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Hostels were used to accommodate new Australians. 1950's-1970's
 
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Photos shared by Phil:
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Len
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 1:54 pm    Post subject: Photos shared by Phil: Reply with quote

We have some more photos shared by Phil.
Many thanks Phil.

Very Happy

If you can help it and you�d like to chat about any particular photo then please try and copy the photo into another thread/ post.
It�s really easy when you get the hang of it.
See here for instructions.
http://www.migrantweb.com/hostelsforum/viewtopic.php?t=284










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Phyl Phyl has been starred
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Loved the photos Phil,they are really good ones.Heathcote Road Hostel must have closed around that time as it was closed for most of the time we were at East Hills.I can't remember exactly when it closed though can you? Smile
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 5:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

hi phyl
not too sure when heathcote closed either, i think it was still open while we was there ! lol, we had a spell in the newly built flats on east hills and then moved on to heathcote, this was our last hostel abode b4 heading home ,these pics could 1969
heathcote was ok, didnt seem so packed as easthills and seemed to be a bit more spacious ? if thats the right word , was also only a walk across the "desert" to easthills town,
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 6:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Phil

Nice photos, thanks for sharing. Certainly some memories there.

I've long since forgotten the hut number we were in, but I do remember we were on the edge of the hostel, right next to the "desert", as you so aptly describe it. So there's a fair chance it was one of the huts in your photos. This was in 1960 - 61.

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Chris
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 3:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

hi chris,
i think our hut no. was 4 ,the end one next to the desert
did you ever look out across the desert when there was a thunderstorm ?
what a sight !
at the edge of the "desert"was a trench ,we used to build bridges out of old wood and corrugated iron across the trench as kids and the adults going into easthills across the desert used to use them ! especially after a heavy rain fall when the trench became a fair old torrent,,
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 11:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Phil

Yes the thunderstorms were quite spectacular with the lightning and just the George's River bushland on the horizon. I don't specifically remember a trench, maybe that came about after I left. Because it was a strip of bare earth with absolutely no vegetation, heavy rain could cut deep channels in the ground.

I used to cross the desert everyday to get to and from school. With no shelter of any kind, it could be freezing cold in winter, and searing hot with flies buzzing you in summer. I do remember the Georges River burst its banks after a period of torrential rain, and the footbridge was under about 4 feet of water at the East Hills end. This was on a weekend, but by Monday the river had subsided so I had no excuse for not going to school!

In the background to your 2nd photo, you can see part of what was a married quarters for the Australian navy. That area, plus the hostel site, are now a leafy garden suburb called Voyager Point. Very different from what you and I remember!

All the best
Chris
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can remember spectacular thunderstorms in my years in Australia too.
Our house must have been at the other end of where yours was.We lived in the second last nissen house down the hill from the office. Smile
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 1:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi, Phil.

Your excellent photos sure bring it all back for me. Strange as it may seem, by sheer coincidence I've actually got photos of your hut (well, what was left of it) during a visit to the desolated camp site in 1989! I understand it was no. 4? Well no. 5 is also included, plus a general view looking across towards the naval houses almost exactly as seen in your second photo.

I'm going to send them to Len for uploading as soon as I can, so hope you find them interesting. I might as well add that I helped myself to a floor tile as a souvenir, which I still have!

Anyway once the pics are posted I'll message again to explain them.

Bye for now,
Leigh Smile
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 8:55 pm    Post subject: heathcote pics Reply with quote

looking forward to seeing those pics..
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 5:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Leigh

I'd be interested to see the 1989 photos. I took my mum and dad on a trip back there in 1977, and from memory even at that stage there wasn't much (if anything) left standing (we were there 1960 - 61).

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Chris
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 5:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Phil and Chris.
Thanks for your replies.

As promised I've today emailed those photos to Len, I hope he receives them OK as I've never attempted this before. So hopefully you should see them shortly. There's three from 1989 showing all that was left of the hostel after the railway and the new Sirius Rd had ploughed through it. Though the huts had disappeared, their floors remained. You could also see where the toilets stood, littered with the remains of smashed-up lavatories!







The first of the pics (with my friend stood in shot) shows the foundations of your hut, Phil, with the now rather overgrown 'desert' in the background. The next is of hut no. 5 looking west towards Sirius Rd (the railway cutting lies to the left); I believe this is taken from the exact spot in which your dad's car is parked in your photo. The third is a general panorama of the area looking towards the naval houses from the viewpoint of hut 4, corresponding closely to the background seen in your pic of you and your siblings; the dark patches visible in the overgrown grass mark the spots where the huts used to stand. So Chris, your hut (no. 8 I believe) must have stood in the far background just by where the hostel road can be seen turning sharply to the left (judging by your photo).

I've managed to piece this together using a plan of the hostel obtained from the National Archives, dated 1953. The chart shows my hut but alas no trace of it could be seen in 1989, I think it must have been swallowed up when they re-routed the Sirius Rd. Needless to say the site looked very lonely with only the chirping of the cicades all around disturbed now and then by the rattle of passing trains, and I felt rather sad.

Anyway the other pics show the hostel in 1966 together with the footbridge over the Georges River (the original was still standing in 1989).

By the way, Phil, I was at Hammondville School too, June-December 1966.
Perhaps you were there at that time?

All the best,
Leigh Very Happy
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Phil and Leigh ,
We lived in the Manager's house second one up on the road to the office.Where were you in relation to our place.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Leigh

Yes, now that you mention it, number 8 does ring a bell (funny how memories can be triggered after all that time). I remember that facing the desert with the hut behind us, the naval quarters were over to the left, and the water tower was to the right. Do you have a copy of that 1953 plan?

Cheers and thanks in advance for the photos.

Chris
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 7:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Phyl.

According to my chart of the hostel our hut, no. 21, was situated in Unit 2, as it was called, much farther down towards the desert end. Interestingly it shows each hut divided into two apartments (1953) whereas when we were there in 1965 there were four. I wonder if the authorities did this to squeeze more families in as space had become a premium?

All the best,
Leigh
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 7:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Chris.

I'd love to have the hostel chart uploaded for all to see but alas it's so big I can't fit it on my scanner. Unless I do it in sections? Not being technically minded I wouldn't know how I'd join them together to make it comprehensible. I'll have to work something out.

All the best,
Leigh
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