Migrantweb.com Hostels Forum Forum Index Migrantweb.com Hostels Forum
Hostels were used to accommodate new Australians. 1950's-1970's
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Trevor Davison. Holmsglen Hostel 1961

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Migrantweb.com Hostels Forum Forum Index -> Introduce Yourself:
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
poppy-tod
New Member
New Member


Joined: 15 Dec 2013

Posts: 2

PostPosted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 7:15 am    Post subject: Trevor Davison. Holmsglen Hostel 1961 Reply with quote

Hi, My name is Trevor Davison, I spent aprox 10 months living in Holmsglen Hostel in 1961(I was 10.5 yrs old). I can remember very well spending time down at the creek, we used to buy 1d bungers (if you are from that era you will know what they are), place them in small milk bottles and throw them at the water rats. Also spent time at the Malvern golf course, used to hide in the bushes and dash out to grab balls that used to stop near us, we would then go to the club rooms and sell them back to the golfers. You might think that we were naughty little brats, but that used to be our everyday fun. I can also remember Chadstone shopping centre being built while we were there, it was just a small strip of shops back then, wow, look at it now. When we first arrived at the hostel, we were given a host family to look after us. They were Wilf & Josie Peace, had a son John & daughter Penny. They became good friends to us, and we were in contact for about 10 yrs until, for some reason, we just drifted apart. I did find Josie again about 10 years ago, living with a new husband in Wonthaggi, I think that by now she would have passed away.
It is funny, some of the things that you remember from back then, Does anyone remember the corrugated toilet paper that used to be supplied in the toilets?? Sorbent it was not. I think there was only 1 or 2 baths in the shower block, and they where not in a separate cubical, just sitting against the wall, if you wanted a bath, there was no privacy, just sit there scrubbing up for all to see.
I have found it very difficult to find any info about the hostel, so it is great to have finally found this site. Would love to hear any stories from the era that I was in the hostel. My parents were Bill & Nell Davison, brother Ron & younger sister, Julie
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
kate fletcher
Active Member
Active Member


Joined: 02 Jul 2011

Posts: 63

PostPosted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 12:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My parents and I lived on Holmesglen Hostel from 1958-1962. I can�t place your family, but do remember rumours of the vast fortunes made by boys retrieving and selling golf balls back to the club. I had my 11th birthday during 1961, and we would have been in the same Grade if you�d been at St Mary Magdalen�s School, so you probably attended the next-door Jordanville School as I don�t recall your name. My parents worked in Sennet�s (later Street�s) ice-cream factory by the railway station.

I remember the double-bath cubicle. I think a partition wall had come down and not been replaced, so wearing a swimming costume in the bath was regarded as normal.

When it was very hot, we kids used to go under the road bridge spanning the creek: not that there was a creek in summer. It was always cool under the road, but whenever a car went over the bridge, the noise overhead made it seem as though an earthquake had just started. The creek dried up every summer, but one year the rain was so heavy, the floodwater came right up to the back row of huts.

Do you remember the urns of pink milk in the canteen? Hot milk in winter and lukewarm in summer. Mr and Mrs Eiberius ran the canteen, and they�d been living on the hostel for about 10 years, even longer than us. Horace Eiberius was the same age as you.

I loved my years on the hostel, although I think it must have been much more difficult for adults to adapt. We never had a host family to befriend us, so perhaps that idea came later than our arrival in 1958.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
poppy-tod
New Member
New Member


Joined: 15 Dec 2013

Posts: 2

PostPosted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 6:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry, can't place the name, but you must remember I was a 10.5 yr old boy, I don't think we had much interest in the girls at that time. We were too busy blowing up rats, pinching golf balls and catching lizards & frogs, lol. Yes, I did attend Jordanville School. When we left the hostel, we moved to a house in Kew, where we lived until dad passed away in 1976. I am now retired (ill health) and living in a lifestyle village in Hastings, Victoria. Went back to England with my wife in 2008, first time back since leaving in Dec 1960. Had a great time, but I must say, I am very grateful to my parents for bringing us here, such a great country (and such a fortune to be made, pinching golf balls)
Thanks so much for your reply. Trevor.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
kate fletcher
Active Member
Active Member


Joined: 02 Jul 2011

Posts: 63

PostPosted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 10:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry to hear about your ill-health, Trevor. We returned to England in 1962 after my mother became ill, and my poor parents had to endure me protesting every bit of the way at being forced to leave Australia, especially as the winter of 1962-1963 was freezingly bitter in London and I couldn�t readjust to such a cold climate. Never have!

The hostel seemed like a kids� playground to me, and there was always so much happening. Were you there during the go-kart craze? Planks of wood attached to pram wheels that went racing down the grassy slope to crash into the wire fence around the kindergarten. Some of the boys even had races down the Power Avenue hill, luckily traffic-free for much of the day then. It must be very different now. I�ve revisited Australia a few times with my husband and daughter, but have never gone back to the Holmesglen area because I want it to stay in my memory exactly as it was.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
aussietrekker aussietrekker has been starred
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 06 Jul 2009

Posts: 790
Location: Geelong

PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 11:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That winter was evil. In Ireland, we were snowed in for days. But we got three days off school. When we eventually got into the car, I'd left my playlunch in it and was devastated to find a calcified jam and cream doughnut. The waste! I have fond memories of having a billy-cart. They were assembled from all kinds of castoffs, and we used to go round the housing estate gathering bottles that the builders left each day. We made an absolute killing.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
kate fletcher
Active Member
Active Member


Joined: 02 Jul 2011

Posts: 63

PostPosted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 1:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The water pipes froze in the street during that dreadful winter, and the only water we had for over 3 months was collected in buckets from an emergency tap that had been set up at the end of the road. We must have looked like wartime Eastern European refugees, shapelessly wrapped in many layers of clothing, as we queued in the bitter cold awaiting our turn at that street tap. It made the hostel�s shower and toilet blocks memories of luxury.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Migrantweb.com Hostels Forum Forum Index -> Introduce Yourself: All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
 
 
Copyright � 2003 migrantweb.com
Images on this site are owned. Reproducing, republishing or mirroring on other WebPages or websites without permission is not permitted.

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group