Migrantweb.com Hostels Forum

DIANE MCSWEENEY · Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 4:05 am Post subject: Heathcote Rd Hostel 1959-1963

Hello, my name is Diane Palmer McSweeney and I lived in hut 40A from 1959-1963. My family came from England. My father, John (Jack), was a painter at the hostel and my mother, Sheila, worked in the canteen. My sisters , June and Carolyn, and my brother John have a lot of fun memories of hostel life.
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Diane Palmer lived at Heathcote Rd from 1959-1963.. and loved it!!!

Joy52 · Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2014 9:31 am Post subject:

Hi Diane. I was on Heathcote 1962-64. I attended Hammondville Primary and have an old school photo from 1962 in which there is a girl called Carolyn Palmer so am wondering if that is your sister. The girl in my photo has a lot of very thick, wavy, red hair and I seem to remember that she had freckles.

DIANE MCSWEENEY · Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 4:01 am Post subject: Hammondville Primary

Yes that is my sister, Carolyn. My brother and I also went there but I was in the Infants Department. It was always fun riding the bus to school.To this day I remember all the words to the Cliff Richard songs!!! Life on the hostel has left me with very fond memories. We loved walking through the bush to the river, not a care in the world.Fun bonfires and wars in the 'desert'. The only sad thing I remember was the Monica Schofield tragedy. Perhaps I was too young to notice the hardships of hostel life, but my sisters both say we had lots of fun back then.
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Diane Palmer lived at Heathcote Rd from 1959-1963.. and loved it!!!

Joy52 · Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 7:41 am Post subject:

Those bus rides certainly were fun. I remember the Hayley Mills song "Let's get Together" (yeah, yeah, yeah). Everyone would sing and sometimes several different groups would be singing different songs making for really noisy bus trips. One bus driver made us get off and walk because he had warned us so many times about being quiet, then when we got to school he had informed Miss Dudley the headmistress about our bad behaviour and she gave us a real dressing down! I was 11 at the time of the Monica Schofield tragedy and remember it all very well. It was terrible. There is a write up about it in this forum under the East Hills Hostel forum. It may interest you to know that the murderer committed suicide in prison 7 years later when he was 30 years old. Maybe his conscience got to him? I don't know if your sister remembers me (Joyce Derry) but if you are in contact with her please say hello from me.