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Hostels were used to accommodate new Australians. 1950's-1970's
 
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Does anyone know the location of Bradford Park Hostel
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rollinground
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You seem to be doing fine with things. The quote came through well.

I had just turned 7 when I arrived and was 8 when I left. I do remember going to the beach for the first time in Australia - someone in the hostel had just bought themself a brand new mini and asked if we wanted to for a drive. It was hot, with several people inside a mini it was like an oven. Someone bought me an ice-cream cone which I managed to drop over the back seat of the new car and turned the whole car into a sticky mess, Still the beach was good. Never got asked again though.

Try this link - it may enlighten you a little if you don't already know:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAAF_Bradfield_Park
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Catherine
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

rollinground wrote:
You seem to be doing fine with things. The quote came through well.

I had just turned 7 when I arrived and was 8 when I left. I do remember going to the beach for the first time in Australia - someone in the hostel had just bought themself a brand new mini and asked if we wanted to for a drive. It was hot, with several people inside a mini it was like an oven. Someone bought me an ice-cream cone which I managed to drop over the back seat of the new car and turned the whole car into a sticky mess, Still the beach was good. Never got asked again though.

Try this link - it may enlighten you a little if you don't already know:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAAF_Bradfield_Park


I have created a Bradfield Park Migrant Hostel group and Bradfield Park Primary School on Facebook (Catherine Douglas Haines) if you care to join it and feel free to post some photos. We also have photos on Friends Reunited.
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rollinground
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Catherine wrote:
I have created a Bradfield Park Migrant Hostel group and Bradfield Park Primary School on Facebook (Catherine Douglas Haines) if you care to join it and feel free to post some photos. We also have photos on Friends Reunited.


There's a coincidence, when we moved out of Bradfield Park, the house that my parents bought was only about 2/3 years old, but it was owned by a widow by the name of Mrs Haines.

Anyway, I'll have a look on Facebook.
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colleen hewes(nee Lee)
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 1:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Catherine,
I lived at the Australian Hostel before moving to a Housing Commission home in 1963/64.Probably 1963 as my brother was born in 1964 after we left the hostel.Went to the local public school,I was 6 when we moved.I cannot remember how long we were there as we seemed to have lived in a few places as I vaguley remember going to a couple of different schools before settling at our new home.
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rollinground
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 11:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can you remember where abouts you were? I was on the western side near the fence. I think it was hut 312. There was a family called McGinty who lived next door and one called Clarke that lived at the far end. A Scottish family lived opposite and one of their sons was injured in an accident with the garbage truck.
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Catherine
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 1:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

colleen hewes(nee Lee) wrote:
Hi Catherine,
I lived at the Australian Hostel before moving to a Housing Commission home in 1963/64.Probably 1963 as my brother was born in 1964 after we left the hostel.Went to the local public school,I was 6 when we moved.I cannot remember how long we were there as we seemed to have lived in a few places as I vaguley remember going to a couple of different schools before settling at our new home.


I like to think conditions were a little better by the time you were there Colleen but probably still very unsophisticated. People today wouldn't tolerate it. Have to say that the friends I've caught up with from those days, and myself, have fond memories of the school and the teachers.
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colleen hewes(nee Lee)
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 1:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I 'm a bit sketchy about the exact hut but recall our hut was a bit off the ground & were the 1st one in the row & some of the kids I played with lived further down the street & we used to play under the huts.Both my parents are now deceased so I cannot get more details which is a shame as I now really want to piece together more details so reading some of these details does confirm to me actual things I remember.Things I guess were a bit primitive but when your 5 or 6 yrs old I guess you have nothing to compare to but I am sure the do gooders today would have had something to say.I was not at all unhappy living there & I suppose as long as I was with my parents & siblings was all that mattered & we had a roof over our heads
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rollinground
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 10:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

colleen hewes(nee Lee) wrote:
I 'm a bit sketchy about the exact hut but recall our hut was a bit off the ground & were the 1st one in the row & some of the kids I played with lived further down the street & we used to play under the huts.Both my parents are now deceased so I cannot get more details which is a shame as I now really want to piece together more details so reading some of these details does confirm to me actual things I remember.Things I guess were a bit primitive but when your 5 or 6 yrs old I guess you have nothing to compare to but I am sure the do gooders today would have had something to say.I was not at all unhappy living there & I suppose as long as I was with my parents & siblings was all that mattered & we had a roof over our heads


I was only 7 at the time, and during the same period you were there. I only remember the hut because of the fence behind and the hut across from us which was next to a road. You're right about the do-gooders today though.
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ajm
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 6:26 am    Post subject: Bradfield Park in 1951 Reply with quote

The entrance was off Bradfield Rd.

As you came in the entrance, immediately to the left near the top of the hill there were a couple of residential buildings. One road led down the middle, most of the residential quonset huts were on the right as you came down the hill, on the other side was an auditorium where concerts were held, communal eating halls, laundries, toilets and communal bathrooms.

My family lived in one of the last huts on the right. The huts were quite basic, even the partitions between families did not reach the ceilings, so privacy was not terribly good.

There were a few shops around, from memory near where the present day shops stand. The Park had British, but there were also a number of Dutch migrants, most British migrants were family groups, but many of the Dutch were single guys, everybody seemed to get on very well particularly as most of the men had not been back from the war very long and they shared the comradarie from their enlisted days.
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DGJB
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 2:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's been a bit quiet in here.

I lived in Bradfield Park from mid-1955 to mid-1957. For an eleven years old lad it was a terrific experience although I more than suspect that my parents thought differently. My mother in particular must have wondered what she and my father had let themselves in for as my father, a surveyor, was away for weeks and weeks at a time thus leaving my mother to cope with the day-to-day dramas of everyday existence.

Instead of the promised option of purchasing one of the attractive houses shown to my parents (prior to our emigration) by the government department which recruited his skills we were unceremoniously allocated part of a hut in the 'Australian' part of the complex. For those of you are not aware, the dwellings were not nissan huts but rudely constructed tin sheds with fibro lining. The ablution block was a communal thing, which didn't worry us children, but I've often wondered since then what I would have thought should I have been an adult.

Somewhere or other I have a photograph that I captured with my little Kodak Brownie of our half of the hut - replete with a bright shiny new dustbin sitting outside the 'front' door. Should any one of you be interested I'll scan it (it'll be quite small) and post a link to it.

Happy days? It was for me. Garfish down the river end of the creek, walking barefooted to Fullers Bridge, ticks from the tea tree, sitting quietly on a rock between Lady Game Drive and 'our territory' listening to and watching the local birds. Bradfield Park or not my parents gave me an introduction to this country which I will never forget.
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