road from the army camp to the junction of Lucy Street. Then it took a course through behind where the Mitchelton Library now stands continuing where the the Gaythorne RSL is through the Mitchelton sports ground. Eventually finding its way to Kedron Brook. The largest hole of the lot was about opposite Lucy Street, it was almost a mini dam. It was a drinking place for the cattle which roamed the area.

The time came when a timber bridge was built from Taylor road, across to Station View Street, this helping local residents and vendors of bread, milk and fruit.

Back in the early twenties a section of Samford Road was concreted from about Glen-retreat Road out past Dawson Parade. It was stated to have been an experiment, it also created work. It was eventually covered with bitumen.

Allan

Memories by Duncan - bare feet, birds and butterflies

'15th. August 1927 Aboard TSS Demosthenes.

Sailing up the Brisbane River. I was standing there and wondering what lay ahead and watching all the birds. I saw Pelicans and Storks in the flesh for the first time. We tied up at Dalgety’s wharf about 8-30am. Much rushing to and fro saying farewells.

We finished up at Central Station and caught the train out to Gaythorne and went to Tom O’Briens house at the bottom end of Bellevue Avenue. The road consisted of tracks for the horses and carts. To us, coming from Glasgow, it seemed to be away out in the country. Kedron Brook ran near us and I used to spend a lot of time down there watching the birds, butterflies and lizards. All along the banks of the creek were Chinaman's gardens growing vegetables. Our nearest neighbours were the Stocks, Duggans and Drakes. There were only a couple of houses between us and the station. Thought I was in heaven because it did not rain till Christmas and I could run around in bare feet.'

And so begins a beautiful letter written by Duncan Robertson. Many thanks to Peter for sharing this treasure with us. To read the letter in its entirety visit the Mitchy Memories Wiki.

The Fireball

Mitchy is full of good stories and there's lots of stories about the fireball. Here's Peg Nugent's memory of that exciting event.

'The night the fireball struck, I was outside the picture theatre and when the lightning surfaced with a fireball, it was like a big, blue flame, and you could see the little St Matthew’s Church flat against the flame.

So when it finished, after a while Jimmy Morris said to me, “Peg, I’m sure the fireball landed somewhere near us. Can we go and have a look?” So Jimmy Morris and I and one of the usherettes went looking for the fireball. Of course, Jimmy said it would be a big, dark patch where it landed.

In those days I loved to have lovely shoes, I was very proud of my shoes, and I wasn’t a bad runner. So we started off going across Bell’s Paddock looking for this big dark patch.

All of a sudden I saw the big, dark patch, and I said, “Jim, there it is!” He said, “That’s it! I said it would be a big, round dark patch.” So we took off like mad to see who’d get there first.

When we were nearly there, I realised what it was, and I’m saying to Jim, ‘Slow up! Slow up!” He thought I wanted to beat him. I couldn’t slow up in time and neither could he, but what happened was that the circus had been there from the week before, and they’d pegged the elephants out, and the elephants had walked around and around and around, and the next thing Jim and I were up to our ankles in mud and elephant poo! When we came back, we had to wash our shoes and our feet at the back of the theatre because I never thought for a moment that we were going to land in this.'

Thanks to Enoggera and Districts Historical Society and to Peg Nugent for kind permission to republish this extract of a talk which Peg gave to the Society.

Hungerford's Poultry Farm - fresh and free range

Greg Hungerford tells us his family farm is 'like paradise in the city.' In this extract from an interview Greg tells us about the beginnings of the farm. For the entire recollection visit the Mitchy Memories wiki.

'I live on a 52 acre property in Mitchelton which I have lived on all my life. My parents were commercial poultry farmers from 1947 to 1974.

My Mum had come to live in Mitchelton in July, 1927. She was born at Windsor and she lived on a farm at Lacey’s creek and then when my Grandfather (her father) brought the property in 1927 she came and lived at Mitchelton. My Mum and Dad got married on Australia Day.

My Dad was living near Chinchilla and he enlisted to join the Armed Forces and he came to the Grovely Army Camp and my mum and dad met at what was affectionately known as ‘The Box’, up here on Church Road (near St Matthew’s Church). They were engaged during the War and they got married on Australia Day 1946. For about one year my mum and my dad actually lived in Gosford, NSW when my other uncle and his wife were running the property but when my mum and dad came back to Mitchelton then they took it over and ran it as a commercial poultry farm. We had a few head of cattle on the property but it was never a commercial interest.

The farm was a free range poultry farm. We did not have any cages on the farm, we would carry the mash out to the chooks in the sheds and then you would carry the eggs back and take them down under the house and clean them and package them into two and a half dozen trays and then take them out to the customers. We had three egg runs a week: Monday, Thursday and Saturday. We sold all our eggs locally to local householders.'


Greg's property narrowly avoids fire in October 2005.

We're mapping Mitchy memories

One of the most interesting web aspects of this project has been an exploration of Google Maps. You may have already visited some posts that have links to Google Maps and seen that a map of all the recollections is being built. A link to the larger map is provided below - it is ok on dial up but will, of course, be much quicker to visit if you're using broadband.

Now it is also possible to embed the map as I have done below. We're looking forward to adding more and more streets and memories as we get closer to 29th September, the project celebration date.


View Larger Map

We lived around the wireless

John Cotterell invites us into his 1950's home in Heliopolis Parade, Mitchelton.

At home, we virtually lived around the wireless (not the radio!) Late p.m radio serials were especially popular whilst at weekends the fare was a mixture of sports broadcasts and drama shows such as provided by the Caltex Hour. Saturdays were often dominated by the serials and movies at the pictures (not the cinema). It was genuinely amazing how much fun could be had at the Gaythorne pictures for a mere sixpence!

Television arrived in the early 1960’s. We were very popular for a while with our neighbours when we acquired a black and white set in 1961. Managing homework became a whole new challenge.

Unique events for the times were interesting and generated much joy. The various circuses visited annually usually occupying the site between Gaythorne Bowls Club and Samford Road. An RNA-style carnival came to Mitchelton Oval every two years. Guy Fawkes night occurred every November – I still do not know how we survived each others diabolical adventures with fireworks.

To read more of John's recollections visit the Mitchy Memories Wiki.

We're enjoying Mitchy Memories!

Photos:
1.Daryll Bellingham shares some of the great Mitchy stories with Yr 6/7 at Mitchelton Primary School
2.Betty Fletcher and Peg Nugent meet up at 'Sing a Song of Mitchelton' workshop at Mitchelton Library
3.Kathy Fisher (Indigenous Coordinator Mitchy Memories Project) and Getano Bann (Singer / Songwriter Mitchy Memories) with young people who attended 'Sing a Song of Mitchelton'

Rob's Story

I moved to Mitchelton with my family when I was ten years old in 1950.The saw mill was behind our house in Blackwood Road. We kids used to shin up the posts to play in the sawdust bin as there was no ladder. Sometimes we were chased away by the workers milling the timber.

Our back yard used to get very wet so Dad devised a solution for our problem. There were steam trains turning around at Mitchelton to return to the city. They dumped their burnt ashes on the side of the line so Dad asked the station master if we could have the unwanted ashes to help our water problem. After permission was given, it was my job to wheel the barrow loads of ashes home after school. I was really embarrassed by all the passengers seeing me wheeling the barrow up the street, but the ashes solved Dads problem well. Our neighbours used sawdust from the mill but the water stayed on top & did not soak away as fast.

My mates and I as teenagers used to bike ride out to Ferny Grove and Samford. There was not much traffic in those days. We used to trap finches at Ferny Grove near the old night soil depot. What a smelly place.!!!

Another great pastime was sliding down the slimy open drain behind the neighbours across the road. It was best after rain.

I used to earn pocket money by helping my brother in – law when he went to the fruit & vegetable markets when they were in Roma Street. My sister and her husband had a Fruit Shop & Milk Bar in Blackwood Road.

Times sure have changed.