Signing off

It is time for me to end these memoirs .
I hope to be able to add another section dealing with life from my marriage in 1955 after  which I was once again  on the move that time to Cloncurry in Western Queensland.

Love to all
Hilary
Toowoomba, Queensland, 2016

Caloundra revisited

Most of our family holidays were spent on the Sunshine Coast at either Maroochydore or Caloundra. A famous landmark of Caloundra when we were children was the Rock Pool at King's Beach. This was a natural rock pool which had been made safe for swimming. It was not very large and was filled by the tides so one chose the best time of day to go there.

This photo would have been taken in Summer 1936/37  and shows Alan and me in the pool and Mum and Lois sitting on the side. Although I loved the water I could not swim at that time so you can see me staying close to the side!




This is how it looked in 1987...(when we took Fiona there and discovered that she could actually swim with no fear at the deep end.)

 

I was disappointed to see that the natural look had been replaced ; this obviously had become the district's pool where training etc could take place.  The general poition was still the same

 

This is how it looked recently...October, 2012.

 

 

Position the same but the pool has been  very modernised. The youngsters today wouldn't have the same thrilling experience of swimming "in the rocks" as my generation.

 

The Pavilion with change rooms etc and I think a small kiosk for sale of ice-creams and the like is still there. The change rooms are still in use but I done think the kiosk part  is operating anymore.

 

 

 

 

Bulcock Beach facing Pumicestone Passage  was another favourite place for us at Caloundra. It was very natural with still ( tidal) water with a jetty from which people liked to dive.  It hadn't changed much from that when we took our children there for holidays but they would see big changes now...

 

Bulcock Beach -  October, 2012

 

One of the reasons I like going now to the Sunshine Coast in October is that that is the time when lots of young families take a holiday there before the busy and more expensive summer season starts. It is a good experience for an "oldie" to see young families doing the same things on the beach as we did many years ago.

 

 

 

Maroochydore revisited

While on the recent holiday at Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast, Bill & I spent a day at Maroochydore . Each time I revisit the area I see how it has changed since I was a young child. In fact parts are changing rapidly from year to year.
 I described some of our childhood beach holidays in earlier posts. Here is a photo taken on the Maroochy river in earlier days...

Alan gives Hilary & Lois a ride on the Maroochy river.

The foreshore of the river area has been landscaped and made into an attractive picnic area with bbqs, shelters, playgrounds, etc. They have thoughtfully kept a small area showing how it used to be...

 

 

But most of it looks more like this...

 

 

It is still a great place to sit and enjoy the river view...

 

 

 

Where the river enters the ocean has changed many times. Several huge storms have done much damage to the ocean side  over the years. This is how it looks today...

 

 

That small island in the middle  background used to be part of the mainland and we would walk along the beach to it. After the storms and all the erosion of the sand dunes and beach it is now quite a distance out to sea. In the photo it looks as if joined to land across the other side but it is in fact quite a distance to sea on that side also.

. Some of the erosion shows in this  photo when viewed larger by clicking on it.

 

Some beach has been regained over the years using sandbag groynes  but it only takes  another big storm to alter things again

 

I cant help wondering what these areas will look like in the future when hopefully my grandchildren and their children visit there.

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 





The Early Fifties

In recent times there seems to have been an interest in fashion and dress of the 1950's. I was interested to see in a recent shoe catalogue that shoes similar to those I had worn to work are back in the stores. Looking at this photo a few years ago I would have thought they looked horrible...now I feel right in fashion!  Lace-ups with a heel...gloves and stockings!

well-dressed working girl early 1951.

 

Getting around

At last it is Spring here and I have been sorting out the winter clothes ready to clean and pack away until next year. We are off to Mooloolaba in a couple of weeks for our annual couple of weeks of sun, surf and sand...cant wait!
Thinking about what clothes etc to take and how our little VW Golf will be well packed for the trip over to the coast, I began wondering how our mother ever managed to pack for our annual holiday at the coast. Until 1949 we would have travelled by train from Brisbane, alighting at Palmwoods for Maroochydore or Landsborough for Caloundra...I think that is correct. Then we travelled by a "bus"...I use the term loosely as I seem to remember what was more like a converted truck with bench seats....over a dirt/sandy raod. this was great fun for the kids as we sang and played Ispy etc and had a competition to see who would first see the water. Must have been slow torture for the adults!

The luggage I think was towed behind in something. The rented houses or flats( units in todays terminology) where we stayed were not serviced and all household linen, cutlery etc had to be taken with us in "ports"...suitcases to you southerners! On some occasions I remember havingChristmas at the coast so presents would also have to be packed  and  all this had to be carried. I cant remember ever seeing my mother carrying a port and we didn't have backpacks or duffle bags then so however did Dad manage...even with Alan's help. I'll be thinking about that as I cram another bag of things into the Golf!

Dad bought the old Morris in 1949 ( Post-Car-1 April,2011) and we seem to have made quite a few day trips over the following few years as well as the annual coast holiday. During my high school days and later I was often able to take a friend with me on these holidays and day trips. This photo was taken at Somerset Dam in June 1949, and shows my friend Gill, Lois and me.

I also had a couple of holidays when I went with the same friends on their holidays...

Felicity and Hilary at Springbrook 1949

The north coast beaches were always part of my life...

Caloundra, 1949

 

Hilary & Bill

I mentioned in the last post that Bill & I were married in June, 1955. I think I mentioned earlier that I had first seen Bill back when we were living in Petrie and I was travelling to school by train. Bill and his brothers used to board the train at Bald Hills which is on the same train line as Petrie. Like any teenager I was aware of any other schoolkids on the train. However it was not until 1948 or 1949 when we moved to Bald Hills that I actually met the family. Our home at Bald Hills was in the front corner of a neighbouring farm. Bill and his brothers knew these people and we eventually met through them.
My memories of the following years are a bit vague but I know that there was a little group of us who went for picnics etc. I dont remember when Bill & I started going out together but here are a couple of photos taken at Balls. One is a University Commem Ball and I think the earlier one may have been my school's Old Girls Ball. Somewhere I have a group photos which shows us at Bill's Main Roads Ball.  I am in the process of clearing out drawers and cupboards and seem to be making myself more confused than ever as to where things are!.

 

 

 

Some events in Australia's history between 1948 and 1955

It is interesting to put one's own life against the backgound of the nation at different stages.

I finished school in 1948; June of that year saw the end of rationing of meat and clothing...though there were still shortages.

In January of 1949... the year I started work at the South Brisbane library... the Nationality and Citizenship Act was passed. From Australia Day ,January 26th, Australians would have their own citizenship, although they were to remain British subjects.  This applied to those born here and to naturalised people. It seems hard to believe that Australian citizenship, taken for granted today, did not exist until then.

In August, 1949 there was another serious polio outbreak; this time involving adults as well as children.

Rationing of petrol ended in February  and of butter in June, 1950. In July Australian troops were sent to Korea. Plans were made about this time to establish TV in Australia; it finally went to air in September that year.

In 1951... the year I went to Uni full-time... the School of the Air began broadcasting from the Flying Doctor base in Alice Springs; in August compulsory National Service of 98 days was introduced .

1952 saw Elizabeth crowned Queen after the death of her father King George V1

People greeted with relief the end of our involvement in the Korean war in 1953.

In 1954...while I was working full-time at the State Library... Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Australia. There was another polio outbreak so they were vaccinated in Canberra during their visit!

In 1955...Hilary & Bill were married!!!!

The working girl

It is quite some time since I have been down memory lane...too busy living in the here and now.
We have been on a wonderful cruise through the Panama Canal since I last posted here. Visited countries I would not have dreamt of visiting as a young girl...in fact probably had no idea they existed!

Hilary & Bill cruising through the Panama Canal
 

My previous posts  took these memoirs to the time I  finished my secondary schooling. Either late in 1948 or early in 1949, we moved from Wavell Heights to Bald Hills.

"Dumaresq", Bald Hills, Brisbane

 I thought at the time that I had had enough of study and to my parents' disappointment decided not to go on to University. I applied for and was accepted for a position as a trainee librarian at the South Brisbane Municipal Library. This was the only free lending library in Brisbane ( probably the state of Queensland) at that time. I was one of six school-leavers who started there early in 1949 . As it turned out, I was back to study as we had to attend lectures for the Preliminary Library Certificate of the Australian Library Board. This was the only formal library qualification available in those days. Now it is a University degree.Two mornings each week we went over to the State Library Of Queensland where we had to memorise the intricacies of the Dewey decimal System. We also had to memorise the details of a number of reference books. I cant be sure now but I think this involved about 50 books . We had to know all their publication details, date, edition ,publisher and authors or editors; number of volumes ;whether they had photos ,maps etc , a bibliography, index, list of contents...in fact everything about those books.  I had an idex card for each book and thought |I'd never be able to remember them all before the exam.
We sat for this exam in June 1950 and fortunately we all passed.


I'm on the right in front

At the same time I was still attending private lessons which led to my Art of Speech & Drama teachers qualifications; started piano lessons again, and continued with ballet for a while.
As Bald Hills was the northernmost suburb of Brisbane we travelled to the city mostly by train.  We could also walk down the hill from our home, across the Pine River and then catch a bus which came from Redcliffe. It was not permitted to stop within the Brisbane area which is why we had to cross the bridge to board it. When I was coming home at night the driver used to slow down enough to allow me to hop off at the top of the hill close to our house.
Although rationing was soon to stop, clothing was still in short supply so many of us made our own clothes. It was exciting to see fabrics coming back into the stores. In the above photo you may be able to make out a tartan jacket I'm wearing. I remember making this and Alan helping me as I had  the fabric spread out on the loungeroom floor trying  to match up the stripes etc of the plaid.
I worked for the Brisbane Council libraries through 1948 to early 1950 and was fortunate to be involved with the expansion of the Municipal library scheme.
I was sent to the Childrens section of the Hamilton library on its opening day ; later I was transferred to the new Stones Corner Municipal library. This was good experience as there were times when I was on my own . We were given very good training in many aspects of library work most of which is done by computers these days. Cataloguing etc was done on the premises; later from a centralised point and I think often now comes with the books , non-fiction anyhow, from the publisher. My local municpal library has recently introduced self-service check-out. I couldn't help comparing that to my early library days when each book had a card and each borrower a number . We had to write the borrower's number on the book card and these cards had to be filed before the library opened next morning. The books had a slip glued in the front where we stamped the date due for return.
It was around this time that I started getting eyestrain and eventually had to wear glasses. 

In 1950 I started evening classes at the Queensland University so study was full on again. I found that I actually enjoy studying!
 In 1951 I applied for what was known as a Commonwealth scholarship. These had been introduced for returned soldiers but became available to anyone. University courses were free but the scholarship paid for books which was a great help.
Having gained the scholarship I decided to resign and attend University full-time studying for my Bachelor of Arts.
I attended Uni from 1950-1953 working at the Queensland State library during vacations.

 Several friends and myself rented a unit at the coast to celebrate the end of our first exams.

Hilary at Maroochydore in December 1951

Incidentally I made those bathers as I could not buy any to fit me.

Living so far from the city meant that my social life was a bit limited. Sometimes I could stay overnight with ex-school friends. Most of these also turned 21 in 1952 so there were a few coming-of-age parties. Only a couple of these were formal events, mostly it was just a few close friends at home for the occasion.
The university students held dances for a couple of months before the annual Commem Ball. The purpose was of course so people could find a partner for the Ball...quite nerve-racking for the girls...but we wouldn't have missed going!
To get home after these I had to be sure to leave in time to walk quite a distance to where I could catch the last Redcliffe bus for the night. Although Brisbane was still a very safe city it was still not a comfortable walk around 11pm on my own. One n ight I stood at the bus stop for such a long time that I decided I must have missed it. I had enough money with me to catch a tram down to where I knew there would be a taxi rank. I was very anxious as I was not sure if a cab driver would be willing to take me all the way to Bald Hills, especially as he would have to wait while I asked Dad to come and pay him .
I was fortunate to have approached a very understanding driver...and as I said Brisbane was still a very safe and friendly city. Cant remember if Dad was waiting up for me ...he usually did...but I know he made sure I always had extra money with me after that night.

After graduation I gained appointment full-time at the Queensland State library.

Postscript to schooldays.

Though we didn't have school camps or major trips as schools organise today I do remember one great school outing while I was at Yeronga state primary school. It was probably pre-war so I would have been about 8. There was a steam ship named the SS Koopa which steamed from Brisbane to Redcliffe  and I think also to Moreton Island. The school may have had an annual picnic and on this occasion a family day was organised on the SS Koopa to Redcliffe. Mum made me a new outfit . I can still remember the floral material for the shorts and top. She also made a large sunbonnet to match...a sensible action as I have always burnt easily in the sun.  I grizzled all day about wearing that hat as I thought it was babyish! Ungrateful  young miss! I always had to wear a blouse under my bathing togs  and that also brought out the grizzles. I must have enjoyed the day on the whole as it is a fond memory!

Thanks to my son-in-law Brian for finding these photos for me.

I have mentioned earlier that my Grandfather Tarbit, Ida, and Auntie Agnes were very much part of our lives. Alan and I spent some wonderful school holidays staying with them at their home in Booval outside Ipswich.  In 1947 Lois and I spent some time with them..Alan would have been at work by then.

Here we are helping our Grandfather pick peaches for Ida to make jam.

At the time when I finished secondary school many girls were making their debut. These were very big occasions and were often organised by the school. Clayfield College did not sponsor these events and many girls from my year had a private "coming-out" party or supper dance. I went to several of these and finally persuaded my parents to allow me to have one. We held a supper-dance in a Hall at Clayfield and invited all my class. Some  of them brought a male friend along but there were still plenty of girls dancing together. I remember it as a very happy evening.

This was the dress I made for the occasion. The little bolero I had knitted in some sort of chenille which was very popular at the time.

When I see the photos in the newspaper these days of the "graduation" outfits the girls are wearing I think how young and unsophisticated my generation was...and  rationing on cloting is not in force in Australia today!

More schooltime memories

Although both the wars in Europe and in the Pacific ended in 1945 there were still shortages of many commodities. Rationing of sugar was lifted in 1947 and of meat and clothing in 1948 ( the year I finished high school) Tea and butter were still rationed until some time in 1950. Many other items were in short supply for many years.
At Clayfield College our school books were supplied as part of the school fees. This also  included  our exercise books. Our day pad ..for use in classes...didn't have nice crisp white paper as you would see today. It was a rather dingy beige colour and quite smooth not unlike a pale brown paper. As you will gather, paper was in short supply. Before one was issued with a new pad, the old one had to be handed in to the Principal for inspection. No waste space was allowed. We got around this by filling those spaces with bits of French vocabulary, Latin declensions etc.


It seems that most schools today take students for camps and some young people are lucky emogh to go on interstate or even overseas trips. During my time in High School we had no such opportunities. The only trip I had was to a National Fitness Camp and that was during school holidays not in term time. The camp was situated by Tallebudgera Creek near Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast. I think the huts were ex-army huts ...they certainly were not glamorous as this photo shows.

National Fitness Camp, 1947

I am the one on the right in the dark one-piece

This was no "holiday" camp! We had exercises , sports, hiking from dawn to dusk. I remember my legs being covered with bruises from playing hockey on the sand. We had inspection of huts each day and there was a roster for peeling potatoes etc. There were children from many schools so there was quite a lot of rivalry also. No mobile phones, ipods, TV etc for us...I think we had a movie one evening but we were all so exhausted by the end of each day that nobody minded the early lights-out call.



While we lived at Petrie we often went swimming in the Petrie River which was only a short walk from home. On two occasions I organised a picnic at the river for my Clayfield College school mates. They came out on the train so for some of them that was a little adventure.  This photo was taken in front of our Petrie home when the girls came up to the house afterwards for afternnon tea.

After the picnic at Petrie in 1945
I am in the back row, sixth from the left ( with straps over the shoulders) Lois is on the right seated in front

I can see in these photos that some of us had long hair. I cant remember when the school rule was brought in but at some time we were not allowed to have our hair touching our collar. The girls got by this rule by tying their hair in bunches. This looked rather silly on most of us and I think the rule must have been quietly phased out!

Because we were a small school most of us had the opportunity to be involved with the sporting teams. I played a lot of tennis but missed out on being in the school team as practice time was before and after school. While we lived at Clayfield this was no problem but after we moved  I could not combine that and my ballet classes. I did get into the athletic team for the various ball games. The inter-school competitions were held at the Brisbane Exhibition grounds.

Also held at these grounds were the Public Examinations...Junior and Senior. It was Summer time  so always hot, dusty and most uncomfortable. I sat for the Senior exam in November or December of 1948 . Fortunately I passed and matriculated for University...more of that later.

In my last year I was a prefect and Head of my House...do schools still have these?

I'm on the back, left end

I  had passed all the grades in the ballet exams and this year also passed the Elementary; which unlike its title is  actually the first of the  major exams and I was then admitted as a Member of the Royal Academy of Dancing (London.) I dont think this examination is still held but there is an Australian equivalent. Will try to check that out sometime just to satisfy my own curiosity.

Between the time school finished and the end of the year, I was not allowed to sit at home and rest on my laurels. I was sent out to work straight away!  Dad arranged for me to work as a temp at the Clayfield Post Office .I had to empty the mailbox in front of the P.O. The letters all had to be hand-stamped with the Clayfield Post Office date stamp. All very exciting...no, boring! In the afternoon I had to take the mail bags across to the Railway Station before I went home. I didn't really mind this and probably would have been bored stiff at home all day. No distractions as young people have today. I think we had by now moved again , this time to Bald Hills so I was again well away from my friends.

Class of 1947, I'm third from left in back row

Some of the 1948 class

I'm back- right

Some people cant wait for the day when they finish school but I must say that I was never unhappy at school and have only good memories of that part of my life.