WEBVTT

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I welcome you to Episode 2, The Morshalls in

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Pestles Lane. Maroo Meadow. Great -grandfather

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Johann Morshall and his wife Marie Caroline migrated

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from Germany to Australia in 1855 with two sons.

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He had signed a contract with de Mestre's agent

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in Germany prior to migrating. Johann had served

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in the Prussian army. Johann worked at Etienne

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Demestre's estate at Tarara, a horse stud and

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dairy farm. Demestre paid for his fare. He was

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to work as a farmhand, gardener. His wife, Marie

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Caroline, worked as a milkmaid for two years.

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They received full board and lodgings, plus 35

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pounds sterling. They would assign two more agreements

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over a three -year period and remained at Tarara.

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Their annual sum increased to 50 pounds sterling.

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The de Mestre family owned land at Tarara where

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they had stables, farms and a vineyard. In fact,

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Archer, who won the Melbourne Cup, was trained

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at de Mestre Stud in Tarara. Their home was called

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Millbank House, which is opposite Tarara School.

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They stayed until after 1869. Then Johan became

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a tenant farmer at Maroo Meadow on the Berry

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Estate. When the estate sold off the land in

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1893, Johan purchased the land he had been working

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with his two sons on the western side of the

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highway, now known as Boxall's Lane. He had worked

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as a builder and plasterer. They later bought

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land on the eastern side of the highway. Their

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eldest son, Henry Edward, born 1849, had purchased

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60 acres of land at Beaulont in 1885. He moved

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to Lismore in 1915 and passed away in 1927. Sadly,

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Marie was to carry three children between 1851

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and 1853, all dying. Jacob Marshall was also

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on the ship from Germany, a baby. and the second

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eldest living son. He was born in 1854 in Hesse,

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Germany. He eventually married Christine Muller

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in 1879 at Maroo Union Church, a non -denominational

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church for Protestants. John Marshall was the

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next surviving child, born in 1856 at the David

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Berry Hospital. They were all living at Tarara.

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He married Frances Purdy. on the 29th of May,

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1895, at St John's Church of England in Nowra.

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A further seven children were born after John.

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Two were to die shortly after birth, so a remaining

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five survived. George, born in 1857, Elizabeth,

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born in 1863, Augustus, born in 1865, and Catherine,

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born in 1866. The family were close -knit and

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highly regarded in the community. John Marshall

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bought his own land on the flats just beside

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the railway line at Maroo. Marshall's Lane is

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named after the family where John and his sons

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farmed. Jacob remained on the western side of

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the highway. His grandson David today reflects

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on his father, grandfather and family dairy operations

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in Pestles Lane. where David still farms today.

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David's sister, Anne, lives about 100 metres

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from his farm in Pestles Lane. Both siblings

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have only ever lived in Pestles Lane. Their father

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lived in Boxalls Lane until he married Hannah

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Jane May Irvine, his first wife. They were married

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in 1932. They moved to Pestles Lane. From Boxall's

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Lane, where they share -farmed with Joseph Pestle,

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their son Irvine Gordon Marshall was born in

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March 1933. His mother died in March 1940. Irvine

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died in July 2006. Originally, Pestle's Lane

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was from the boundary line of Joseph and Thomas

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Pestle's properties to the Princess Highway.

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Their father, John Pestle, owned both properties.

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He came to Maroo Meadow about 1878. After mail

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delivery, Pestle's Lane was extended to Boxall's

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Lane. Prior to mail delivery, the lane from Pestle's

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Lane to Boxall's Lane was known as Graham's Road.

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David has lived most of his life in isolation.

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Some would say as a hermit in Pestle's Lane.

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I'm lucky to have secured him for this project.

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I'm pleased to introduce to you David Morshall.

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David, thanks for coming in today. Where were

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you born and what year were you born? I was born

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in Nowra at the private hospital in Redrobe,

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the Edmond I think it was called, on the 29th

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of January 1947. Do you have siblings? Yes, I

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have a sister. She's older than me. She was also

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born there in August 1945. And I've got a half

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-brother. He was born in Nara, I presume. What's

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your sister's full name? Anne Leslie and Smith

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now. She's married. And your full name is? David

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Oswald Marshall, yes. What about your half -brother?

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He was Irvine Gordon Marshall and he passed away.

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2006. He was born in 1933, 21st of March, I think.

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Dad was born in Maroo, on their property up in

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Vauxhall Lane, on the 22nd of November, 1896.

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Mum was born at Corowa, down on the Murray River,

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on the 3rd of March, 1910. And you say when...

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The property in Boxalls. So just be specific

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there. They had a property that went from, I'll

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say, from the highway to Pestles Lane. 56 acres

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they had there eventually. They started off with

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28 and then they got up to 56, got some more.

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And then in around 1920... I don't know exactly

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when. That's when they built the house near the

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opposite of the church. Before that, they were

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up on the hill. So you're saying opposite the

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church. Couldn't you name that church? Maroo

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Union Church. So when you say the house opposite...

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Yeah, it's in Boxall's Lane on the corner. Does

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that house still exist? Yeah. You turn into Boxall's.

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Yeah, you turn into Boxall's, and it's the first

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one on the left. So it would be number one, possibly.

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Is that the old post office? Yes. Tell me about

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the old post office and your history relating

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to that. Well, they had the post office when

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they were up on the other end of the property,

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up near Tullian Creek. They had the post office

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there. I don't know when they got it. They come

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to Maroo, grandfather and... They'd come to Maroo

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in around 1893. I think they had the post office

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nearly from then. And then the people down Maroo

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Road, they got a petition together and got it

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moved down to Maroo and Maroo Road. It was too

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far to come up there for their mail. And there

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wasn't as many down there, apparently, as there

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was up... Because the ones from... Right up in

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Bells Lane, they used to come down there and

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get their mail, and the school kids used to get

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their mail and take it home with them. And Bells

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Lane's a bit further up. Yes, you get into that

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off Mossvale Road. It was only down there for

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about six weeks, I think, and the other ones,

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they got a petition up and got it back again,

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and the Marshalls had it from then. I don't know

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just when the telephones come through, but they

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had that as well. So you're saying the telephone

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exchange? Yeah, the post office on that, there,

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the church and then the school. Well, there used

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to be a Maroo Hall down, it was opposite the

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school. And that disappeared when they did the

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highway about 50 years ago. In Marshall's Lane,

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they were grandfather's brother. That was John.

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When you say grandfather, what was your grandfather's

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name? Jacob. And he migrated when? He'd come

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out and he was one year old when they got to

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Australia in 1854. And John, he was the first

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one born in Australia in 1856. But I don't...

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Well, there was Jacob, John, Gus, Powell, Elizabeth.

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And there was... There was two other girls, I

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think. One died when she was fairly young. Oh,

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and there was Heinrich, too. He was the eldest.

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He was born in Germany, too. Like his father

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and John and Gus and Powell and Elizabeth. So,

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OK, so your grandfather was the Morshall Lane

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brother? Yeah, brother of the Morshall Lane.

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Our family were always in Boxall Lane. and Pestle

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and Jacob. When he got married he went to Camberwara.

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The first four children were born up there. Then

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he went to Back Forest and there was another

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five born there. Then he came to Maroo and the

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last four were born in Maroo in the old slab

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house up on the hill in the Italian Creek. Did

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you ever see that house? No, that was gone before

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my time. Quite common, weren't they, slab houses?

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Must have been hard. Well, there is still one

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in my room. And where is that? It's up there

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in Vauxhall Lane, up the other way. People still

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live in it, but people don't know it's a slab

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house. People that owned it in the early 50s,

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they covered it with fibro. That's where he used

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to live. Okay, so we've got this picture here

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and you're saying this is Johan Morshall. Yes.

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And who is he again to you? He's my great -grandfather.

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His daughter Elizabeth painted that. Can you

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tell me more about that painting? Have you seen

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the painting? No. Do you know where it is? No.

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Did you ever go over to Morshall's Lane as a

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young boy? I only ever went there twice. about

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20 or 20, maybe early 20s when I went there.

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Describe the landscape over there and who was

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living there. When I went there, there was only

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Len. He was the third son, I think, of John.

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Him and George, he was the youngest. They were

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two bachelors and I went down to get some saccharine

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seed from them. That's why I was there. But I

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only saw George. I never ever saw Len. Well,

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in that family... I only knew three of them.

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I only ever met, there was three girls and four

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boys. Clive, Len, Mark and George were the boys.

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Flory, Lily and Rene. Were the girls. Were the

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girls. Nice names. Big families. Yeah. Actually,

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there was another one that died when he was only

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young, I think. But I don't really know them,

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but I only knew Clive and Florrie and George.

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They're the only ones I knew. Did you go to school

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with any of them? I went with Clive's daughter.

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She's the same age as me. What was her name?

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Frances. She's still alive? Yeah, Frances Buchan

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now. A bit sad her husband died just recently.

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Fell through the roof. Sad it was. Her brother,

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Mark, he lives up, their property joins ours.

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He's up near the Bell's Lane. I see him occasionally.

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So thinking of Marshall's Lane, what did it look

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like and what were they farming there? They had

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a dairy. They had a fair bit of land, hundreds

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of acres. And actually the lane was part of their

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property. There was a bit of a kerfuffle over

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that when they were naming it. The council were

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going to name it something else. Tell me more

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about that. I don't know. It was Warner's Lane

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or something like that they were going to do

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it. And this is back in the 1990s, sometime then.

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And anyway, Albert Muller, he got a petition

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up and got it known Marshall's Lane because it

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was on their property. How far back it was, they

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used to go down Lammons Lane. That's the one

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opposite Oxford Lane. They used to go down there.

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and the bridge washed out in the creek, and they

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couldn't get out. So they had the property that

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come up onto the highway there opposite Devitt's

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Lane, so they made their own road through their

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own property. And that's why Albert, he remembered,

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he come round, he told Mum, I remember when they

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did it. When was that? I don't know, just when

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that bridge washed out. I don't know. You know,

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you've known it more since then. So Shoalhaven

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Council, did they have to support that? Well,

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they were the ones who were going to call it

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something else. But one of the other members

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of the Morshall family, Rean's descendants, they

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used to live down Lammond's Lane, and they tried

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to get it named Morshall's Lane. The council

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wouldn't hear of it. Albert had a bit more clout,

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apparently. So they were dairy farming? Yes,

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they were dairy farming in a small way. They

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never put in milking machines. They always milked

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by hand. Right up till 1972, that's when Len

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passed away. And I think it was 72. And George,

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he got out of dairy and about two weeks after

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that, he gave it away. Tell me about what sort

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of cows they were milking. I don't know what

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breed of cows they had. I don't really know very

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much about them, actually, because I've only

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was down there that... Getting seed. Yeah, getting

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that seed that time. So they had a lot of land.

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They must have been growing grasses or? Well,

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they would have farmed like the other farms.

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They had their pasture and they grew corn and

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saccharine for the feed in the winter. I know

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they grew the saccharine because that's how they

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got the seed. But they would have grown corn

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and saccharine because that's back in those.

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that was how they did it. Tell me the migration

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story of the Germans coming out here and where

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they migrated to initially and how you all spread.

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They came to Australia in 1854 and landed in

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Melbourne but then they came up, I don't know

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how they got from Melbourne to up here because

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it was... Well, my sister got it up on the computer

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that Joanna's wife, Maria, she was that sick

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when they arrived in Melbourne, they carried

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her off the boat. They'd come up and they'd work

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for Domesta, and then they'd come up to Maroo,

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I reckon sometime in the 1870s, and lived in

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that slab house. And then the grandfather, he

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stayed around the district, and John. John was

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actually a builder at one time. He helped build

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the Maroo Church. He worked for that builder.

00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:26.339
And you're about to name the other church? Greenwell

00:17:26.339 --> 00:17:28.559
Point Church, because it's the same as Maroo

00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:32.200
Church. Barry gave them the money for it. I don't

00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:35.500
know. We didn't know much about him, but he went

00:17:35.500 --> 00:17:40.359
up the North Coast. And Gus and Powell and their

00:17:40.359 --> 00:17:43.039
families. They were around the district for a

00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:45.819
while. Gus owned a piece of ground up at the

00:17:45.819 --> 00:17:50.299
end of Devils Lane. And Powell, that's not his

00:17:50.299 --> 00:17:53.579
right name, I don't think. But anyway, he owned

00:17:53.579 --> 00:17:58.359
a bit down in Maroo Road and Bomaderry where

00:17:58.359 --> 00:18:01.759
the bowling club and along there, along that

00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:04.759
strip of land in there, I don't know how much,

00:18:04.980 --> 00:18:09.180
but they left here and went to Port Cambler and

00:18:09.180 --> 00:18:14.490
their sons were... divers that like inspecting

00:18:14.490 --> 00:18:19.130
boats and that sort of thing I think and a few

00:18:19.130 --> 00:18:24.250
of them there was four mortals went to the First

00:18:24.250 --> 00:18:28.869
World War two of them come back and one of them

00:18:28.869 --> 00:18:32.869
I know was Heinrichs and the other one of them

00:18:32.869 --> 00:18:35.410
was named George Austin and that's where that

00:18:35.410 --> 00:18:39.250
George got he was killed and George was born

00:18:39.250 --> 00:18:41.779
not long after that. That's where he got his

00:18:41.779 --> 00:18:44.220
name. He was over in Gallipoli. He was one of

00:18:44.220 --> 00:18:48.359
Heinrich's. He got killed in Gallipoli. Dad never

00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:52.460
mentioned him. And Elizabeth, she married a policeman.

00:18:52.940 --> 00:18:56.539
She had a soup kitchen and he was a policeman.

00:18:57.559 --> 00:19:02.299
You hear your family are farming in Boxalls Lane.

00:19:02.819 --> 00:19:07.759
What are they farming? Well, Jacob had 56 acres

00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:12.819
and he also had his. He was a bootmaker, and

00:19:12.819 --> 00:19:15.859
they had the post office. But when Dad left school

00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:20.460
when he was 13, he worked on the farm, dairying.

00:19:20.599 --> 00:19:23.500
He went to Maroo School. That's when he went,

00:19:23.539 --> 00:19:28.720
I think. All the ones that were still school

00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:31.259
-age, they would have went there. That would

00:19:31.259 --> 00:19:35.549
have been Adrian. Joe didn't. He was... He was

00:19:35.549 --> 00:19:38.789
the youngest son. He was living in Camberwara

00:19:38.789 --> 00:19:45.009
with his eldest sister. So where are we here?

00:19:45.089 --> 00:19:49.049
In the early 20th century? Yeah, in the early

00:19:49.049 --> 00:19:53.289
1900s. His dad would have left school about 1909,

00:19:53.529 --> 00:19:57.569
1910. What sort of cows have you got there? Well,

00:19:57.630 --> 00:20:01.049
I don't know what sort of cows they had. Probably

00:20:01.049 --> 00:20:04.599
a mixture of cows. because Dad always had a mixture

00:20:04.599 --> 00:20:07.279
of crossbred cows. Did he have a lot of them?

00:20:07.500 --> 00:20:12.859
No, probably only, I think he said in 1928 when

00:20:12.859 --> 00:20:17.000
they had a big drought, they were milking 12

00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:21.319
cows and that's about all they ever milked. He

00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:25.240
would have been doing his building and he used

00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:30.460
to go out, well him and Joe, I just don't know

00:20:30.460 --> 00:20:33.400
when. They started it, doing it, because Joe

00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:37.559
was a qualified builder. And they built two houses

00:20:37.559 --> 00:20:42.440
and sheds and things like that for people. And

00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:44.859
one house they built, I don't know whether it's

00:20:44.859 --> 00:20:48.220
still there or not, it was in Maroo Road. The

00:20:48.220 --> 00:20:50.619
first house, when you turned off the highway

00:20:50.619 --> 00:20:55.380
into Maroo Road, they built that in 1930. And

00:20:55.380 --> 00:20:59.140
they built one in Turner's Lane in Jasper's Brush.

00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:02.559
They pulled that down in West Camber Warren,

00:21:02.759 --> 00:21:04.859
brought it to Maroo and rebuilt it. I know that

00:21:04.859 --> 00:21:07.500
one's still there. What is your first memories

00:21:07.500 --> 00:21:11.180
of the dairy farm as a young boy in the 50s?

00:21:12.059 --> 00:21:15.660
That's when he was share farmer then for Joe

00:21:15.660 --> 00:21:20.779
Pestle. And that property joined onto their original

00:21:20.779 --> 00:21:23.559
property, was next door to it. How big was that

00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:26.759
property? It was 75 acres. It went from the highway

00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:29.259
back onto Pestles Lane, just a strip through

00:21:29.259 --> 00:21:34.660
there. And they also had a 60 -acre paddock up

00:21:34.660 --> 00:21:38.299
in the footer, up in the foothills of Camberwarra

00:21:38.299 --> 00:21:40.940
Mountain, down south of the lookout in there.

00:21:41.220 --> 00:21:45.019
Well, they used to run the dry cows and the heifers

00:21:45.019 --> 00:21:49.019
and that up there. But I don't know. Dad told

00:21:49.019 --> 00:21:51.599
me once the wind blew a big tree over one of

00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:55.559
the gullies. And he went up there and sorted

00:21:55.559 --> 00:21:59.279
into things, split the fence posts out and couldn't

00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:01.619
even get up there with the horses. He carried

00:22:01.619 --> 00:22:04.200
all the things out of his back. He would have

00:22:04.200 --> 00:22:07.539
had the axe then, would he? Yeah. No machinery.

00:22:07.819 --> 00:22:11.380
Yeah. The axe, the old cross -cut saw, the maul,

00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:14.740
the wedges and all that stuff. And he had to

00:22:14.740 --> 00:22:16.900
cart that up there? Yeah, he carried it in and

00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:20.059
then carried the posts out. How big was your

00:22:20.059 --> 00:22:24.160
dad? He was only... about five foot six weighed

00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:27.140
about nine stone well mum said that when she

00:22:27.140 --> 00:22:31.519
met him in in the mid 40s you know he only weighed

00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:35.900
nine stone he had horses when I was young and

00:22:35.900 --> 00:22:38.839
did all the stuff and all the hard yak and digging

00:22:38.839 --> 00:22:41.839
post holes and talk a bit more about that what

00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:46.039
I can remember they had those um well he always

00:22:46.039 --> 00:22:47.799
he had the milking machines I don't remember

00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:50.700
before that he was probably one of the first

00:22:50.700 --> 00:22:52.930
ones to get because he put the milking machines

00:22:52.930 --> 00:22:57.369
in in 1939, and that was before the electricity

00:22:57.369 --> 00:22:59.049
comes through, they should drive them with an

00:22:59.049 --> 00:23:03.470
engine. They used to fill those concrete silos

00:23:03.470 --> 00:23:09.029
with corn, and that was all cut by hand and carted

00:23:09.029 --> 00:23:12.250
in and put through the shaft cutter, and that,

00:23:12.289 --> 00:23:14.269
I remember them doing that. So they're still

00:23:14.269 --> 00:23:18.089
using slides? Yeah, horse and slide. Did you

00:23:18.089 --> 00:23:20.309
ever get in the silos yourself to jump around

00:23:20.309 --> 00:23:22.930
and get the air out? Yeah, only when we were

00:23:22.930 --> 00:23:26.049
up to the first window. We weren't allowed up.

00:23:26.269 --> 00:23:28.349
How many windows were there? There was about

00:23:28.349 --> 00:23:33.809
four, I think. Mum went right to the top. I remember

00:23:33.809 --> 00:23:39.230
it was after me, Hervey left, I think, or Irvine,

00:23:39.309 --> 00:23:43.029
Hervey, because things went bad on the farm back

00:23:43.029 --> 00:23:46.309
in the mid -50s and he had to go out to work.

00:23:46.920 --> 00:23:49.720
And they got a bloke in one year, I think it

00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:53.200
was the last year they filled the silo, to help

00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:55.519
do the silo, because it used to take them about

00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:59.519
six weeks to do it. And anyway, he was there

00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:01.640
and he went off one Saturday at lunchtime and

00:24:01.640 --> 00:24:05.200
never came back. So Mum had to help do it. So

00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:09.680
the silo, explain the operation. So the silos

00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:13.000
there, were the feed stalls nearby? Actually

00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:15.599
on that property there was two silos and then

00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:18.950
they had the... the feed stall sort of next to

00:24:18.950 --> 00:24:21.089
it. Been six weeks filling it up and then that

00:24:21.089 --> 00:24:23.730
was for later in the winter because they did

00:24:23.730 --> 00:24:26.470
it at this time of the year, they'd be filling

00:24:26.470 --> 00:24:29.289
it. And they also had the saccharine and they

00:24:29.289 --> 00:24:31.710
used to bring that in and chaff that and feed

00:24:31.710 --> 00:24:33.670
that in. I think I fed that in the stalls first

00:24:33.670 --> 00:24:37.349
and then the corn later, if I remember right.

00:24:37.609 --> 00:24:40.450
Did you have the trolley going down the stalls

00:24:40.450 --> 00:24:43.430
or hand? Some people did, but Dad always bagged

00:24:43.430 --> 00:24:46.250
it. he'd put it into bags. I don't think Ann

00:24:46.250 --> 00:24:49.470
and me actually helped him bag the silage when

00:24:49.470 --> 00:24:53.349
he got it out. They just had a big, like a window

00:24:53.349 --> 00:24:55.670
on it, and then they had a bag chute, and he

00:24:55.670 --> 00:24:58.849
could just come down and hook the bags on the

00:24:58.849 --> 00:25:00.490
bottom. But if you had a trolley, well, they'd

00:25:00.490 --> 00:25:03.630
just sit into the trolley. But for some reason,

00:25:03.650 --> 00:25:06.170
he always did it in bags, and when he chaffed

00:25:06.170 --> 00:25:10.119
the green corn or the saccharine... It had a

00:25:10.119 --> 00:25:12.039
double bagger and it just went up the elevator

00:25:12.039 --> 00:25:16.039
and free fell back down into the bags. And we

00:25:16.039 --> 00:25:18.259
used to help do that when I was, must have been

00:25:18.259 --> 00:25:20.460
eight years old because we left over there when

00:25:20.460 --> 00:25:25.000
I was nine. So we used to help do that. We used

00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:27.339
to fill the bags, kick the bags. Do you remember

00:25:27.339 --> 00:25:30.920
any rodents? How did you keep the rats away from

00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:33.799
stuff? I don't remember many rats over there

00:25:33.799 --> 00:25:37.049
actually because we always had cats. Well, it's

00:25:37.049 --> 00:25:39.569
a drier part, isn't it, that side? It's not the

00:25:39.569 --> 00:25:42.349
wet part of the, it's not the Shoalhaven part,

00:25:42.490 --> 00:25:46.950
it's the enscarpment part. We didn't do, there

00:25:46.950 --> 00:25:49.650
used to be, there'd be rats there, but not great

00:25:49.650 --> 00:25:53.069
plagues of them, because we always had a lot

00:25:53.069 --> 00:25:56.890
of cats, and we've still got a lot of cats. What

00:25:56.890 --> 00:25:59.490
do you feel about cats? Well, they're there,

00:25:59.509 --> 00:26:03.170
they're not pets, they're just there. They've

00:26:03.170 --> 00:26:06.579
got a job to do. Yeah. Like the accountant's

00:26:06.579 --> 00:26:08.200
wife said we were talking about, she said they're

00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:11.480
working cats. I like that. Do you feed them or

00:26:11.480 --> 00:26:13.660
do they feed themselves? No, I feed them. What

00:26:13.660 --> 00:26:15.720
do you feed them? Well, at the moment I'm feeding

00:26:15.720 --> 00:26:18.839
them powdered milk and bread and calf pellets.

00:26:20.599 --> 00:26:22.599
And the little kittens, I've got four little

00:26:22.599 --> 00:26:24.859
kittens there at the moment. I take them over

00:26:24.859 --> 00:26:28.740
a bit of porridge. That's very sweet. We've always

00:26:28.740 --> 00:26:33.589
had a mixed herd of cattle. And on the share

00:26:33.589 --> 00:26:37.910
farm, they milked around 40 -odd on there. And

00:26:37.910 --> 00:26:39.470
it was because it was a share, you only had to

00:26:39.470 --> 00:26:42.589
milk a fair few because the boss had to get his

00:26:42.589 --> 00:26:45.029
share out of it. How does a share farm work?

00:26:45.170 --> 00:26:49.009
Well, that was a half share. There's different

00:26:49.009 --> 00:26:51.349
ways of doing it. As far as I can understand,

00:26:51.630 --> 00:26:54.670
that was a half share. The boss supplied the

00:26:54.670 --> 00:26:59.960
property and the cattle and the farm. And Dad

00:26:59.960 --> 00:27:03.259
did the work and there was bits and little bits

00:27:03.259 --> 00:27:05.519
and pieces in it, who paid for this and who paid

00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:08.359
for that. But I just don't know how that really,

00:27:08.539 --> 00:27:12.920
that bit of it, but the main gist of it was Joe

00:27:12.920 --> 00:27:17.720
did the, Joe Piston, he supplied the property

00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:22.700
and the cattle. And when Dad first went there

00:27:22.700 --> 00:27:26.259
he supplied the horses, the two old horses. And

00:27:26.259 --> 00:27:27.980
then later on when they bought the tractor, Dad

00:27:27.980 --> 00:27:30.480
had to pay for half the tractor. Is that the

00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:32.900
name of the lane? Yeah, that's where it come

00:27:32.900 --> 00:27:36.920
from, because Joe was on that side. Like you'd

00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:40.200
come up Pestles Lane, up from the highway, where

00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:42.259
that overpass thing is, you'd come up there.

00:27:42.380 --> 00:27:46.180
He was on the right -hand side. Tom was on the

00:27:46.180 --> 00:27:49.759
left -hand side, where we are now. And Tom was

00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:52.680
married to Dad's sister. And that's how we got

00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:55.240
the property. Who did Tom Pestle marry? Minnie

00:27:55.240 --> 00:28:01.039
Marshall, Dad's second eldest sister. And Tom

00:28:01.039 --> 00:28:04.420
Pestle, he was a Boer War veteran. He went to

00:28:04.420 --> 00:28:08.240
the Boer War. And also his brother Dick, who

00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:10.359
used to be a policeman, he went to the Boer War

00:28:10.359 --> 00:28:13.200
as well. So I found out, honey, found that out

00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:16.400
just recently. So do you think it might have

00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:19.440
been named because they were servicemen? No,

00:28:19.500 --> 00:28:22.740
just because they lived there. I think that's

00:28:22.740 --> 00:28:27.380
how they named it, like Boxall's used to. Well,

00:28:27.380 --> 00:28:29.700
according to what Dad told me, where the Boxall's

00:28:29.700 --> 00:28:32.559
Lane is, that wasn't always Boxall's Lane. They

00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:34.980
added a different name. Boxall's Lane was the

00:28:34.980 --> 00:28:38.460
one that went to Elliot's Lane now. And Graham's

00:28:38.460 --> 00:28:42.019
Road, well, Graham's lived up there, where Richard

00:28:42.019 --> 00:28:45.960
Boxall is. They lived up there since the year

00:28:45.960 --> 00:28:48.720
Dot, I think. Yes, I've seen that on the original

00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:51.839
map. They had quite a bit of land up there. We've

00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:55.319
got an old photocopy of an old map, 1836, that's

00:28:55.319 --> 00:28:57.559
got Mrs E Graham on it. Another little bit of

00:28:57.559 --> 00:28:59.559
information about the capital. Yes, please. They

00:28:59.559 --> 00:29:02.440
used to live up in West Camberwara before they

00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:07.039
joined Pestil. That's Joe and Tom's father, because

00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:09.700
he had the property that Dad used to share farm

00:29:09.700 --> 00:29:12.579
on, Joe's property. He used to live there. And

00:29:12.579 --> 00:29:15.400
they used to live up in West Camberwara, and

00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:20.140
there was a film made on that property in 1960.

00:29:22.339 --> 00:29:26.319
Adam's woman, and that's the property that used

00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:28.700
to be Pestle's property. Limerie's owned it.

00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:30.940
How did you get on with the Pestles? Well, I

00:29:30.940 --> 00:29:34.640
only knew Joe. Got on all right with him. He

00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:36.359
used to live next to Maroo. When he retired,

00:29:36.579 --> 00:29:41.660
when he got off the farm in 1925, he lived in

00:29:41.660 --> 00:29:44.480
that house that's next to Maroo School, that

00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:47.559
white house that Duncan's owned now. So you'd

00:29:47.559 --> 00:29:50.400
go and visit him, would you? Odd times. He used

00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:52.660
to come over to the farm nearly every day. He

00:29:52.660 --> 00:29:56.980
would go and see Minnie. Because Tom had died,

00:29:57.039 --> 00:30:00.279
he died in 1940, so he used to go over and see

00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:02.400
Minnie because that was his brother's widow.

00:30:02.940 --> 00:30:05.779
Did they have children, Tom and Minnie? No, they

00:30:05.779 --> 00:30:09.579
didn't have any. Jo had one daughter and she

00:30:09.579 --> 00:30:12.579
lived in Sydney. What was her name? Molly. Actually,

00:30:12.599 --> 00:30:16.599
her name was Margaret Mary, I think. My sister

00:30:16.599 --> 00:30:19.200
found it. It was known as Molly. She was married

00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:23.220
to a Rob Wilson and they had two daughters, Margaret

00:30:23.220 --> 00:30:26.099
and Patricia. Sort of knew them because they

00:30:26.099 --> 00:30:30.019
went to private school, the Presbyterian Ladies

00:30:30.019 --> 00:30:32.319
College, because that's where Molly went. They

00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:35.079
used to come down to see their grandparents a

00:30:35.079 --> 00:30:37.740
week earlier than when we were still going to

00:30:37.740 --> 00:30:39.599
school because they went to a private... They'd

00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:41.460
come down to the school to fill in their time.

00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:44.279
They might be there in the morning and then later

00:30:44.279 --> 00:30:48.779
on they'd go away. So tell me about some of your

00:30:48.779 --> 00:30:51.059
school friends. Can you remember who taught when

00:30:51.059 --> 00:30:53.980
you went to school? There was one teacher there,

00:30:54.099 --> 00:30:59.079
CJ Debenham. He was the main teacher, but when

00:30:59.079 --> 00:31:02.859
I was in second class, we had a lady teacher,

00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:06.640
and she only had the kindergarten, first and

00:31:06.640 --> 00:31:10.519
second class. That was Miss Walsh, and she belonged

00:31:10.519 --> 00:31:15.289
to the... Her parents used to be out in... what's

00:31:15.289 --> 00:31:17.470
Jasper's Brush Road now, they used to live out

00:31:17.470 --> 00:31:19.829
there. She was only there for that one year.

00:31:19.950 --> 00:31:23.609
That was in 1954 she was there. There was only

00:31:23.609 --> 00:31:26.930
the one teacher again, C .J. Debenham. They said

00:31:26.930 --> 00:31:31.890
he was there for 24 years and he was finished

00:31:31.890 --> 00:31:35.509
up in 1960, so it must have been in 1936 he must

00:31:35.509 --> 00:31:38.690
have come there. Well, there was only two dozen

00:31:38.690 --> 00:31:41.630
kids there altogether. Who were the families?

00:31:42.109 --> 00:31:44.039
Yeah, there was... Of course, John Martin, of

00:31:44.039 --> 00:31:46.200
course, he was there because he's nearly as old

00:31:46.200 --> 00:31:50.099
as me. Vauxhall's. Richard wasn't there. His

00:31:50.099 --> 00:31:53.460
brother and sister, they were there. Elliot's.

00:31:53.619 --> 00:31:57.380
Bennett. Carol Bennett. The Elliot's, there was

00:31:57.380 --> 00:32:00.400
Christine, Ross and Margaret. Radford's. They

00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:04.500
used to be up on the property where John Martin

00:32:04.500 --> 00:32:06.819
is now, up Devitt's Lane. What are their names?

00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:12.660
Radford. Arthur and David. I think Heather, I

00:32:12.660 --> 00:32:14.380
think that was the girl's name. I think she was

00:32:14.380 --> 00:32:18.460
there too. She would have been only quite young.

00:32:19.079 --> 00:32:23.259
And Mum told us that when David went to school,

00:32:23.380 --> 00:32:25.900
he went home in a state the first day after.

00:32:26.380 --> 00:32:31.420
There's another David there. Ian Callaghan, of

00:32:31.420 --> 00:32:34.119
course, he was there. He'd come from Jasper's

00:32:34.119 --> 00:32:39.579
Brush. Margaret and Judy Wiley, they were at

00:32:39.579 --> 00:32:43.210
Wiley's Creek. And then John and Sylvia, they

00:32:43.210 --> 00:32:45.569
were another Wiley family. And then there was

00:32:45.569 --> 00:32:48.910
Gay and Jill. They were their grandparents some

00:32:48.910 --> 00:32:50.250
of the time. They were only there some of the

00:32:50.250 --> 00:32:55.769
time. Davis, Bob and Evan and Laurel Davis. And

00:32:55.769 --> 00:32:58.170
Driskies, they were only there for a few years.

00:32:58.230 --> 00:33:00.230
Their father used to rent a farm, the one that

00:33:00.230 --> 00:33:02.970
Walsh's had got there in Turner's Lane. They

00:33:02.970 --> 00:33:05.509
used to rent that. Turner's, Helen Turner. Who

00:33:05.509 --> 00:33:08.529
was her father? Helen. What was Turner's Lane

00:33:08.529 --> 00:33:12.910
named after? Well, I don't know. He was Les Turner

00:33:12.910 --> 00:33:16.009
and I don't know, it must have been him because

00:33:16.009 --> 00:33:18.150
I don't know who else was down there when Dad

00:33:18.150 --> 00:33:22.309
and Joe built the house down there for Billy

00:33:22.309 --> 00:33:28.109
Abernethy. They were an old Campbell Warren Maroo

00:33:28.109 --> 00:33:32.269
families. Any of them still around? There's still

00:33:32.269 --> 00:33:37.660
Abernethys in Nowra. Yeah, they're Billy Abernethy's

00:33:37.660 --> 00:33:41.299
descendants. Billy Abernethy had four sons. Christy

00:33:41.299 --> 00:33:44.000
Abernethy had four daughters. When we were at

00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:48.240
Maroo, we used to compete in these school sports.

00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:51.119
I was a pretty good runner and long jumper and

00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:54.480
all that sort of stuff. And so was my sister.

00:33:55.460 --> 00:33:58.680
But we can't run at all now, so we were the only

00:33:58.680 --> 00:34:01.480
ones that could run. And Helen Turner, she was

00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:04.890
real competitive too. Thinking about the milk

00:34:04.890 --> 00:34:09.130
runs, where were your cans collected and who

00:34:09.130 --> 00:34:11.730
collected the cans? Well, I think originally

00:34:11.730 --> 00:34:15.590
the farmers used to take them themselves. I think

00:34:15.590 --> 00:34:18.949
Bert Muller, that's Albert's father, he was the

00:34:18.949 --> 00:34:21.750
first one that, I'm sure he was the first one

00:34:21.750 --> 00:34:24.510
that had the milk run. He had it during the war

00:34:24.510 --> 00:34:27.789
and I'm sure he was the first one that was doing

00:34:27.789 --> 00:34:31.409
it. So that would have been horse and sulky?

00:34:31.730 --> 00:34:35.360
No, he had a truck. had an old Dodge truck that

00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:38.579
he used to do it with, and Albert used to do

00:34:38.579 --> 00:34:42.739
it sometimes. And they had it till sometime in

00:34:42.739 --> 00:34:47.199
the late 40s. Where were they delivering the

00:34:47.199 --> 00:34:50.500
milk? They used to take it down to the Narra

00:34:50.500 --> 00:34:54.980
Co -op in Bomaderry, where truck and tractor

00:34:54.980 --> 00:34:57.980
are now. I think that's where it would have been

00:34:57.980 --> 00:35:00.260
going then. It was a co -op. They started off

00:35:00.260 --> 00:35:02.019
on the other side of the river, but I think that's

00:35:02.019 --> 00:35:04.760
where it would have been then. So that would

00:35:04.760 --> 00:35:07.380
have gone by train then? Then train to Sydney.

00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:10.820
The milk train used to go up about 11 o 'clock

00:35:10.820 --> 00:35:14.579
every day. From where we lived, you could see

00:35:14.579 --> 00:35:16.820
it going on the puffin and it's an old steam

00:35:16.820 --> 00:35:19.780
train. Do you know how much milk went every day?

00:35:20.099 --> 00:35:23.880
No. I think now a co -op and very co -op were...

00:35:24.139 --> 00:35:27.159
A bit of friendly rivalry, I think. As a young

00:35:27.159 --> 00:35:29.380
person, what are some of your strong memories

00:35:29.380 --> 00:35:32.260
in the landscape growing up? What did you really

00:35:32.260 --> 00:35:37.480
enjoy doing? Driving around on the tractor. What

00:35:37.480 --> 00:35:39.679
sort of tractor was it? It wasn't a great Fergie.

00:35:39.820 --> 00:35:41.920
It was a little kerosene on the grey one. There

00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:44.340
was a lot of them around. And tell me about the

00:35:44.340 --> 00:35:47.159
wheels on them. Yeah, they're rubber tyres. They

00:35:47.159 --> 00:35:49.639
come out in the late 40s. Pommy Bloke, Harry

00:35:49.639 --> 00:35:52.500
Ferguson, invented them. They're only a small

00:35:52.500 --> 00:35:55.420
tractor, like 20. Three horse power or something.

00:35:56.019 --> 00:36:00.599
But they had a three -point linkage and a hydraulic

00:36:00.599 --> 00:36:04.840
thing that was better than all the other tractors.

00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:07.460
None of the other tractors had it. And years

00:36:07.460 --> 00:36:09.699
later, some of them still didn't have it. Can

00:36:09.699 --> 00:36:12.940
you remember how much that might have cost? And

00:36:12.940 --> 00:36:15.599
who the dealer was? Morehouse, the machinery

00:36:15.599 --> 00:36:19.159
man. And that actually made him. He got that

00:36:19.159 --> 00:36:22.139
dealership for those tractors and the Vanguard

00:36:22.139 --> 00:36:25.730
cars. What were the Vanguard cars? They were

00:36:25.730 --> 00:36:29.510
a Pommie English car and they had the same motor

00:36:29.510 --> 00:36:33.210
as the little tractors. They were popular in

00:36:33.210 --> 00:36:36.030
the district? Yeah, a few people had them. I've

00:36:36.030 --> 00:36:38.690
still got an old Vanguard ute. We got it second

00:36:38.690 --> 00:36:42.650
hand. Great old ute it was. Did you go to Nowra

00:36:42.650 --> 00:36:46.489
mostly? Yeah, we did all our shopping in Nowra

00:36:46.489 --> 00:36:49.650
and Bomaderry. Most of the farm stuff was done

00:36:49.650 --> 00:36:53.650
with the Nowra co -op because that's... because

00:36:53.650 --> 00:36:56.849
Dad had shares in the Nara Co -op, so he supported

00:36:56.849 --> 00:37:01.590
the produce store. To get our groceries off,

00:37:01.730 --> 00:37:04.349
that was another co -op. Mum used to call it

00:37:04.349 --> 00:37:09.329
the Go -Cop because it went broke. But one of

00:37:09.329 --> 00:37:12.210
the guys that worked in it, he set out on his

00:37:12.210 --> 00:37:16.989
own, George Cochran, and he used to come round

00:37:16.989 --> 00:37:20.530
on a bike in the morning and collect your order,

00:37:20.630 --> 00:37:23.679
and then he'd come back. the groceries in the

00:37:23.679 --> 00:37:26.019
afternoon. He didn't work in Maroo because he

00:37:26.019 --> 00:37:28.800
didn't have enough. I think it was only us and

00:37:28.800 --> 00:37:31.940
Voxels that supported him in Maroo but he had

00:37:31.940 --> 00:37:35.019
a good clientele down in Bolong and that was

00:37:35.019 --> 00:37:38.820
still going when he gave up in the 70s but I

00:37:38.820 --> 00:37:42.280
think he either used to ring them up or they

00:37:42.280 --> 00:37:45.340
used to ring him up. We used to get our meat

00:37:45.340 --> 00:37:49.280
off Ratcliffe. There was a butcher shop near

00:37:49.280 --> 00:37:52.159
the pub. environment areas you get meat off them

00:37:52.159 --> 00:37:54.400
that used to come out on the milk truck bread

00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:57.639
you got from koalis that used to come out on

00:37:57.639 --> 00:37:59.920
the milk truck we got our butter from the course

00:37:59.920 --> 00:38:03.179
from the co -op that come out once a week in

00:38:03.179 --> 00:38:06.239
the milk can not a butter box no just put it

00:38:06.239 --> 00:38:08.539
in there we used to get three pound of butter

00:38:08.539 --> 00:38:10.780
that used to just put it in the milk can was

00:38:10.780 --> 00:38:13.780
it wrapped it was wrapped up in paper what about

00:38:13.780 --> 00:38:17.360
grog did you drink no i i used to i didn't go

00:38:17.360 --> 00:38:20.260
to the pub i didn't That didn't appeal to me.

00:38:20.739 --> 00:38:23.820
I used to go and buy a few bottles when I was

00:38:23.820 --> 00:38:26.820
younger, and then it started to make me sick,

00:38:26.900 --> 00:38:31.079
so I haven't drank for, what, 50 years probably.

00:38:31.500 --> 00:38:36.820
Dad was a non -drinker. He didn't like drinking.

00:38:36.840 --> 00:38:41.239
I worked it out why he didn't like it. He told

00:38:41.239 --> 00:38:45.280
me one day, because I was 17 when he died, he

00:38:45.280 --> 00:38:47.780
used to tell us about it. He used to go into

00:38:47.780 --> 00:38:51.679
town with his father twice a year. This was back

00:38:51.679 --> 00:38:53.820
in the horse and cart days, when he was only,

00:38:53.860 --> 00:38:56.059
after he left school, when he was only a teenager.

00:38:56.579 --> 00:39:00.239
This would be Nowra? Yeah, into Nowra. And his

00:39:00.239 --> 00:39:04.920
father had some business he did in there, twice

00:39:04.920 --> 00:39:07.280
a year, something he had to do, and then down

00:39:07.280 --> 00:39:09.880
the pub. And he used to go up and see Blacksmith.

00:39:10.099 --> 00:39:13.300
He'd have to bring him home at night, and I reckon,

00:39:13.460 --> 00:39:16.980
this is only my thought, He had to bring him

00:39:16.980 --> 00:39:19.059
home when he had his skin full and that's why

00:39:19.059 --> 00:39:21.920
he didn't like people drinking. He had a guy

00:39:21.920 --> 00:39:24.840
working for him once. He'd come home drunk one

00:39:24.840 --> 00:39:27.300
Saturday night and Sunday morning he was gone

00:39:27.300 --> 00:39:30.639
because he used to live in that little room,

00:39:30.699 --> 00:39:32.940
had his little room on the side of the house

00:39:32.940 --> 00:39:35.780
on the veranda and sat him on the Sunday morning,

00:39:35.940 --> 00:39:39.340
cleared him out. So that's what he thought about

00:39:39.340 --> 00:39:43.360
drink. Okay, so... You like driving tractors.

00:39:43.380 --> 00:39:45.239
What were you doing on the tractor and where

00:39:45.239 --> 00:39:50.760
were you? Well, usually helping cut the cow food.

00:39:51.000 --> 00:39:53.400
That's after we'd come to where we are now. That's

00:39:53.400 --> 00:39:55.300
after we left the share farm. So you were in

00:39:55.300 --> 00:39:57.539
Pestles Lane? We were still in Pestles Lane.

00:39:57.920 --> 00:40:00.699
So tell me how you, okay, let's talk about that

00:40:00.699 --> 00:40:03.099
and how you secured the property and how big

00:40:03.099 --> 00:40:06.500
it is. Well, I don't know whether I should tell

00:40:06.500 --> 00:40:09.679
you. Tell me all of it. Right, I will. We want

00:40:09.679 --> 00:40:12.699
the truth. Well, Dad was trying to buy. A property.

00:40:13.800 --> 00:40:16.860
The one his grandfather used to have up in Boxfield

00:40:16.860 --> 00:40:19.980
Lane. And it was for sale, and this was in the

00:40:19.980 --> 00:40:23.800
early 50s, for £5 ,000. And the bank manager

00:40:23.800 --> 00:40:27.059
wouldn't lend him the money. So that was the

00:40:27.059 --> 00:40:30.679
end of that. And anyway, there was another one

00:40:30.679 --> 00:40:33.639
come up for sale in Jaspers Brush. And he went

00:40:33.639 --> 00:40:36.960
to the auction. He bid up to £7 ,000. The bank

00:40:36.960 --> 00:40:38.619
manager lent any amount of money for that one.

00:40:39.239 --> 00:40:42.139
And this is the thing we can't work out. and

00:40:42.139 --> 00:40:43.960
he lent him any amount of money for it, and anyway

00:40:43.960 --> 00:40:47.099
he bid up to £7 ,000 and bailed out. And the

00:40:47.099 --> 00:40:50.460
next day, the guy that got it arrived round and

00:40:50.460 --> 00:40:54.860
wanted to sell it to him for another £700, and

00:40:54.860 --> 00:40:59.039
he told him to go away. And I thought, I've been

00:40:59.039 --> 00:41:00.739
thinking about this the other day, and I thought,

00:41:00.840 --> 00:41:04.039
well, what was he bidding on it for if he didn't

00:41:04.039 --> 00:41:07.559
want it? Dad was talking to his first wife's

00:41:07.559 --> 00:41:11.789
brother one day, and he said, And he was telling

00:41:11.789 --> 00:41:14.289
him, and he says, that's the best miss you ever

00:41:14.289 --> 00:41:17.050
had, Oz. So I don't know what was on about that

00:41:17.050 --> 00:41:21.989
property. And anyway, then Minnie, his sister,

00:41:22.110 --> 00:41:26.590
she come over one day and said, don't worry about

00:41:26.590 --> 00:41:28.690
looking for a farm. I'm going to leave you this

00:41:28.690 --> 00:41:31.070
one. This is how trusting he was. He was going

00:41:31.070 --> 00:41:34.329
to go there because he wanted to stay there in

00:41:34.329 --> 00:41:36.969
her house. And he was going to build another

00:41:36.969 --> 00:41:39.510
house and the bars and do everything. And Mum

00:41:39.510 --> 00:41:42.880
said, no, you're not. Someone can come round,

00:41:43.079 --> 00:41:45.579
because she was getting on in years, come round

00:41:45.579 --> 00:41:49.079
and charm her up or whatever, and she can leave

00:41:49.079 --> 00:41:50.980
it to anyone she likes, and we've lost everything.

00:41:51.699 --> 00:41:53.940
So they did a different thing on it then, and

00:41:53.940 --> 00:41:57.320
he bought, paid a deposit, and then used to just

00:41:57.320 --> 00:42:00.559
pay the interest, like rent, like that. That's

00:42:00.559 --> 00:42:03.880
what she lived on, but anyway. So that was the

00:42:03.880 --> 00:42:06.239
arrangement. Yeah, that was the arrangement,

00:42:06.239 --> 00:42:08.340
and then when she died, he would have got it.

00:42:09.099 --> 00:42:11.579
but she lived longer than what he did. And so

00:42:11.579 --> 00:42:14.519
it didn't work out quite how it was supposed

00:42:14.519 --> 00:42:17.579
to because he had died and he left it to Mum

00:42:17.579 --> 00:42:21.659
and then she'd left what was owing to Mum and

00:42:21.659 --> 00:42:24.960
me sister and me and Herbie. We all got a little

00:42:24.960 --> 00:42:27.960
share out of it. So it didn't sort of work out

00:42:27.960 --> 00:42:31.199
quite as... How did your dad pass? He was...

00:42:31.199 --> 00:42:36.340
He had these tumours and he was crook for about...

00:42:36.340 --> 00:42:39.309
He was really crook and he... And he had come

00:42:39.309 --> 00:42:44.469
home to me fairly suddenly. It was in 1962. And,

00:42:44.670 --> 00:42:48.710
well, Mum reckoned he wasn't well. And he, anyway,

00:42:49.610 --> 00:42:52.469
knocked him down just before Christmas in 62.

00:42:53.050 --> 00:42:56.550
He went to see the specialist in Wollongong in

00:42:56.550 --> 00:43:02.170
March 63. And he didn't come back. They shoved

00:43:02.170 --> 00:43:07.320
him in hospital and operated on him. And I'm

00:43:07.320 --> 00:43:10.739
still cranky about it, not real happy about this,

00:43:10.800 --> 00:43:13.260
because Mum rang the hospital to see how he,

00:43:13.300 --> 00:43:17.340
you know, and the sister or someone said, the

00:43:17.340 --> 00:43:20.659
operation was a success, so you'd think he was

00:43:20.659 --> 00:43:22.500
going to be all right, but she had to ring the

00:43:22.500 --> 00:43:25.119
doctor up a couple of days later, and he informed

00:43:25.119 --> 00:43:27.360
us that he only had six or 12 months to live.

00:43:28.199 --> 00:43:31.760
And he went about 12 months. He died on March

00:43:31.760 --> 00:43:39.230
64. How did that impact the family? Well, it

00:43:39.230 --> 00:43:43.150
impacted me, I know that, because Mum and me,

00:43:43.250 --> 00:43:46.489
we ran the farm from then on. So you stepped

00:43:46.489 --> 00:43:51.769
up? Yeah. How old were you? 17. And so what high

00:43:51.769 --> 00:43:54.710
school had you left? I left high school, narrow

00:43:54.710 --> 00:43:59.610
high school, at the end of 61. I was 14. So you

00:43:59.610 --> 00:44:02.429
stayed on the farm from 14? Yeah, much to Mum's

00:44:02.429 --> 00:44:05.530
disgust, because I was... I passed the intermediate

00:44:05.530 --> 00:44:07.550
in all subjects. He thought I should have gone

00:44:07.550 --> 00:44:10.510
on and become some sort of flaming professor

00:44:10.510 --> 00:44:13.929
or something. I didn't want to do that. I wanted

00:44:13.929 --> 00:44:16.929
to learn a trade. My dad wanted me on the farm,

00:44:16.969 --> 00:44:21.110
so I stayed with him. And I'm still there. Well,

00:44:21.269 --> 00:44:24.809
Mum still, she did the financial part of it,

00:44:24.869 --> 00:44:30.030
because the business was in her name. And we

00:44:30.030 --> 00:44:33.909
sort of shared the cattle breeding part of it.

00:44:34.190 --> 00:44:37.409
And I carried on farming the same way as what

00:44:37.409 --> 00:44:42.289
Dad did for years. You took on your father's

00:44:42.289 --> 00:44:44.789
learning. What was that? How did you run it then?

00:44:45.070 --> 00:44:49.329
And what changed? Well, we started off, I started

00:44:49.329 --> 00:44:54.190
off, he was growing pasture. That was different

00:44:54.190 --> 00:44:56.010
to what he was doing on the share farm, a bit

00:44:56.010 --> 00:44:59.289
different. We didn't have the silos, so we just

00:44:59.289 --> 00:45:04.130
grew crops and made hay, grew saccharine. We

00:45:04.130 --> 00:45:07.449
grew corn and we used to grind the cobs up and

00:45:07.449 --> 00:45:10.690
feed to the cows, like the grain. Did you store

00:45:10.690 --> 00:45:15.489
it? Yeah, we used to just pull the cobs off and

00:45:15.489 --> 00:45:16.949
chuck them in the shed and they were there for

00:45:16.949 --> 00:45:19.750
12 months, depending on how good the crop was.

00:45:20.429 --> 00:45:25.010
And then I grew saccharine and used to cut that

00:45:25.010 --> 00:45:27.539
in the wintertime. throw it just throw it out

00:45:27.539 --> 00:45:29.780
in the paddock sort of different to what we did

00:45:29.780 --> 00:45:32.360
over on the share farm well so you're saying

00:45:32.360 --> 00:45:35.639
he was chaffing up there and yeah he was he was

00:45:35.639 --> 00:45:37.960
on the share farm he was chomping but when we

00:45:37.960 --> 00:45:40.579
got where we are now he didn't do that he just

00:45:40.579 --> 00:45:43.559
should just grow the saccharine plant it thick

00:45:43.559 --> 00:45:47.300
says it only had little thin stalks and then

00:45:47.300 --> 00:45:50.019
we just chuck it out in the paddock and that's

00:45:50.019 --> 00:45:53.179
the way he was doing it and i kept doing that

00:45:53.179 --> 00:45:59.760
for About five or six years. And then I made

00:45:59.760 --> 00:46:06.039
silage in a pit. Dug a big trench in the ground.

00:46:06.099 --> 00:46:10.480
I grew corn and did that. Did it different. And

00:46:10.480 --> 00:46:12.960
then I gave that away. How did you cover it?

00:46:13.019 --> 00:46:15.719
With dirt? Yeah, with dirt. I gave that away

00:46:15.719 --> 00:46:21.800
and I made hay. I just grew pasture. And I worked

00:46:21.800 --> 00:46:25.889
out how to do things. They used to have this

00:46:25.889 --> 00:46:31.090
solids not fat test. And you always had, most

00:46:31.090 --> 00:46:33.469
farmers had problems with it in the autumn and

00:46:33.469 --> 00:46:37.010
the winter. And I worked it out one day. We never

00:46:37.010 --> 00:46:39.389
had problems in the spring and the summer when

00:46:39.389 --> 00:46:43.570
we had plenty of grass. So I've got to get that

00:46:43.570 --> 00:46:46.369
grass grown in the autumn and the winter. And

00:46:46.369 --> 00:46:48.710
I set about doing that. And that's when I completely

00:46:48.710 --> 00:46:52.750
changed the farming practice, working that out.

00:46:53.369 --> 00:46:56.590
and I worked that out. How did you sustain the

00:46:56.590 --> 00:47:01.070
grasses in the colder weather? I used to put

00:47:01.070 --> 00:47:03.670
a lot of fertiliser on and I started doing it

00:47:03.670 --> 00:47:07.670
early in the year, like around this time of the

00:47:07.670 --> 00:47:10.789
year, end of January, February. And it's a bit

00:47:10.789 --> 00:47:14.489
of an art. You put it on and you get the grass

00:47:14.489 --> 00:47:17.230
going and you keep the summer -grown grasses

00:47:17.230 --> 00:47:20.650
off, like the past pale, because that's what

00:47:20.650 --> 00:47:22.929
we had then. That was the summer. and you'd keep

00:47:22.929 --> 00:47:26.630
the rye grass and that would come up and that

00:47:26.630 --> 00:47:29.230
was the art in it. How would you keep the past

00:47:29.230 --> 00:47:32.050
pale amount? You just keep chopping the top off

00:47:32.050 --> 00:47:35.829
it, keeping it down. What fertiliser are you

00:47:35.829 --> 00:47:38.849
using? I use different mixtures, proprietary

00:47:38.849 --> 00:47:41.750
mixtures and then I was talking to an old guy,

00:47:41.949 --> 00:47:47.449
farmer, and he says we use, there was this super

00:47:47.449 --> 00:47:51.650
potash mix, K13 they used to call it, we use...

00:47:52.710 --> 00:47:55.769
make up a mixture, a two to one mixture, two

00:47:55.769 --> 00:47:58.329
bags of that to one bag of nitrum. That was a

00:47:58.329 --> 00:48:01.050
nitrogenous fertiliser. The other, the pasture

00:48:01.050 --> 00:48:04.510
13, that was super and potash. And he said, we

00:48:04.510 --> 00:48:09.030
make up a mixture. I'll try that. That was cheaper

00:48:09.030 --> 00:48:12.230
than the proprietary mixers. Who was that that

00:48:12.230 --> 00:48:14.909
gave you that advice? Horry Blissett. Where were

00:48:14.909 --> 00:48:18.599
they? Well, they used to farm out in Berry. Then

00:48:18.599 --> 00:48:21.460
they were in Maroo, and he went up to Albion

00:48:21.460 --> 00:48:23.980
Park. His son's still up there, actually, but

00:48:23.980 --> 00:48:27.800
when he told me, he was pally with the guy that

00:48:27.800 --> 00:48:32.440
eventually bought Joe Pestle's property, and

00:48:32.440 --> 00:48:35.239
that's where I sort of, when I found out, I just

00:48:35.239 --> 00:48:37.719
happened to be talking to him one day, and he

00:48:37.719 --> 00:48:39.780
told me that, so I don't know whether he was

00:48:39.780 --> 00:48:42.860
living in Maroo then or not. Come back, he was

00:48:42.860 --> 00:48:44.780
there for a while, and then he, I don't know

00:48:44.780 --> 00:48:48.059
where he went, he sold out. But anyway, they

00:48:48.059 --> 00:48:52.139
used to farm up and help me in part. So just

00:48:52.139 --> 00:48:54.579
getting back to that, so tell me how that was

00:48:54.579 --> 00:48:58.679
working with what you were growing? Pasture,

00:48:58.699 --> 00:49:04.500
ryegrass, clover and stuff. Was it improving?

00:49:04.860 --> 00:49:07.440
Did you notice any difference? Yeah, because

00:49:07.440 --> 00:49:12.179
I used to top dress every time I used to strip

00:49:12.179 --> 00:49:15.820
graze the paddocks and I fenced the farm. Well,

00:49:15.920 --> 00:49:18.679
I hadn't altered at all, but I altered to what

00:49:18.679 --> 00:49:23.159
Dad was doing and fenced it different and had

00:49:23.159 --> 00:49:27.800
some of it done. And I had small paddocks and

00:49:27.800 --> 00:49:30.739
they only lasted two or three days. I'd eat them

00:49:30.739 --> 00:49:33.659
out in two or three days and I would slash them

00:49:33.659 --> 00:49:37.019
and top dress them every time I fed them off,

00:49:37.059 --> 00:49:39.639
which was every about a month or six weeks. And

00:49:39.639 --> 00:49:42.360
that was from January till about August, September.

00:49:42.619 --> 00:49:45.579
I didn't do it over the summer. because they

00:49:45.579 --> 00:49:47.440
didn't need it then, they had enough and they'd...

00:49:47.440 --> 00:49:50.840
And how was the milk production? Well, I got

00:49:50.840 --> 00:49:53.840
it going pretty good. By the time I got to all

00:49:53.840 --> 00:49:56.940
that working good, and the other thing I did,

00:49:57.159 --> 00:50:00.940
they used to, we got rid of the bulls and we

00:50:00.940 --> 00:50:04.360
used to use the AI. We had a mixed herd early

00:50:04.360 --> 00:50:08.159
in the piece and we used to, whatever, say it

00:50:08.159 --> 00:50:11.199
was an AIS or a cross -bred cow, that one looks

00:50:11.199 --> 00:50:13.909
like it's got a fair bit of AIS in it. We'll

00:50:13.909 --> 00:50:16.469
use a red bull on her. That one, it looks like

00:50:16.469 --> 00:50:18.429
it's got a bit of jersey, a fair bit of jersey.

00:50:18.730 --> 00:50:20.630
We'll use a jersey. And that's what we're doing.

00:50:21.230 --> 00:50:23.289
And the Friesians, they're all the different

00:50:23.289 --> 00:50:26.849
ones. So you're breeding with the breed? Yeah,

00:50:26.889 --> 00:50:30.909
staying with that breed. So Illawarra's you're

00:50:30.909 --> 00:50:33.369
breeding, you're keeping the breed, you're keeping

00:50:33.369 --> 00:50:36.389
the jerseys. Yeah, and the ones that we thought

00:50:36.389 --> 00:50:39.110
were the crossbreed ones, well, they look like,

00:50:39.190 --> 00:50:41.750
say, the Friesian or whatever's a bit dominant

00:50:41.750 --> 00:50:44.659
in them. We'll stay with that, put that over.

00:50:44.900 --> 00:50:47.920
Anyway. What was the methodology behind that?

00:50:47.940 --> 00:50:50.800
What was your thinking? Well, save having crossbred

00:50:50.800 --> 00:50:55.320
cows. We could do it. But any cows I bought,

00:50:55.579 --> 00:50:59.519
I always bought Friesians later on. Before that,

00:50:59.619 --> 00:51:02.440
if I bought any, I'd buy red ones or usually

00:51:02.440 --> 00:51:05.699
red ones or Friesians. But I went to the Friesians

00:51:05.699 --> 00:51:08.280
and I eventually ended up with a Friesian herd.

00:51:10.039 --> 00:51:13.019
And that was an interesting thing. I bought two

00:51:13.019 --> 00:51:17.380
registered cows, and they come from out of Col

00:51:17.380 --> 00:51:20.760
Boldy's herd. They come out of there, but that's

00:51:20.760 --> 00:51:22.820
not where I bought them from. Over Berry? Yeah,

00:51:22.880 --> 00:51:27.280
in Berry, just up here in Rawlings Road. And

00:51:27.280 --> 00:51:29.920
that's where he bred them, but I didn't buy them

00:51:29.920 --> 00:51:32.079
off him. I bought them at another sale, and I

00:51:32.079 --> 00:51:34.139
didn't go there to buy them. I was just at the

00:51:34.139 --> 00:51:36.699
sale, and I just bought them. And they were cows

00:51:36.699 --> 00:51:41.329
that come from that lamens. The original bred

00:51:41.329 --> 00:51:44.150
down from them, from those lamins. The ones I

00:51:44.150 --> 00:51:46.150
just showed you? Yeah, from them lamins in number.

00:51:46.610 --> 00:51:50.409
Wow. The original stock from them, their ancestors.

00:51:50.909 --> 00:51:54.030
So you knew about that history a bit? No, I just

00:51:54.030 --> 00:51:55.550
bought them. I was just there and I just bought

00:51:55.550 --> 00:51:57.329
them. You saw the composition of them, you liked

00:51:57.329 --> 00:51:59.329
the look of them. Yeah, and I just bought them.

00:51:59.389 --> 00:52:00.989
I don't know why, I just still don't know why

00:52:00.989 --> 00:52:03.070
I bought them. Instinct. Yeah, and I bought them.

00:52:03.130 --> 00:52:04.389
They were only a couple of hundred dollars each.

00:52:04.750 --> 00:52:07.570
Yeah. Is that a good price? Yeah, it was. It

00:52:07.570 --> 00:52:10.199
was cheap then at the time. Where are you buying

00:52:10.199 --> 00:52:13.699
them? Well, I bought, for those ones, we were

00:52:13.699 --> 00:52:15.480
at an auction sale. The bloke was giving up.

00:52:15.820 --> 00:52:19.059
Where at? Fox Grand. Bill Mitchell, I think.

00:52:19.800 --> 00:52:22.840
And I bought some other ones. They were only

00:52:22.840 --> 00:52:25.659
grade cattle. Pat Barrett, he's a well -known

00:52:25.659 --> 00:52:29.579
berry man. He was up at Goodhill. I bought four

00:52:29.579 --> 00:52:34.380
of his cows. I bought two when they used to have

00:52:34.380 --> 00:52:37.739
a sale yard in Berry. And this was back in the

00:52:37.739 --> 00:52:42.039
early 70s. And they come from Guatemala or Woodhill

00:52:42.039 --> 00:52:44.880
or somewhere up there in that vicinity. And then

00:52:44.880 --> 00:52:47.519
we had some of our own freezings. Then they had

00:52:47.519 --> 00:52:51.719
these proven bulls. They'd do a bull -proven

00:52:51.719 --> 00:52:55.559
scheme. They'd use the bulls over so many things.

00:52:56.440 --> 00:52:59.199
So they followed them, didn't they? Yeah, they

00:52:59.199 --> 00:53:03.559
tested them and their milk and their butterfat

00:53:03.559 --> 00:53:06.940
and all that. And I started using them. Some

00:53:06.940 --> 00:53:09.500
of them were fairly expensive, and I couldn't

00:53:09.500 --> 00:53:11.679
afford them. But I started, and this one bull

00:53:11.679 --> 00:53:15.159
I used, and the guy that had the AI thing was

00:53:15.159 --> 00:53:17.860
after they stopped doing it from, well, he was

00:53:17.860 --> 00:53:20.940
still working out of the centre here, but he

00:53:20.940 --> 00:53:24.360
had a private business. And I was using this

00:53:24.360 --> 00:53:26.500
bull all the time, and he says, I think you should

00:53:26.500 --> 00:53:30.159
use another bull. And then he says, I don't suppose

00:53:30.159 --> 00:53:32.989
you could have too many of his heifers. And I

00:53:32.989 --> 00:53:36.269
just kept using him all the time. And after I

00:53:36.269 --> 00:53:40.710
got those heifers mature wooden, then I used

00:53:40.710 --> 00:53:43.269
a different one over there. Ended up with a herd

00:53:43.269 --> 00:53:49.329
of cows. And I was grass feeding them. And I

00:53:49.329 --> 00:53:51.909
was getting up near an average of five gallons

00:53:51.909 --> 00:53:54.230
of cow. Four and three quarter gallons of cow.

00:53:54.469 --> 00:53:57.429
And this was in the 80s. I only had, I was milking

00:53:57.429 --> 00:54:02.409
about 30. between 37 and 35, I'd say 35 and 40

00:54:02.409 --> 00:54:07.869
in that range. I know one day, one stage I was

00:54:07.869 --> 00:54:11.349
milking 33 and a neighbour come down and he was

00:54:11.349 --> 00:54:13.469
all pumped up. He had Guernsey's and he said,

00:54:13.469 --> 00:54:17.650
I've got 210 gallons today and he was all pumped

00:54:17.650 --> 00:54:19.469
up. I didn't ask him how many he was milking.

00:54:19.510 --> 00:54:21.590
I said, well, I'm not getting that much. I'm

00:54:21.590 --> 00:54:24.789
only getting 150, but then I'm only milking 33.

00:54:26.789 --> 00:54:30.230
I found out later he used to milk about 70. So

00:54:30.230 --> 00:54:32.650
I was a long way ahead of him. Tell me about

00:54:32.650 --> 00:54:35.510
your dairy. Was it a walk -through? Yeah, it

00:54:35.510 --> 00:54:41.190
was a walk -through. We had two bales. We eventually

00:54:41.190 --> 00:54:43.610
had them doubled up. We had four machines in

00:54:43.610 --> 00:54:46.889
it eventually. Dad had two. He had three machines

00:54:46.889 --> 00:54:49.769
because when he was over in the share farm, he

00:54:49.769 --> 00:54:51.429
owned the machines. He brought them with us.

00:54:51.730 --> 00:54:54.510
And he had three singles. And when we came, we

00:54:54.510 --> 00:54:57.329
had one doubled up and one single. And then later

00:54:57.329 --> 00:54:59.329
on we put another one in, so we had two double

00:54:59.329 --> 00:55:05.409
ups. And I worked in that until 95. And then

00:55:05.409 --> 00:55:07.869
we built an eight -a -side hearing bone, put

00:55:07.869 --> 00:55:10.190
in an eight -a -side hearing bone. Did you increase

00:55:10.190 --> 00:55:12.329
your herd? Yeah, it went up. I was milking nearly

00:55:12.329 --> 00:55:15.230
100 at one stage. But when I was milking, I was

00:55:15.230 --> 00:55:18.769
milking 77. And this is, I'll tell you, this

00:55:18.769 --> 00:55:21.469
is a bit funny. The tanker driver come round.

00:55:22.349 --> 00:55:25.010
I thought you would have been down these palmers

00:55:25.010 --> 00:55:27.579
down the flats. Used to have these heifer sales,

00:55:27.800 --> 00:55:31.000
these stud sales, selling stud heifers. Thought

00:55:31.000 --> 00:55:32.480
you would have been down there getting some good

00:55:32.480 --> 00:55:36.320
cows. What are their old things for? I says,

00:55:36.480 --> 00:55:40.280
they're milking 120 and getting so much, they're

00:55:40.280 --> 00:55:43.440
only averaging about four gallons a cow. I says,

00:55:43.599 --> 00:55:48.400
I'm only milking 77. And I was getting 400. Actually,

00:55:48.480 --> 00:55:51.860
one day I got over, I got 420 gallons, and according

00:55:51.860 --> 00:55:54.539
to my calculations, it's about five and a half

00:55:54.539 --> 00:55:57.360
gallons a cow. I said, we want to want them old

00:55:57.360 --> 00:56:02.000
things for. How much land were you on there?

00:56:02.559 --> 00:56:06.019
On the home property, I've got, it started off

00:56:06.019 --> 00:56:11.079
with 117 acres when we got it. And later on,

00:56:11.159 --> 00:56:14.039
after Dad died, Mum was, when she was fixing

00:56:14.039 --> 00:56:18.360
things up, before she was, she took one house

00:56:18.360 --> 00:56:21.659
and five acres and her and her sister, my sister,

00:56:21.920 --> 00:56:24.820
my sister's got it now actually. And I had the

00:56:24.820 --> 00:56:29.719
rest, the other house and the 112 acres. In 87,

00:56:29.960 --> 00:56:35.039
I bought another property. It's about two kilometres

00:56:35.039 --> 00:56:37.440
away. It's just round past the Ulmeroo School

00:56:37.440 --> 00:56:40.739
on the bend of the highway there. We've got to

00:56:40.739 --> 00:56:44.219
go down Pestles Lane, Boxers Lane and then along

00:56:44.219 --> 00:56:46.679
the highway. So it's on the highway? Yeah, front

00:56:46.679 --> 00:56:48.900
side of the highway. And how many acres have

00:56:48.900 --> 00:56:52.519
you got there? 67. What are you... Farming today?

00:56:53.019 --> 00:56:55.380
I've got beef cattle now, Angus beef cattle.

00:56:55.659 --> 00:56:58.960
When did that transfer happen? End of 2008. What

00:56:58.960 --> 00:57:01.619
was your thinking then? I couldn't make a pay,

00:57:01.719 --> 00:57:04.500
paying wages, and I couldn't do the work myself.

00:57:05.920 --> 00:57:10.300
Like I was nearly 62 then. If I would have been

00:57:10.300 --> 00:57:13.699
30, I would have done it because I milked from

00:57:13.699 --> 00:57:20.929
64 to 94, 95. I did it on my own all the time.

00:57:21.070 --> 00:57:24.150
I employed a bloke, put him on, he was an apprentice,

00:57:24.409 --> 00:57:27.789
and I went out, I wanted to have a go at, I used

00:57:27.789 --> 00:57:29.510
to do a bit of contract work, but I wanted to

00:57:29.510 --> 00:57:31.409
do a bit more of that, and that was the idea

00:57:31.409 --> 00:57:34.789
of employing someone, but it didn't work very

00:57:34.789 --> 00:57:38.510
good. I didn't make any money out of it, and

00:57:38.510 --> 00:57:41.769
I was doing too much, and I sort of got sick,

00:57:41.849 --> 00:57:45.780
and then I wasn't well. I had to put the guy

00:57:45.780 --> 00:57:48.980
off because I couldn't make it pay. The last

00:57:48.980 --> 00:57:51.599
four years I was on my own again, but it was

00:57:51.599 --> 00:57:54.179
killing me. Anyway, I gave it away and ran the

00:57:54.179 --> 00:57:56.699
beef cattle in, and I'm still doing it. I've

00:57:56.699 --> 00:57:59.920
got myself into a pickle now. I've got too many

00:57:59.920 --> 00:58:02.559
of them. How many have you got now? I don't know.

00:58:02.659 --> 00:58:04.940
I've lost count of them. So are they at both

00:58:04.940 --> 00:58:07.599
properties? I've only got a dozen on one property,

00:58:07.719 --> 00:58:10.780
on the highway property. There's only a dozen

00:58:10.780 --> 00:58:13.730
there. They wouldn't get... fat at home, so I

00:58:13.730 --> 00:58:14.789
said, well, I'll put them over there and leave

00:58:14.789 --> 00:58:16.510
them there until they do get the fat. I've got

00:58:16.510 --> 00:58:20.130
about 150 at home, I think. What are they eating?

00:58:21.489 --> 00:58:25.530
Grass. This kike here, that's... Is that naturally

00:58:25.530 --> 00:58:28.250
grown? Yeah, it's taken over the whole farm now.

00:58:29.309 --> 00:58:32.110
And I've got... It's not just the home, probably.

00:58:32.170 --> 00:58:35.210
I've got about another 100 acres of Mark Marshall's

00:58:35.210 --> 00:58:37.489
place, me cousin's place, up the joins on to

00:58:37.489 --> 00:58:40.489
the back. I've got 100 acres up there as well.

00:58:40.920 --> 00:58:44.239
but it's like a rubbish unit too. Is that near

00:58:44.239 --> 00:58:47.960
Pestles? That's on the end of Bell's Lane. Where

00:58:47.960 --> 00:58:51.579
was the water supplied? Town water? No, we still

00:58:51.579 --> 00:58:54.800
haven't got town water. On the home place, I

00:58:54.800 --> 00:58:57.579
have on the highway paddock, but on the original

00:58:57.579 --> 00:59:00.539
farm, we still haven't got town water. We've

00:59:00.539 --> 00:59:04.320
got, well, Dad dug a little dam up in the paddock,

00:59:04.340 --> 00:59:07.440
and we gravitated down, but it didn't work in

00:59:07.440 --> 00:59:10.010
the dry weather, so we used to... pumped the

00:59:10.010 --> 00:59:13.329
water out of the creek. What creek's that? It's

00:59:13.329 --> 00:59:16.250
a branch of Abernethy's Creek. And you still

00:59:16.250 --> 00:59:20.550
have to resort to that today? No, before he died,

00:59:20.789 --> 00:59:23.710
we put a pump on. We're still getting it out

00:59:23.710 --> 00:59:26.269
of the creek, but we had a pressure pump down

00:59:26.269 --> 00:59:28.230
into the thing. Before that, we used to have

00:59:28.230 --> 00:59:31.150
to go up with the tractor and pump the water

00:59:31.150 --> 00:59:33.969
and ground it into a tank and then gravitate

00:59:33.969 --> 00:59:36.510
it back. But when he was crook, before he died,

00:59:36.550 --> 00:59:39.699
he got this other pressure pump. put it on down

00:59:39.699 --> 00:59:42.079
the dairy. What sort of piping are you using?

00:59:42.280 --> 00:59:44.460
Well, the original one was all steel pipe. Well,

00:59:44.480 --> 00:59:47.780
that bit of it was poly pipe. Later on, in the

00:59:47.780 --> 00:59:52.460
1980s, I got a big dam dug up in the gully. That

00:59:52.460 --> 00:59:54.820
was when things were good. It started to go good

00:59:54.820 --> 00:59:58.679
because I had a good supply of water and it was

00:59:58.679 --> 01:00:00.920
dry weather when we did it, but it started to

01:00:00.920 --> 01:00:04.320
make a bit of water and we got a storm not long

01:00:04.320 --> 01:00:06.360
after. and a fair bit of water, got a fair bit

01:00:06.360 --> 01:00:08.400
of water in it. It was all muddy and everything.

01:00:09.199 --> 01:00:11.420
But I used to siphon that down into the creek

01:00:11.420 --> 01:00:14.320
and let it settle out and then pump it out. But

01:00:14.320 --> 01:00:16.659
when I got that going, got that, all that, and

01:00:16.659 --> 01:00:19.219
I put water troughs around the paddocks, really

01:00:19.219 --> 01:00:21.500
improved because I had a better water supply

01:00:21.500 --> 01:00:24.079
for the cattle. Before that, they just had to

01:00:24.079 --> 01:00:28.039
drink out of the creek. That's tough times. And

01:00:28.039 --> 01:00:32.099
then I had a... And then in the 90s, there was

01:00:32.099 --> 01:00:35.780
this wet soak up in the... And the top corner,

01:00:35.880 --> 01:00:39.619
nearly the highest part of the farm. And I was

01:00:39.619 --> 01:00:44.099
on about it when I was 15 years old because I

01:00:44.099 --> 01:00:46.920
said to Dad one day, I said, we ought to dig

01:00:46.920 --> 01:00:50.780
this out. And he says, you can do that when you

01:00:50.780 --> 01:00:54.559
take over. Well, that was in 1962 probably. Well,

01:00:54.599 --> 01:00:59.159
in 1995, I got a bloke up with an excavator and

01:00:59.159 --> 01:01:02.840
we dug this big hole up there and that's what

01:01:02.840 --> 01:01:05.760
I used. rather than the other dam, because I

01:01:05.760 --> 01:01:09.159
don't have to pump it. It gravitates down to

01:01:09.159 --> 01:01:12.219
the dairy and then back up the paddock to the

01:01:12.219 --> 01:01:15.800
troughs, and I don't have to pump it. How much

01:01:15.800 --> 01:01:18.079
water? I don't know how many gallons would be

01:01:18.079 --> 01:01:19.940
in it. Well, when they talk about swimming pools,

01:01:20.039 --> 01:01:21.760
it might be nearly as big as a swimming pool,

01:01:21.880 --> 01:01:25.059
a fair -sized hole, and it's about 12 foot deep.

01:01:25.320 --> 01:01:28.599
The beef cattle, tell me the process of farming

01:01:28.599 --> 01:01:31.039
beef and when you send them off to slaughter.

01:01:31.760 --> 01:01:36.340
Well, I've got Angus cattle, and I rear them

01:01:36.340 --> 01:01:38.880
up usually if everything goes good at wheeler

01:01:38.880 --> 01:01:46.199
stage. We're 10, 12 months old. And then I just

01:01:46.199 --> 01:01:49.179
send them to the market. What do you get for

01:01:49.179 --> 01:01:53.860
one cow these days? I don't know just what the

01:01:53.860 --> 01:01:59.000
market's like now. They go up and down. Yeah,

01:01:59.099 --> 01:02:02.280
they were a few years ago. We were sending in

01:02:02.280 --> 01:02:06.659
little 200 -kilo things and getting $1 ,900 for

01:02:06.659 --> 01:02:10.619
them, $8 .50 a kilo, I think I got for the best

01:02:10.619 --> 01:02:14.079
of them, one lot. And then that door fizzled

01:02:14.079 --> 01:02:18.119
out, and one lot I sent in, another lot that

01:02:18.119 --> 01:02:20.380
was like them, and the best I got out of them

01:02:20.380 --> 01:02:24.219
was later on when the market was crook, was $1

01:02:24.219 --> 01:02:27.739
.66, and there were some other bigger ones in

01:02:27.739 --> 01:02:32.199
that load, $0 .40. A kilo. Where did you send

01:02:32.199 --> 01:02:34.559
them to? Mossvale, mostly. They come and collect

01:02:34.559 --> 01:02:36.539
them in a truck, do they? Yeah, I just bring

01:02:36.539 --> 01:02:39.119
the carrier up and... Who's the carrier? Steve

01:02:39.119 --> 01:02:44.559
Chittick. Chitticks? Yeah. Local person? They

01:02:44.559 --> 01:02:48.440
used to be at Kiama, but he's gone up to Albyn

01:02:48.440 --> 01:02:50.800
Park now, and I've sent them over to the sale

01:02:50.800 --> 01:02:53.619
of Mossvale, to my own Martian Co. You never

01:02:53.619 --> 01:02:56.039
married? A few people haven't married. Is it

01:02:56.039 --> 01:02:59.840
just... or you prefer your own company? I don't

01:02:59.840 --> 01:03:03.800
know. I don't know why. You probably had a lot

01:03:03.800 --> 01:03:06.480
of responsibility as well and you were working

01:03:06.480 --> 01:03:11.760
hard. What keeps you going? Well, I'm still trying

01:03:11.760 --> 01:03:14.039
to keep the farm in good order. That was part

01:03:14.039 --> 01:03:18.719
of my thing when I was young, to have it looking

01:03:18.719 --> 01:03:22.940
really good. And it did look good too. And I

01:03:22.940 --> 01:03:27.780
used to make things. Because that's actually

01:03:27.780 --> 01:03:30.179
what I would have liked to have done, to have

01:03:30.179 --> 01:03:33.119
done something rather than dairy. Some of the

01:03:33.119 --> 01:03:35.960
things I've made, I've made up trailers and that

01:03:35.960 --> 01:03:39.480
for use around the farm and I've made a tip and

01:03:39.480 --> 01:03:43.760
body for a truck and stuff and a steel shed frame

01:03:43.760 --> 01:03:47.440
and stuff like that. And then I started milking

01:03:47.440 --> 01:03:49.199
more cows and I couldn't give time to do it.

01:03:49.659 --> 01:03:51.940
What about your sister? Do you see her much?

01:03:52.039 --> 01:03:54.360
Yeah, every day. Where does your house position

01:03:54.360 --> 01:03:57.289
from hers? About 100 yards away. It should be

01:03:57.289 --> 01:04:00.170
80 in August. Audrey comes down and helps me

01:04:00.170 --> 01:04:02.610
do the cows sometimes. Do you have a stud name?

01:04:02.929 --> 01:04:05.789
When I had the Friesian cattle, I was in the

01:04:05.789 --> 01:04:09.170
Friesian Cattle Club for about two years. And

01:04:09.170 --> 01:04:11.369
it was Mundroola stud, but I got out of that.

01:04:11.510 --> 01:04:15.929
How did you spell the stud name? M -U -N -D -R

01:04:15.929 --> 01:04:19.190
-O -O -L -A. That's the farm name, Mundroola.

01:04:19.429 --> 01:04:22.929
When I give up dairy, I add... I went through

01:04:22.929 --> 01:04:25.170
my little book one day where I kept account of

01:04:25.170 --> 01:04:28.190
all the cows, and those two registered cows,

01:04:28.389 --> 01:04:31.170
about two -thirds of the herd were descendants

01:04:31.170 --> 01:04:34.130
of those two cows. What were their names? Blossom

01:04:34.130 --> 01:04:41.570
and Peggy. It turns out Blossom and Peggy are

01:04:41.570 --> 01:04:45.789
descendants of the celebrated Friesian stud at

01:04:45.789 --> 01:04:50.329
Noomba. This podcast was assisted by a local

01:04:50.329 --> 01:04:54.630
farming family. Turf Co, who have been operating

01:04:54.630 --> 01:04:58.309
in and supporting the region for the past 40

01:04:58.309 --> 01:05:02.010
years. They are the region's largest agricultural

01:05:02.010 --> 01:05:06.050
employer and I'm grateful for their part support

01:05:06.050 --> 01:05:11.030
toward realising and continuing the ongoing production.

01:05:11.510 --> 01:05:14.510
I'd like to acknowledge the introductory research

01:05:14.510 --> 01:05:18.230
undertaken by Joy Vost, who has done much research

01:05:18.230 --> 01:05:21.099
on the Marshalls. and sadly passed away at the

01:05:21.099 --> 01:05:25.519
beginning of this year. I've set up a donate

01:05:25.519 --> 01:05:28.400
button should you wish to support this project

01:05:28.400 --> 01:05:33.579
at my host site, rss .com. You can also visit

01:05:33.579 --> 01:05:39.539
my website, theresweeney .com .au, where all

01:05:39.539 --> 01:05:44.019
the podcasts are to be hosted as well as across

01:05:44.019 --> 01:05:47.900
multiple platforms. You'll get to see a few photos

01:05:47.900 --> 01:05:51.639
on my website as well and just follow the directions

01:05:51.639 --> 01:05:55.780
under the podcast menu. While you're there, look

01:05:55.780 --> 01:06:00.300
up my business menu on my website. I offer future

01:06:00.300 --> 01:06:03.519
clients a range of paper and digital media outcomes

01:06:03.519 --> 01:06:07.420
to make their history. How much is your story

01:06:07.420 --> 01:06:11.019
worth? Do you want to leave a legacy and have

01:06:11.019 --> 01:06:13.940
it archived at state and national cultural sites?

01:06:14.559 --> 01:06:18.519
Join me in a fortnight for episode three, Boxall's

01:06:18.519 --> 01:06:21.260
Lane, featuring Richard Boxall.