Migrantweb.com Hostels Forum

[peterv]

Hi Holly

Thanks for your memories and comments. We also sailed on the Fairsea, arriving in Bradfield Park in May 1959.

We had an advantage in that, because my father was a teacher sponsored by the NSW Dept of Education, we lived in the Housing Settlement. Although the clientele was somewhat rougher than the Migrant Hostel, our third of the hut was self contained. We had a bathroom, with chip heater and could do our own cooking. My mother found it very difficult with 3-4 young children, especially in the summer.

I was 7 when we arrived. My personal memories are mainly positive, particularly of the nearby Lane Cove River and some excellent teachers at Bradfield Park School. My younger brother caught hepatitis when it (unsurprisingly) swept through the camp in 1960, so for that and other reasons his views are more negative.

By a coincidence my parents bought land at Mt Colah, and arranged for a fibro house to be built. We moved there in May 1961.

[Holly]

[GinaKate]

And insects we had never seen in our lives before were most certainly plentiful wern't they? The one thing I could never get used to were the massive cockroaches swarming the amenities block. Even after all these years the first thing that pops into my head when I think of the hostel is cringing at the sight of them blocking the sinks and scurrying across the cement floor.
I didn't mind the canteen at all, but to have our own bathroom would have been bliss, Peterv, you would have been the envy of Dundas.

[GinaKate]

[aussietrekker]

Ours also had one born at sea en route to San Francisco....they must have been made of cast iron.

[peterv]

Hi Holly and GinaKate

Thank you for your further comments. The topic of bathrooms is covered in Michael Hogan's excellent book, which covers both areas of Bradfield Park. See http://www.migrantweb.com/hostelsforum/viewtopic.php?t=994

He says: "The Housing Commission made an early decision not to follow the example of the Commonwealth, which was already operating camps for migrants where meals were provided in a community mess hall and bathroom facilities were also communal. Housing Commission emergency units tried to provide all the basic amenities for each family, which meant supplying a separate bathroom and some cooking facilities."

Until I read the book (this year) I hadn't realised that we lived in "emergency" Housing Commission accommodation. I knew our area as the State Hostel and the Migrant Hostel as the Commonwealth Hostel. The migrant families we knew best were also in the State Hostel (their fathers were also teachers).

You can even see pictures here:
http://north-shore-times.whereilive.com.au/photos/gallery/the-former-postwar-raaf-camp-at-bradfield-park/

As for insects, my main memory is of being badly bitten by mosquitoes. The bites became infected and the doctor decided to give me an injection which I remember as something of a shock.

[Susan Gillet]

[aussietrekker]

I welcome all newcomers to visit the Altona thread and compare Dad's migration account to my own. One from an adult and one from a child's point of view. They are bound to be poles apart. I remember Dad telling me once that someone gave him a piece of interesting advice before he left the UK. To the effect that if he was expecting to walk into a great job immediately, forget about it. That the Australians would already have the good jobs, and as a migrant, he would be at the bottom of the pecking order and have to start all over again. It was a good mindset to have, and unfortunately a lot of new arrivals with the opposite attitude would have experienced untold frustration. A generation later, a friend of mine returned after a year because he wasn't offered anything suitable in his field, and was reluctant to adopt a different occupation. It was never going to work in his situation. My Dad had two factory jobs after leaving the sea to marry my Ma. Within a few days of our arrival he'd got a dogsbody job at the oil refinery, wandering along the network of pipes looking for leaks. That became a stepping stone to another refinery advertisement that wanted trainee operators. He jumped at he chance, and spent the next 22 years there, rising through the ranks until he retired. Such a contrast to the work he'd left behind.

[BigAl2108]

I arrived with my parents (of course) and two brothers in 1955. We were lucky to be in the 'housing settlement' section or 'Aussie Camp' because my father was a teacher. I had Mr. Thom for ...? (Introduced us to 'The Man From Snowy River' and other excellent stuff.) Mr. Weissel was the Headmaster. I was lucky enough to be Dux of the school + top in Maths and English. Must have been a fluke. The hut was 'OK' after we'd got flyscreens. We had a flush toilet and chip heater. Better off than Migrant Hostel. Mr. Berriman was great! He wrote our school song and I still remember the words. He also wrote the score for the Aladdin' musical, and we had Duncan Everett in the lead. He collected newspapers in his old bomb and we wrapped them for the butcher's - those that didn't play sport. Empire Day was good for the fireworks on May 24. Later the rattley old school bus for 3d up and down those hills to Lindfield to catch the train to North Sydney Boys' High. So many people I remember from 1955-1959. Susan Brown, Alan Chamberlain, Cynthia and John Clubb, Stewart Sewell, Wayne Wagner, The Anfields, etc. Happy Days! The trip over was on the Orsova and we went back on the Strathnaver in 1959. I came back out with my wife in 1969 on the Achille Lauro - awful - as was the hostel we were sent to at Villawood. Never mind, wasn't doesn't kill you makes you stronger!
_________________
Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans...

[mgianatti]

Hello,

I came to Bradfield Park on May 20th 1959. My name was Madeline Stynes. I knew David Clark who had four brothers (I think). We moved to Penrith in 1962.

I also knew Susan Holmes who moved to Penrith before we did. I also remember Jackie Hagger who moved to NZ about that time.

I remember fondly Bradfield Park Primary School and the play we put on (directed by Mr Berriman, I think) and it was called "The Red Shoes." I was the angel who had to carry the lead actress onto the stage without dropping her.

Is there anyone out there who remembers any of this??

[peterv]