When I was in the fifth grade, in the early fifties my life seemed to be changed forever. .. By Mary Renshaw (nee Eastman)
The family left the busy suburb of Moonee Ponds to go to Keon Park where there were dirt roads, no electricity, no telephone, wood stove and copper and miles treed paddocks. It was an adventure.
`Dad, who was a drover and worked at Newmarket, was offered a position of manager of a sheep farm in the Shire of Whittlesea on Mahoneys Lane. The property was bordered by Merri Creek on one side back as far as Barry Road and about one and half miles along Mahoneys Lane. There seemed to be sheep everywhere, cattle dogs, a cow, and a docile horse called Bud. There was a sizable dam on the property next to the house but because of the leaches we never swam in the dam. Mum. Dad and my three sisters and two of my brothers were now country people.
Daisy, our cow, was milked by Mum as we tried and never seemed to squeeze enough milk out. We always had fresh milk, and butter and sometimes Mum made cheese but the thick cream on top of the bucket was my favourite. . The wood had to be cut for the stove and the copper and we had an ice chest, which meant that the ice had to be carted from Merlynston. The winters were fierce, sometimes with one inch of ice on the troughs and chillblains were the norm.
I can remember the day I started at Reservoir State School, driven by my father in the horse and jinker. The only other times we were in the horse and jinker were when we went with Dad to Reservoir to pick up a Sporting Globe on a Saturday night.
We were isolated especially from medical help. As I was an asthmatic I can remember many nights my Mum would sit by my bed to try to calm me to get me to sleep as the nearest Doctor was in Reservoir.
Sheep shearing time was very special, Mum and Dad would be very busy and we were allowed to go to the shearing shed and watch. We tried to help but just got in the way. Some of the shearers had not been near a city before and they took my Mum to a stage show in Melbourne in appreciation of her help. We all helped with dipping the sheep as well. Dad would put the chemicals and water into the dip and we would help dunk the sheep as they swam by. This dip was in the paddock next to Mahoneys Lane not far from the Merri Creek.
At this time the Merri Creek did not even have a bridge only a ford which was used by some to get from Keon Park to Campbellfield. The mud along the banks of the Merri Creek on the property was taken for use for the pitch at the Melbourne Cricket ground and we were told that there was a tin buried along the Merri Creek with coins in it. Of course, as children, we looked and looked for this tin but never found it.
In the thousand acre paddock I can remember there were racehorses. They belonged to the property owner and were being rested on the property. Two of the horses I remember were Urshelon and Romanac and I think they ran good races.
On finishing at Reservoir State I was accepted into Preston Girls School. You were only allowed to go to this school if you passed an entrance exam as it was the only school around that went to form four. Money was tight so it was a blow when Mum found out that the free school bus would not pick me up at Mahoney’s Lane. The last stop was Settlement Road. I am not sure how it happened but I was allowed to catch the bus going on the way up to Woollert. It was a Dyson bus and it picked up the children attending both Preston Girls School and Northcote Technical School from Woollert to Settlement Road and returned them home. I walked up Mahoneys Road about one mile to catch this bus and it was a lonely walk as there were only homes up at High Street end with the paddocks of Merrilands on one side and paddocks up to the substation on the other. Many a day Edwards Creek was flooded and therefore no school. On the Merrilands side of the road it was a tip which went for about half a mile along the edge of the road.
My working life took me to Brunswick with a family business called Prestige Ltd. This firm was a hosiery, fabric and woollen business employing over one thousand people throughout Victoria and I worked in the office until 1964. It was difficult at that time to get from Keon Park to Brunswick and back for the transport was not regular.
Times have changed, the new Hume Freeway now has vehicles thundering over the paddocks; Mahoneys Road and the homes and factories in it are a hive of activity and as I drive along this road from Mill Park where I now live, I recollect the quiet road, the magnificent clear sky, the river gums and the many bluestone rocks amongst which we played as children. The City of Whittlesea where I now live is a vast metropolis and I am still finding life an adventure.
