Welcome to Season 2, The Dairy Lane Project.
Episode 1 today finds us in Strong's Road with
Ray Strong. But firstly, my primary sponsor for
Season 2 is Ian Zanstra, a very experienced dairyman
on the other side of the river from Piree. Season
2 would not be happening without Ian's support.
I'm very grateful he stepped up. Thank you, Ian.
Ray Strong. Ray grew up in Glenbrae, a home on
Strong's Road that has housed six generations
of his family. His son, Wayne, currently lives
at Glenbrae. Ray Strong is the grandson of William
and Eliza Jane Strong. Ray's grandfather William
arrived on the Ocean Empress in 1864 with his
cousin Alexander. Both were aged 15. They had
grown up together in a densely packed house on
Loch Rose Point, County Donegal in Northern Ireland.
They then steamed down the south coast to Broughton
Creek Wharf. Forty members from six related Irish
families had arrived on the Ocean Empress. Adam
Boyd sponsored 34 of the new settlers, including
the two Strongs and Walkers. Members also of
the Laman family, two of the Clark men, Fanny
Hanlon, who was a niece of Alexander Hanlon,
and many of them settled in Upper Brogas Creek,
working together to clear the land and many seeking
paid work in Kiama on farms. By the way, the
Devots also came from Lockross Point and were
sponsored also by Adam Boyd, and they started
at Woodhill. Both Strong cousins eventually married
sisters from the Boyd family. Alexander ended
up settling at Harley Hill on 160 acres and William
Strong settled in Jasper's Brush. William Strong
and wife Eliza Boyd had five sons and three daughters.
of their children dying in infancy. They built
a home named Glenview, now known as on Strong's
Road, Jasper's Brush. Their surviving children
were Henry James Strong, born in 1876, and he
passed away in 1909 after he died suddenly at
the Berry Show. Robert Hugh was born in 1897.
He married Mabel Barraclough and he passed away
in 1942. Catherine Strong, known as Cassie, was
born in 1878 and she married William Clark and
she passed away in 1961. Thomas Alfred Strong
was born in 1883. And he had two marriages, one
to Myrtle Bailey and the second Avis Stocker.
He passed away in 1957. Eliza Strong was born
in 1885 and she married William Smith. She also
passed away in 1957. Now the youngest child,
William John Strong, born in 1888. married Margaret
Cleland, Ray's parents, and they married in 1924.
William passed away when Ray was six years old
in 1942. Ray's grandfather, William, became an
astute cattle judge and cattle breeder. His bulls
and heifers were famous and he had great success
in the show ring. He had one of the best shorthorn
milking herds in the Illawarra. He was a committed
member of the Berry Wesleyan Church and passed
in 1916, aged 68. His wife Eliza, Jane, passed
away three years later, aged 75. They're both
buried at Berry Cemetery. When the farm was split,
Ray's parents moved a weatherboard home from
Broughton Vale when the farm was divided in two.
It would have travelled on logs to the newly
named Glenbrae, named by his mother, a Scottish
name. Strong's Road was named by locals after
William Strong, who accumulated those 170 acres,
Ray's grandfather. The name was made official
by either Robert Strong or his brother Alfred,
who were both mayors of Berry in the 1930s. Ray
is married to Evelyn Cady, C -A -D -Y. Her father
was a share farmer and he worked at Tarara, Kiama
and Jasper's Brush, where obviously Evelyn met
Ray at one of those dances. You'll hear her a
little bit in the recording and she'll have her
own recording down the track when we move into
Stations Lane or as we know it, Jaspers Brush
Road. Ray turned 90 a few days ago. Belated birthday
wishes. Both Ray and Evelyn live in Bury today
and have done for a while. I gladly present our
recording together which was undertaken in November
24 and it was during cicada season in summer.
I mention that because you'll hear them when
I visit Glenbrae with Ray in the final minutes
of his story. I hope you enjoy it as much as
I have enjoyed meeting Ray and spending time
with both Evelyn and Ray with a cup of tea. Ray,
what's your full name and year of birth and where
were you born? I was named Raymond Henry James
Strong and I was born on the 12th of the 9th.
1935, born at Glenbray Justice Brush, Strongs
Road. What was the name of the property again?
Glenbray. The adjoining property was Glenview.
Both properties were owned by my grandfather
at that stage. Was your grandfather allocated
the original land grant? Yes. And what's his
full name? It was William John. Well, he was
born in Donegal. and they immigrated out here
with other families in 1863. They originally
set up on farms on Woodhill, Berry, up on the
hills. They were there for a number of years
before they moved to Broughton Village, where
they farmed at Broughton Village for a time.
And then the land became available from Alexandra
Berry at Jasper's Brush. Hence, the family moved
about 1896, which is now Strong's Road, Jasper's
Brush. The reason it was called Strong's Road,
one of my uncles became mayor of Berry Municipal
Council. And back in that era, well, if you're
on council, you've got a road named after you.
And hence, Strong's Road. Do you recall your
uncle's name? Yeah, Thomas Alfred, T .A. Strong.
And his lady, Mayoress Eliza Jane. Was he your
grandfather's brother? My father's brother. Your
father's brother. Yeah, T .A. Strong. So can
you tell me your... We'll get back to that. Can
you tell me your parents' full names? My father
was William John Strong. He unfortunately died
when I was six year old. He died in 1942. He
was 54. My mother, Margaret Helen Cleland, prior
to her marrying my father, she was a city girl
from Newtown. She obviously fairly talented in
her younger years before her marriage because
she was a private secretary in one of the largest
law offices in New South Wales. Because of her
ability with typing, typing speed, I believe,
and shorthand back in that era. Do you recall
any law firms? I used to, but no, it's gone now.
Did she work here? No. Do you recall what happened
initially with your grandfather? My grandfather
obtained the grant from Berry. And it was probably
around 350 acres on the northern side of Strong's
Road, 210k up. When my grandfather passed away,
the two brothers, Thomas Alfred and William John,
the two sons, decided they wanted to go their
own way, so they split the farm down the middle.
And they each got around 120 acres, all in that
area, kind of two properties. Were they both
dairy farming? Both dairy farming, yes. Do you
know when the land was split? No, I don't recall
that. It would have been early 1900s. The terrain,
can you describe it? Well, on each part of the
land there was probably a hundred -odd flat area
and the other acreage was to the north hilly
area. And, of course, they had to... Do a lot
of fencing to split the boat, split the property
up into two. What type of fences were made? Barbed
wire. After World War I, they brought the barbed
wire in, didn't they? Oh, I don't know. They'll
do. Clearing the bush. What were some of the
natural grasses and weeds that grow at Jaspers
that you recall? Well, when they went there,
the Jaspers rose creep. run through the middle
of the properties, which was a big bonus, huge
bonus, to have water on tap for your animals.
Along that creek, creek banks, out many, many
metres, was rainforest right from the hills.
You might call it a mountain, but... The escarpment?
The escarpment will do, yes. It was all rainforest,
and that all had to be cleared, and they pushed
that rainforest right back. to the escarpment.
It went on from Strong's property down onto the
neighbours' property. Huge job it was. One of
my uncles died in that era and the coroner's
report on it died of overwork. Thinking about,
do you recall what tools they may have used to
clear the land, to clear the weeds and the vegetation?
Would have been all hand -held. Brush hooks and
sires. Did you ever use those yourself? Yes,
not very often though. What would you be using
it for, the same thing? Ferns and tussocks. What
sort of trees were growing? Cedars were a big
thing back in that area. There were heaps of
cedar trees along the creek banks. And you recall
that yourself? Yes. Still there? Some, because
they're protected these days. My grandfather,
he excelled and... bred Illawarra shorthorns.
He focused on stud prized bulls and he sold and
nurtured them and sold them all over the country
when they become of age. We have a lot of photos
of those prized bulls in the era and the guineas
that they were sold for around the countryside.
That was my grandfather's doing. Talk a bit more
about how, do you know how the bulls were transported
around the region, around the nations? They used
to show all the local shows. He took his animals
to Sydney Royal. They used to walk the animals
from Strong's Road into Berry Railway Station
the afternoon prior to them departing by train
in the holding yard down here at Berry. and they
would go to Sydney, and I don't know where they
were let off in Sydney, and then walked to the
show areas in Sydney. Because it was held at
a different location than it is today, of course.
Yes. Did you ever go yourself? No, it was before
my time, really. Was there a lot of ribbons passed
down? Oh, there had to have been, but as I say,
I was too young then. So they would have been
ploughing as well? Yes. Draft horses. We had
three draft horses, yes. On your farm? Yes. Do
you remember the draft horses? Yes, I do, yeah.
What were you using them for? Mainly ploughing,
harrowing. Their only form of motivation, really.
Before the 50s, when tractors became the norm.
What were you growing? Mainly saccharine or sorghum.
Corn was the big issue. I suppose we were growing
something like 15 acres of corn, I suppose, back
then, a year, to fill the 80 -tonne silo. Food
throughout the winter for the cattle, chaffed
up. Did you have the chaff cutters out in the
field? No, in the barn. Tell me about how that
worked, when the crop was ready. Yes, well, back
then we had cane knives. We called them cane
knives. And it was all manual labour. You cut
each stalk of corn, called them slides, motor
transport, I suppose, for the produce. And fill
it up and then horse -drawn and you'd drag the
load of corn up into the barn and then it'd be
all shafted up through the shaft cutter. Unfortunately,
when my elder brother, I think he was 14 or 15,
he was helping. feed the chute of the chaff cutter,
feed the corn into the chute. They were a pretty
deadly thing, the old chaff cutter, with the
blades rotating. Anyway, he was feeding it on
the wrong side. It was the person on the other
side. He was on the wrong side. His arm went
into the jaws of the chaff cutter and it cut
half his hand off. He couldn't get to the...
Because he was on the wrong part of the chute,
he couldn't reach the clutch. Do you remember
that day? Yes. Yeah, I picked his fingers up
out of the pile of chopped up corn. What happened?
How did you get him to a doctor or hospital?
Yeah, I think my mother took him into Berry Hospital.
He got over it and it didn't hold him back. He
just finished up with those two fingers and he
was cut right through there. So the two smaller
fingers he was left with. A lot of people lost
their hands in chaff cutters in that era. A lot
of people around here. What brand of chaff cutter
do you remember? Mainly the stuff was Alice Chalmers
stuff back in that era, Alice Chalmers. How would
you order a chaff cutter? How did your dad get
the supplies, the machinery? No idea. It was
there before I come on the scene. The silo was
built by local people, Jack Blow and son from
Berry. They built most of the silos in this era.
And they were all 80, what they termed 80 tonne
silos. How many silos were in Jasper's Brush?
I think we were the only ones in Strong's. No,
the neighbours had one, that's right. Yeah. There
was one on Glenview and one on Glenbrae. But
I think they were the only two in Strong's Road.
What do you recall Strong's Road looking like
when you were a young boy? Like walking along
Strong's Road, what was it? It's all dirt. Terrible.
Council graded it twice a year. Extreme wet winters
we had and it was just at times a quagmire, the
length of strong trade. How did the horses get
through? The sulkies? Oh, always managed. So
how many cows were you milking? And let's just
quickly talk about the dairy. What type of dairy
was it when you were young? Well, in my era,
we always milked roughly between 40 and 50 head
and we always had about 10 dry cattle. I'll call
them dry cattle. They were in rest, as I'd say,
before they come back in the season and milk
again. And those cattle were kept up the hill
area until it was time to bring them down and
mate them with the bull. How many bulls? Only
one. Did it have its own yard? Yes. Any bull
stories? Pretty crazy, was it? No, no, I don't
recall anything. So your dad was farming the
same amount of cattle as you were? Yeah, virtually.
Virtually, that was about all the property could
handle. My mother at times, because she took
over the reins after my father passed away in
1942, she brought a worker and his family in
to keep the property going. I don't know how
she ever did, but keeping five kids going. What
did her day look like to you as a young boy?
Well, after the farm wasn't sustainable to keep
the family on, it just wasn't making enough money.
So they went on to other pastures, another job.
So she mostly ran the property with my eldest
brother. She'd look after us and help him with
the milking night and day as well. When I think
back, it was a tough call. Let's talk about your
siblings. How many in their names and if you
remember their years of birth and if they died
when? Yeah, well, my older sister, I never knew.
She passed away with cancer before I was born.
She died at three years old, which was probably
pretty devastating, I suppose, back then. What
was her name? Clara. And then my elder sister,
Margaret Eliza. She was the eldest in the family.
And then my brother, William John, who was above
me and myself. And then my younger sister, Yvonne
Betty, who is the local federal member at this
stage. So that's your niece? My niece. Is Fiona
Phillips? Yeah, Fiona Phillips. OK, so she is
your sister's daughter? Yes. So hard times back
then when your father passed? Must have been
devastating for you. Yeah, well, I was only six,
and I don't recall a lot. My sister first raised
me. Wherever she went on a bicycle, now I went
to bury on the bike. I was on the back. She took
me everywhere. What did it look like on the back
of the bike? What was the highway like as a little
boy on the back? Oh, not much traffic. Don't
recall a lot about it. Dirt? No, the highway
was... It was sealed. My uncle, who had the property
on the top end of Strong's Road, Bill Smith,
he didn't own the property, but he leased it,
and him and my aunt, they looked after me most
of the time in my younger years. Back then, where
was the milk going at that period? Just around
before your father passed? Justice Rush had its
own dairy co -op down at Railway Road opposite
the station, Justice Rush station. There was
a spur line there from the rail to back in and
pick up the cream. But that co -op operated for
a number of years before it was shut down. So
most of Justice Rush went to that co -op, took
their cream. It was nearly all cream back then.
After that closed down, the majority of the farmers
in Strong's Road went to narrow dairy co -op.
Two went to berry co -op. The two that went to
berry co -op was my uncle Bill Smith from Burnside,
the name of the property up at the end of Strong's
Road, and my father, William John Strong, and
they continued to send milk to berry throughout
their dairy exports. How was the milk transported
to Sydney back then? All rail, tankers, no refrigeration.
Tell me about how the milk was collected in the
dairy and how big the cans were and how you got
the cans to wherever. Well, it was mainly 10
-gallon cans back then. It was pretty heavy because
milk's heavier than water because of the solids.
There were 8 -gallon cans and there were 6 -gallon
cans. But mainly the 8 -gallons and the 6 -gallon
cans, they were mainly used for... Cream, if
you separated milk, most of the milk that went
to bury by truck, 10 -gallon cans. So at 19,
you decided to buy the milk run. Describe what
that was and where. Yes, it was obvious that
the farm wasn't going to give my brother and
I and also look after my mother enough revenue.
So it was my decision to break away and I approached...
One of the farmers, a local farmer, who I knew
because I'd worked with his show cattle when
I was very young. What was his name? Lindsay
Cochran from O 'Keeffe's Lane. He said, yes,
I'll guarantee you a thousand pound. So, which
he did. Went into the bank and fixed up all the
details and, well, that's history. But that gave
me my start. It was a thousand pounds for the
run? The run. I had 10 suppliers and a truck.
And I continued that for... Describe a day what
farms you went to and what names you might recall.
Well, as I said earlier, I had two properties
sent their produce to Berry Dairy Co -op. And,
of course, I had those two on my list. And then
I went down O 'Keeffe Lane and I had Denny O
'Keeffe. I had Pat O 'Keefe's property, and I
had Lindsay Cochran's, and I had the whole size
of brothers. Then I went on a bit further. Alec
Devitt, he was a character, no doubt about that.
Anyway, then I had... Tell me a bit about him.
And what was the name of his property? Why was
he a character? Alec loved his whiskey. I won't
go any further than that. And then I had closed
his road. I had Harry Bates up there, a dairy
farmer, and I had Fred Willetts, a dairy farmer.
I had two up there. Then I went on a bit further
towards Berry, and I had Harold Anderson up on,
rode up on Anderson's Lane to the left, back
up on the hills. Roley Kellett a bit further
on, and that was about the extent of it. I'd
finish up, I suppose, in the peak time, from
springtime through the summer, of a morning run.
I might have 110 milk cans on my truck. Have
an afternoon run, maybe 40 or 50 cans. Where
were they going? Berry Rule Co -op. Who lifted
the cans onto the truck? We didn't have any mechanical
aids back then. You did it all yourself. I shouldn't
complain about how my body is today. How is it?
No good. Hard labour. It was tough, but anyway,
that's what you did. I had a young wife and I
had kids and they had to be fed. Anyway, we led
a good life. Tell me about what sort of truck
it was. It was a 1946 Bedford, five tonne. What
colour? Brown, the first one, yes, brown. Then
I upgraded to a better 1946 Bedford truck a few
years later. So I had a reasonable truck and
I had the old one for spares because I was fairly
handy with the mechanical side myself. And later
on I really excelled because I bought a real
Buick truck. We couldn't make enough money out
of the transport of milk cans to the co -op so
I needed something better so I could go and use
the truck in other areas, which I did. What era
was that, what year? Yeah, mid -50s it would
have been. He used to go around the farms and
pick up their big bales of hay and put them in
their sheds and he would go and collect timber
from the bush and bring it back into wherever
it was ordered and that was hard work, very hard,
yes. What were you paid for a run? The milk cans
from farm to co -op. The closest to town was
five cents a can, and I think it went up to about
eight or nine cents the furthest farm a can.
Not a lot of money back then. I need you to describe
the dairy and how it worked. The dairy out there
was built in 1935 on Glenbrae. We called them
a three -tiered dairy. There were three bays,
two cows, two cows, two cows, being milked progressively.
All mechanical back in my era. Suction caps?
Yes. Alpha Laval. That was the main milking machine
back in that period. From the cow being milked,
the milk went through suction lines into the
dairy itself, went down over what we called a
cooler. It was like a big radiator. and there
was cold water running through it all the time,
and the milk went down over this radiator effect
into the milk cans, so it chilled the milk before
it went into the can. Back in that era, well,
probably still today, a big problem occasionally
is mastitis with the cattle, and that took a
little bit of clearing up. With the very wet
winters, the cattle were very prone to what we
call a foot rot, and that was a pretty serious
thing. Had to bring a vet in with injections
and so on. And that took a little while to clear
up with cattle because of so much mud around.
Who was the vet that you recall? Dr George Boris.
I'm not sure what background he was or what country
he was from, but he was a very talented man.
What do you remember about him? Seeing that she's
pushing away into this interview. He always called
me... Miss Katie, that was my maiden name. Yes,
and he always made stories about the day that
he came to see the cattle. I don't recall any
of the stories, but he was always a character,
yes. So that had cost you money, the vet? It
did, yes. Don't recall costs, no. Was it cash
or was it a tick? Tick it up? Well, back then,
those costs... came out of the monthly milk check
because that's how the farmers got paid. How
would you get things that you needed and what
were you self -sufficient in? We had a baker,
Fred Bamford from Berry. He was one of the two
bakeries in town. He'd do a delivery through
Strong's Road once a week. Bread in those days
used to hold all right. When I took over the
milk run... from Strong's Road to Berry. The
farmers all relied on me to bring their supplies
from Berry to them that afternoon's run, and
that wasn't only bread, that was meat and everything.
I think I got paid a cent or two cents a parcel
or something. What about clothes? Didn't wear
many. Barefooted too. Hats? No, never wore a
hat. So you're barefoot? Most of the time I was
barefoot, yeah. Self -respect and a splinter
had never gotten my foot because it was too tough.
Did you drive barefoot? Yes, I would have, yes.
What about the local police? Were they around
and what were they like? Yes, we had one sergeant
in town for a very long time. He was fairly efficient,
but he ran a very good town. He didn't take any
nonsense. I bought my first motorbike, a BSA
Bantam 125cc bike. Anyway, this particular Saturday
afternoon I'd finished milking so I rode into
town and I was going to have a milkshake because
we had three cafes in Berry back then. I was
getting ahead of myself. I needed a bit of noise
out of this little two -stroke so I knocked all
the baffles out of the muffler and made a bit
of noise. I'd gone in to have a milkshake and
I noticed our sergeant, he was on the other side
of the road. So I parked my bike and I went in
and I had my milkshake and I come out and the
sergeant was still there and I thought... Yeah,
well, he's waiting for me and he did. He walked
across the street and he said, you'd better start
it up, Sonny. Anyway, I did and it was just on
and over. So he grabbed the throttle and he revved
it. And, of course, it was noisy. You won't bring
it back to town like that, will you, son? He
was a tough man, but he'd run a good town. It's
probably the most you've ever got in trouble,
isn't it? Oh, hang on. Oh, no, there were a few
things. You don't recall his name? We termed
him the Brown Bomber. He was very dark in complexion,
and then he got his off -sider in a few years
later, and he was very efficient, and we labelled
him the Kitty Hawk, the Brown Bomber and the
Kitty Hawk. We had a pair of them. All right,
the copper's name was Len Daly, the Brown Bomber,
and his off -sider was John Miller, the Kitty
Hawk. What about the cafes? Three cafes? Yes,
they all seemed to survive. What were they called?
Oh, Spiros. Spiro Bellis. I think it was a Greek.
I think Spiro. He run a great cafe. It's where
the old chemist was before they moved across
the street. It probably had 40 or 50 seats in
it. Can't think who the other cafe was further
down. And then there was one across the road.
But they all survived back in that era. Because
after 12 o 'clock on a Saturday, well, there
was never anybody in Bury. You could have fired
a shot up both sides of the street and not hit
anybody. And Sunday the same, never anybody in
town. Different scenario today. Did you go to
Bury or Nowra mostly? Or both? No, always Bury.
How did Bury look as a town back then? Nobody
wanted to live in Bury. Everybody wanted to go
to Nowra. There was no work in Bury and people
didn't travel much in those days. So even up
to the 80s, nobody wanted to live here. Since
then, the joints have exploded. Now, Jasper's
Brush was its own world in its own way. Is that
correct? Like you had your own hall? PNC Association.
My father was secretary treasurer of that while
he was alive. It held. Probably fortnightly,
I suppose. I just don't remember. Yuka playing
and dancers. Friday or Saturday night in the
PNC hall, the slab -walled hall, which is now
where the main highway runs through. That's where
it was before it burnt down. Do you know who
built that hall? No, I've got no recollection
on that. Did you go to the dancers? Yes, well,
I wasn't very old, yeah. I don't know. I think
we mucked up outside, I suppose. Your parents
went, did they? Yes. And their kids would go
in the back of the what? I don't recall. Tell
me about your school life, when you started school,
what the name of the school was and maybe who
went to the school, how big it was. Well, we
went to the Jasper's Brush School, which is Jasper's
B &B now. It was a one -teacher school. Mr Bob
Williams, he was the schoolmaster the whole time
that I went through from first through to sixth
class. And you were lined up first class, second
class, third, fourth, fifth, sixth. And he taught
all classes first to sixth. So when you were
lined up, did you have a row each? Yes, a row
for each year. What do you recall about some
things at school? Did you have sports days? Getting
a cane. It was pretty serious stuff. Did you
get the cane much? No, not, no. It was a non
-denominational school? A public school? Public
school, yes. Did you go to church? Yes, mainly
twice a Sunday, yeah. What type of church? Methodist,
very Methodist church. So your grandfather was
a Methodist? Yeah, they were fiercely Wesleyan.
Fiercely Wesleyan, yes. Describe that. I don't
know that I can. What's the experience of being
fiercely Wesleyan? Well, religion was probably
the biggest part of our life. We weren't allowed
to pick up a hammer on the farm on a Sunday.
We were only allowed to do things that had to
be done. Cattle milked. Yeah, they had very strong
views. They did. Oh, just about black and white?
Yeah, that'll do. Speaking of black and white.
I'm pleased those days are over. Were you hurt?
Was I? Were you harmed? No, not at all, no. What
about your mother? Did she continue with those
ways? Yes, yeah. Yeah, she probably mellowed
a little over the years, but, yes, still very
staunch she was. Never any swear words, which...
I've maintained that all through my life. I've
had a few big blow -ups with people and through
using language in front of my bride. That's never,
ever happened. I tell them to go away. You can't
swear amongst your mates, but not in front of
women or kids. Don't do that, otherwise you're
an enemy of mine. What about drinking? Were you
a drinker? No, never ever was, no. Made up for
a little bit. It sort of got a bit more pace
as you got older? I think so. What do you like
to drink today? Old beer. Black beer, yeah. Yeah,
we go to the hotel probably three afternoons
a week. Which one? Great Southern. Yeah, they're
very good to us. When I was pretty crook there
a number of years ago now, the publican back
then, Danny Thompson, I was recuperating and
he kept me involved in things and was good. I
just about worked at any aspect in that pub back
then in my recuperation days. He bought a couple
of coaches, buses. I was in charge of them. I
took busloads of people everywhere. I never got
any remuneration. I didn't want any. If ever
I wanted a drink, well, I got a drink. What were
the buses for? He'd organise trips within the
hotel. Also, he sponsored a lot of football organisations
in the Wollongong area and I'd go and pick them
up and they'd come down here and they'd play
against the narrow sides and take them back to
Wollongong. So talk to me about conscription.
At age 18, we received a letter that the Korean
War was raging at that stage. Australia was sending
troops across, and I got the letter that I'm
going to be conscripted. And I was. I went into
the Army, Bardia Barracks, Ingleburn, 13 to 8,
1954. It was a three -month training. We were
trained to go to... the Korean War. Before we'd
finished our stint there was an armistice called
therefore we weren't called upon to go across
but we finished our training and for the next
five years we were still involved in training
within the area. We probably thought it was pretty
tough at that stage but It was probably the best
thing that ever happened to get discipline into
us young blokes. And when we reflect on that,
we need it urgently today. Why do you feel that?
Because I believe that youth is out of control
in this country. And I'm sure they would get
a hell of a shock if they were conscripted into
the army. when we have good, superior men training
them. Did you play any sport yourself? I played
rugby league for Berry Shallow and Head Rugby
League Football Club in the 50s. I only played
18s for two years. Were they called the Magpies
then? They were, yes. How did you go? Awful,
I'd say. Yep. My main interest, I suppose, throughout
my whole life has been motor racing. I made a
race for 17 years all over this country. Mixed
success. Wonderful times. What sort of car did
you start with? My love was always sports cars.
Not factory sports cars. Sports racing cars.
Five o 'clock bodied sports cars. Beautiful bodied
sports cars. And I picked up this little Herald
Special. It was for sale in Liverpool. and I
went and bought it. That started my career, if
I can call it a career. That started my career
off. I went through another couple of cars. I
drove in the... I was fortunate enough to get
a co -drive in Surfers Paradise 12 -hour race
back in 67. We won our class there. Main claim
to fame, I suppose, was the third in the Australian
championship, sports car championship, yeah.
Where was that held? That was held in all circuits
over Australia, Western Australia. What were
you driving then? It was an English -built special
sports car, a Chevron, a Chevron BMW -powered
car. Yeah, beautiful race car. I bought that
car for $4 ,000 back in 1970 or 71, $4 ,000.
I competed in it and maintained it. for about
three, four years, I suppose, and I sold it for
$4 ,000. That car today is still in this country,
but it'll be snapped up overseas and it will
realise just under a million. It's the only one
in Australia. You do some silly things for your
life. I'm glad you did. Was that an expensive
sport? Well, as a privateer, it was fairly expensive.
But mostly my cars, with prize money, covered
most things until I was fortunate enough to get
picked up by BP Australia for a contract. I didn't
know I was alive until then. Fair dinkum. Brilliant.
Wherever I went, there was a workshop for me.
I got paid. Wherever I was travelling, petrol
money, accommodation at the end. How long has
this been going on? When did that happen? How
old were you? Oh, I was still in my 30s, right?
Yes. Late 20s when I started, I suppose, but
yeah. So you're a pretty good mechanic. I was
self -taught. It wasn't until later years when
one of the federal governments, they forced us
into having qualifications in mechanical trade.
So I had to do a night TAFE course and, yeah,
I got through that. What's your favourite track?
Oh, the now defunct Warwick Farm. Wonderful circuit.
Warwick Farm, Bathurst probably second, and the
other defunct one, Oran Park. Your wife go with
you or...? Whenever she could. What gave you
the endurance for motor racing? What did you
love about it? Quest for speed, I suppose. Safely,
of course. I had a few altercations on different
circuits, but nothing too horrendous. It only
cost a few dollars, that's all, the repairs.
I never entered a race expecting to come second.
I bought something that I thought I could be
competitive. From beginning to end, how long
were you in the industry? Motor industry? Mm
-hm. Oh, well... We had the servo over here back
in the 50s for 12 years. What was the name of
that servo and where over here? BP Princess,
opposite the pub. It used to be a BP, now a Shell.
We had the lease on that for 10, 12 years, I
suppose. The better your figures turned out to
be, well, the higher the rent went up. We made
a decision. We had dear friends at Bombera who
was also in a little Ampol servo down there.
He used to follow me around and give me a hand
in the motor racing department. So we got together
and we finished. I said, well, no, we'll hang
the rent. Let's do something ourselves. So we
built the servo, the one between the two schools
and Camberwell Road Bombardier. We built that
with BP Australia's help. Because of my involvement
with BP through my motor racing, they outlined
a deal for us. They would build the servo. and
we would repay it a cent a litre of fuel that
we sold. It probably took 12, 15 years, but it
was paid off. But Canberra, a basketball stadium
just down the hill on the left -hand side. Anyway,
that partnership, it lasted for 17 years. What
were the kind of changes you saw in the 17 years
in fuel? Price. When we left Berry, the servo
in Berry, it was five gallons for $2. Just four
and a half litres in a gallon. You work that
out. Who delivered the fuel? Our tankers always
come from Sydney. When we went into partnership
with Hugh McLean, who was the other chap, together
at Bontary, we opened a joint up as a speed shop.
We did all modifications back then. That was
our main business. The Albatross, heaps of young
blokes out there and all had money to spend.
So we had good clientele. We had the contract
for the local police fleet. We had two Triumph
motorcycles we serviced and we had two Morris
Cooper S's we serviced. You serviced a hearse?
Oh yeah, we serviced Ray Owen's hearse, two hearse.
A lot of people were dying to get a ride in them,
but we were servicing them. We had to take them
for runs. It was extremely good business, yes.
It was just unfortunate that it blew up in the
end. We were probably both to blame for that,
but anyway, that's history. It was good while
it lasted. Yeah, congratulations. Thank you.
Was that your real passion for work? Yeah, I
think so, yes. What started your love of cars?
Well, I probably started off, as I said earlier,
with a BSA Bantam motorcycle. Then I proceeded
to upgrade to a Triumph Tiger 100 motorcycle
and then progressed to... A 53 standard 10 motor
car, four -door motor car, which we went on our
honeymoon in that to Queensland. And I had a
Renault 750, a Renault. I don't think we had
enough time to go through all these. Yeah, Triumph
Heralds, we had three of those over a period
of time. And a Triumph 2000 sedan, which was
a great motor car. Then a Ford Falcon GT, a brute
of a big motor car. Did a lot of towing all over
this country. Tasmania, towing race cars. Triumph
Stag, convertible. Yes. Yeah, lovely car. Yeah,
Triumph 2500 sedan. Had two of them over a period
of time. TR7 sports car. Had two of them over
a period of time. And finally, a Toyota Camry.
Great. Japanese motor car. Can we just talk about
your kids? So what children do you have? Well,
the eldest is Keith. Keith was first born. He's
66 today, and he was a spray painter. That was
his trade, and he was very good at it. Then Linda,
Linda, our first daughter, she is 64 today. And
she was a sonographer, is it? Sonographer. Yes.
And very good at it. And she could sing. She
used to sing at weddings and things like that.
And Wayne. Wayne is the boy that inherited Strong's
Farm. And he has a lovely family and a beautiful
wife. And Wayne was a boilermaker. Neville's
a horticulturist. He has a nursery business in
Millbank Road. He has a wife and two lovely boys
with their families. Where am I up to? Neville.
And then after Neville started school, I thought,
oh, right, this is nice. I'm free. And I had
another baby. Deidre. Deidre's a very successful
accountant in Bomaderry. And she's 51. and she
has three lovely children and we're very close
to that family, all the family we're close to.
Thank you for that. Yes, my eldest brother, he
got the property, yes. So where did that leave
you? I and my two sisters, we were covered with
other things. My mother owned a house in town
here, yes, and that was split between the three
of us, yes. Yeah, that finished up OK. Do you
recall any other stories about your grandfather,
the type of man he was? When my brother died,
we had to clean the house out and in one of the
rooms, nothing had ever been thrown away in the
records department or that type of stuff. And
it was stuff relating back to 1800s there. Checkbook
butts and things like this and work diaries from
the turn of the century. some incredible stuff
that was in there. Anyway, I did keep it all
and put it into an old suitcase and it's interesting
to look back through some of that stuff at times,
it is. Just getting back to how long were you
in the dairying industry? I suppose from the
time I was born up until I was 19 when I bought
the milk run. How long did you run the milk?
Milk run 10, 12 years. What sort of things did
you see changing at the cooperatives? Over those
years, I suppose, a different method of the milk
cans going up to the chap who was tipping the
milk into the vats. We progressed and we had
big conveyor chains taking the milk cans around
and then going through a washing area. For that
era, it was great mechanisation. Fantastic. Can
you remember some of the names of the people
that worked at Berry Co -op? Yes, on the milk
side, yes. Artie Coles, he was a good man, Artie
Coles. Odie Smith, they were the two main ones
on the stage, I'll call it. They received the
cans as we rolled the cans off to them. They'd
pull the lid off, poke the head in, smell it,
make sure it's not sour. And then the chap who
looked after the produce side of it. which is
still the same today, the produce sheds down
there. And Kurt Moy was his name. He was particularly
good to me because when I progressed to a better
truck that I felt I could do outside work with
confidence, most of the produce that came and
restored at the Berry Co -op came from a depot
in Dapto and had always come by rail to Berry
and then was all floated from the rail trucks
into the shed. So I approached Kurt and I, I
said, well, I've not got a lot of work between
morning milk runs and afternoon milk runs. How
can I compete with a railway? I said, can you
give me an idea of some figures? Which he did.
And I got some extra work out of that by going
to Dapdale and bringing produce down to Berry
Coal, which was fantastic. Good thinking. You're
a good businessman. Oh, well, we went all right.
What are some of the important things about your
mind that demonstrated, you know, your business
ability? What gifts did you have, do you think?
I didn't think I had many. I think I had a good
work ethic. You know, well, you have to be honest,
yes. Certainly helps. When did you get your first
tractor? It must have been when we retired the
draft horses. It must have been 51, 52, I suppose.
What sort of tractor? A Ferguson TEA 20. Wonderful
little tractor with the hydraulic rear lifts.
Wonderful innovation to farming it was, absolutely.
What were some of the benefits of that tractor?
You didn't have to go and bridle the horses.
Time. Yeah, time, that's right. Speed. My brother,
he was a pretty cluey bloke. He might have only
had one and a half hands. The local farm machinery
distributor, Frank Morehouse and Sons in Narra,
they were the Ferguson dealers, plus a lot of
other implements. And whenever a new implement
came on the market, they'd come out to Glenbray,
Jasper, Grouse, my brother, and they'd... Arrange
a field day with the new implements to show the
farmers what's new on the market and how it's
going to help them with their ploughing and harrowing
and whatever. I've got ahead of myself here.
In the transition from the horse -drawn implements
of the day to the tractor implements, it meant
the tractor implements all had a three -point
linkage on the back, which you pulled the lever
and you'd lift. lift the machinery off the ground
at the back and let it deliver. Anyway, my brother
transformed all the horse -drawn implements to
suit the three -point linkage on the Ferguson
tractor. But he was pretty clever in that department.
Well, these were the dairy farmers on Strong's
Road from the highway travelling west on Strong's
Road. Roy Herbert was the first dairy farmer
on the right -hand side. Travelling further up,
we had Jack Alexander on the right -hand side.
A little further, Stuart Mathey, up on the hill,
overlooked Strong's. Further on Strong's Road,
we have the Strong property. And then as we travelled
a bit further west, Dick Bates was up on the
left. And then off to the right, we have the
Forks' property, way up on the hill. Cecil Forks
was the first property as you wander up the hill.
And his brother, a little further up, further
on, the other Forks, and I can't think of his
first name, come back to Strong's Road. That
was just an artery off Strong's Road where those
Forks had lived. We go a little bit further up,
and there's a road that's shot off. down around
across Jasper's Creek, and the Harveys lived
there. They were quite a big family of boys.
Come back to Strong's Road and head up the hill
west towards the escarpment to Burnside was the
name of the property. My uncle Bill Smith, he
leased and farmed, dairy farmed that property.
We didn't talk about how your spiritual or religious
life played out as a young person. What churches
did you attend, or a church, and did you go to
Sunday school? How did that work? Yes, we attended
the Berry Methodist Church. I attended Sunday
school every Sunday morning. We went to church
service at 11am. We went to the 7pm service on
a Sunday night. It was full on throughout all
my Sunday school activities. from probably age
five, six on, I suppose, up until 14, because
I'd done all my exams through the church. It
was thought that I was going to go on to the
ministry, but a lot of things happened and changed
and that didn't eventuate. So it was important
to you, your faith? Yeah, then, I believe it
was, yes. Well, it was a way of life. That's
just what you did. Did you pray daily? No. What
about your parents? How did the Methodist religion
influence their lives and their contribution
to the community? I'd say it was fairly large,
big services within the church. What sort of
service were they doing for others? One of the
main ones that I can recall, Barry had what we
called a... Boys Farm. It was run by the state
just out of town and the church on a Sunday morning
would go out and bring some of the boys in to
the church services and then take them to their
homes for Sunday lunch and then take them back
to the establishment later in that afternoon.
Who were some of your parents' friends in that
community? Well, my mother. After my father passed
away and my mother run the property and she was
very close with neighbouring people and they
would, on Sunday afternoons, for afternoon tea
around various farms. It was in Strong's Road
and O 'Keeffe's Lane. Did you marry at your church?
Yes. Changing the subject. Did you want to say
more about that? No. you took up boxing. Were
you a good boxer? And what attracted you to boxing?
Was it a common thing historically? Oh, it was
just another outlet, I suppose, in town. Rugby
league was probably the largest. I played rugby
league, 53, 54, under 18s. And then boxing came
to town, so I... Got involved in that. My mother
hated it. And then conscripted into the army
in 54. We were compelled to take a sport as part
of our training, and because I'd done a bit of
boxing, I continued in that vein throughout the
services. Never won too many events. A lot of
draws, anyway. Did it hurt? Don't recall. I'm
with Ray Strong today at his son's property,
Wayne, and we've just been going through some
photos and I'm looking out at a veranda here
and I believe you were quite connected to the
veranda. That was our sleeping birth. Whose?
My brother John and myself. We slept on the veranda
for a number of years. We didn't have any protection
from the north in the early times and then my
mother bought a couple of blinds and put them
blinds up. That was a big help, except that they
rattled something fierce. I can still hear them
rattling. They're worse than lubers rattling
and they're pretty bad. So how were the westerlies
for you out there? Unbelievable. All year round
or particular seasons? August. August on, August
Westleys. How was your bed? What was it, and
how did you keep the covers on? Pretty basic
bed. Well, at some stages, Westleys was that
bad, well, to keep the blankets on, I'd tie a
rope around the whole bit of blankets and the
bed, and that helped me through the night. You
didn't suffer from claustrophobia? Was that a
word around in my time? Stress wasn't in our
vocabulary either. You weren't allowed to be.
Did you have a bit of foam to sleep on, or was
it just on the hard veranda? No, it was a cape
off. K -pop, Mattress Affair, yeah. What did
you just say, what you slept on? K -pop. What's
that? I don't know, because that was what it
was called. And you had your walk -through robe
next to it, or the wardrobe. There was a little
building there, was there? Yes, on the end of
the house, that's right. We changed it in there.
Kept our clothes in there, all pretty basic stuff,
but that's what you did. How old were you when
you started sleeping on the veranda? Maybe 13,
14. Any animals visit you? No, normally. Too
tired and asleep, wouldn't know. What time would
you go to rest, to bed? Oh, probably pretty early.
Dad and Dave's show was over on the wireless.
We used to always have to be in the house by
about quarter to six for Mrs. Obbs. You remember
Mrs. Obbs? Tell me about it. Oh, it was a cereal
and the other one was a search for the golden
boomerang. That was exciting. We had three kids
with our ears glued to the radio over there.
Where was your mum? Describe what she's doing
here in this space, which I assume was the cooking
area? Yeah, she kept us fed and watered. Open
fire, was it, or a bit more fancier? We did have
two open fires. We never used to use them much
because they used wood and we had to go and get
the wood. You're sounding a bit lazy, Ray. Yes.
How long was your working day? On the property,
was it? Yes, on the property. Oh, I suppose it
was five, five o 'clock. One of us go. bring
the cattle in from our paddocks, and the other
one set the dairy up for milking, put the machinery
together. How did you get on with your brother?
We weren't real good mates, but we tolerated
each other. Different personalities? Yeah, possibly.
He was older than me, so he was the boss. He
didn't pick on you too much, did he? No, not
too much. He used to belt me occasionally when
we went to school on the horse, when he doubled
me on the horse. Why would he do that? I don't
know. So you'd get on the horse to go to school?
Yes, in the early days we had a doubling saddle
and we'd both go to Justice Rush School on the
horse and he went off to high school so I continued
to use the horse with a single saddle. I believe
those saddles are still here. You didn't wear
shoes when you worked on the property? No, they
were a luxury. Did you wear shoes to school?
No. Did you have a school uniform? No. Not a
private school then? No, not quite. I want to
ask you about the garden here, what it means
to you. Well, this area originally was the dairy
holding yard for the cattle. As they got milked,
they came into this. big area here. So the dairy's
here on our right. Tell me about the floor and
the cement goes out a bit. When my grandfather
passed away, my brother, not my father, and his
brother, Thomas Alfred, decided to split the
farm in two. The dairy, of course, had been operating
on Glenview, the main property, before they split
it. And when they split it, well, my father then
had to put up these bales, the silo and two cream
sheds. up there that was back in about 35 i believe
but this area had a big holding yard that holding
yard was still here i think when wayne was around
and it was ringed with big coral trees and the
main reason they used coral trees was for the
shade in the summertime which were excellent
even though they're a terrible tree And from
the holding yard, they'd then come into this
concrete second holding yard. And from there,
well, we'd pick the cattle out from there and
into the three lots of bales in the dairy. And
this was the cream shed here on the right. The
milk shed later become the holding vat for the
milk. Was it a walkthrough? All the doors were
on that side of the building. And you had a long
shaft and you opened the door with the shaft
and they walked out into the big holding area.
which I spoke to you about earlier up there.
Well, back in that early era, we always milked
between 40 and 50. Did you ever get kicked by
a cow? Yes, because we used to leg rope them,
so that didn't happen. Quite a humane thing it
was, it was just a normal thing, and the cows
accepted that, poked their back leg out, and
you put a leg rope around and tied it to a post.
Was it all short horns? In the early times, it
was all Illawarra short horns, with the occasional
jersey thrown in to help bring the butterfat
up. Ten -gallon cans. Yeah, I think Wayne's still
got one here, one left. It's an Alpha Labelle.
They were the heaviest of all the 10 -gallon
cans. Did you keep an 8 -gallon or a 6? Or weren't
they here? As I told you before, they were cream
cans, the 6 -gallon and the 8 -gallon. I hope
you enjoyed today's recording, the first episode
of Season 2, Jasper's Brush. I did do an introductory
episode that you can find online and that was
launched a few days ago. Probably want to have
a listen to that before you have a listen to
this. But anyway, I'll see you in a few weeks
with episode two. Thanks so much.