Wallingford Berks Line

Went to school at Junee. Apprentice fitter in railways. Sent to Turramurra as a linesman pending a position in the 1920s. Turner in Junee during the 1930s Depression. Died from double pneumonia and heart failure.

Obituary states that he was 46 years of age when he died, was a driver on the railway, and contracted pneumonia on his last trip to Tumbarumba. 'Deceased is the son of the late Charles Lovelock, one of Junee's best known men, and married a Miss Sterry of Wagga. There are eight children of the union: Gwen (20) who is associated with the local Intermediate High School as teacher; Reg (18) who is employed in the Loco; Lance (15); Ken (14), Maurice (13); Jean (11); Joyce (9) and Duncan (4). Deceased owned a considerable amount of property in the Municipality.'

«b»REGINALD PERCY LOVELOCK: MEMORIES AND LISTENING EARS «/b»«i»By Gwendoline Emerald Campbell Lovelock

«/i»Reginald Percy Lovelock was born on 29«sup»th«/sup» May 1885 at Tungamah, Victoria, south west of Albury. His early schooling was broken as the family moved around a lot, sometimes living at Gobur in Victoria, where his mother's people lived, and sometimes in various towns around NSW when his father, Charles Wright Lovelock, went to NSW shearing. The family went with him in a horse-drawn, covered wagon.

The family finally settled at Junee in the 1890s. The two older brothers, Charles and Reg, were soon out looking for work. They got a job on the building site of the new Union Bank in Broadway, Junee. The family were then living in Peel Street.

«b»Junee School about 1916

The Uniform«/b»

Girls wore clothes of coloured prints, often small back and white checks, straight 'magyar' style, with short sleeves and knee length. Under the skirt was worn a petticoat of light material with fine lawn shoulder straps and lace or crochet around the edges in coloured silk; and bloomers of plain cambric or tussore silk or fine linen with short legs, roomy and rimmed with elastic at the waists and legs. White, patterned, cotton socks with lace and garters were worn in summer. At age 12 stockings were worn made of black or brown lisle held up by straps from a waistband or elasticised tops. In kindergarten, shoes were button up leather boots ; in later school years girls wore black shoes with one strap and button ups. Hats were Panama straw with an inner cover of very light material, elastic under the chin and a ribbon or floral design around the crown; Petersham corded. Some had fly deterrent string hanging on their hats. Aprons were worn in kindergarten to year two. School bags were Globite fibre cases or leather carry bags. At Sunday school special dresses of voile or muslin with lace and white shoes with special white sox was worn. Blanco was used to clean the shoes. Additional ornaments of dress included a hair ribbon or brooch. (Gwen used to wear a shiny white leaf shape one that was a gift form Uncle Arthur and had her name in gold lettering. Gwen's grandma used to make her aprons and each year sent her a coloured silk hat with a tassel band.) In Winter the girls wore a knitted white singlet, flannelette petticoat with coloured crochet at the edges, knitted woollen sox, a Cambell clan Tartan plaited skirt plus a Tam o'Shanta hat and gloves, a muff to match the hat, tennis shoes with galoshes for wet weather, black ribbed stockings of cotton or lisle. Jumpers were usually 'Heather mixture'.

The boys wore knitted singlets, sox, jumpers and boots. (Although they usually went barefoot at home.)

«b»Lessons «/b» Writing forms on large charts (which seemed to change almost yearly) were sent by the Department of Education Head Office for children to practice with. Schools were encouraged to have a big display of these at Show time. Homework books were very important and were used towards marks and tests. Using red ink correctly for lines and adding a painting at the top of each page was required. Spelling bees were popular. A 'Shadow Stick' and sun dial was read daily. These were placed in the playground near the tennis court. Two seater school desks were beginning to replace the long 'forms' and were arranged in four rows across the classrooms. The primary curriculum included Morals/Civics, Australian History and Geography. The school promoted a love of poetry, music and a love of the country and the flag.

«b»Games/PE «/b» School games included tunnel ball, overhead ball, marching in patterns, in and out of spaces competition, rounders, skipping (English, French and Double Dutch), Follow-the-Leader, Calling in to Skip, Jumping the Moon, Vigoro, relay racing.

Reg grew to six feet and had broad shoulders and dark black hair.

In 1910 he married Elsie Sterry in Junee and got a job at Griffith as a fireman on a steam engine. The railway line was now extended south west as far as Narranderra. About 1914 Reg returned to Junee with two children: Gwendoline and Reginald William Charles. Reg and Elsie's first son's second and third forenames were in memory of each of their fathers. By this time Junee was developing its railway complex of engine sheds with a round table for changing the direction of the engines and training apprentices as fitters, turners and boiler makers.

About 1916/17 Reg began to build a home in Hill Street (now Number 48), opposite his sister Maude, who married a Gardner. He used Mutch's Timberyard, Fred Cole, bricklayer and George Whitehead, carpenter. He built a large house with twenty foot square rooms with twelve foot ceilings. There were eight foot wide verandahs surrounding almost half the English-style fibro house. There were pathways of asphalt and concrete, a large fruit and vegetable area and flower gardens. The backyard was fenced off and used for the woodheap, clothes line, cow bail, water trough and a large shed for the sulky and horse feed storage. The outside toilet was attached to the back fence so the 'nightsoilman' could collect the pan each Monday. The cow (Shorthorn or Jersey) was kept in a paddock just over the hill from our back lane (Bligh Street Lane) and the horse one and a half miles away at the Common.

If Dad was working on the 'Shunter' at the Hill St Gates end, we used to take a hot dinner down to him. The plates were stacked on top of each other and enclosed in a big serviette and towel for carrting. Dad wanted mum to stay in bed till breakfast was over as she worked so hard during the day. He was always up about 5.30 to 6.30am digging in the garden or looking after his trees and grape vines which covered an overhead trellis about twenty feet long with garden seats. The children were on a roster for bringing up the wood and lighting the fire in the stove and making the morning cup of tea for everyone.

The aluminium teapot sitting on the hop kept the tea hot and a long toasting fork was used to make long-sliced 'Tin Bread' toast on the hot stove embers. A tray went to mum. The boys cooked a large iron pot of porridge with our own milk and rich cream. There was also a roster for the washing up. All the children took turns.

The boys used 'billy' carts to bring up from the back dry, chopped wood and bran pollard for the fowls and store it outside the laundry.

At first there was no bathroom. A large enamel bath and shower shared the laundry where a 'chip heater' was used to heat the water for the bath. The shower however was always cold. There was no sewerage but a large system of drains took water to the garden. The drains had to be scrubbed and disinfected each washing day, which was always Monday.

On washing day clothes lines were propped up in both yards. The copper was prepared the night before by filling it with water and shredding soft soap, made at home, into it to soak all night. A fire was prepared in the firebox underneath. Clothes were sorted into heaps of big whites (table clothes, sheets, towels), small whites (pillow slips, underclothes, pyjamas, night dresses, napkins) and working clothes, flannels and trousers. They were taken from the boiling copper by a big stick (usually a broom handle) to two nearby wash tubs. One of the tubs had tap water for rinsing. Whites proceeded to the 'blue' water in the bath. A big dish of starch for linen, some dresses, collars and some shirts, was prepared.

On washing days the midday dinner was usually curry/vegetables, rice pudding/custard/Blanc Mange. Ironing was with a heavy flat iron heated on the stove top. It needed to be tested for heat on an old cloth first and wiped carefully before using.

On Tuesdays the grocer called for his order. It was a day for darning and mending and light household work. Wednesdays were for polishing; Thursdays for shaking the carpets. Friday night was choir practice. Saturday was dressing up for a walk down town; a time for shopping and ice cream; possibly the 'Ocean Wave' Merry-Go-Round or Wirths or Soles Circus might be in town. We might see Blondin who walked on high ropes or a play group who had come to town: Philip Hunt, Worth, George Sorlie, Williamson's, Alan Wilkie. They all brought their own large tents and rows of seats. Alan Wilkie did Shaespearean.

This is when we saw Uncle Arthur (Elsie's brother) on the stage. I remember especially 'The Waybacks' and the 'Silence of Dean Maitland'. We were not allowed on the Ferris Wheel.

On Sundays, after church and Sunday School, when we were very young, we had to help prepare the harness for the horse and sulky or buggy - greasing and shining.

The western side verandah was sheltered from dust storms emanating from the western plains by many climbers: dolichos, moss roses, ivy, bouganvillea and grape vines covering wooden slot blinds and extending around the corner. Our water came from the Burrinjuck Dam via Jugiong (on the Hume Highway) and metres were installed. Before the 1920s our lighting was of kerosene lamps and sometimes candles. Cleaning the glass chimneys of lamps was quite an art, using newspaper and vinegar. About 1920 electric light arrived. Each room had a cord hanging from the ceiling to switch on the lights which had lovely shades to match the rooms. There was one point in the kitchen for a Dux Jug or Iron and a point in the lounge room for a wireless or radiogram. Each room had a switch on/off with a yellow metal cover.

At this time we acquired a player piano and I was having piano lessons.

Before 1920 as Sunday approached dad would take the boys with him to walk the one and a half miles to the Council Common to catch our horse and lead her home. She was then brushed and combed and the harness greased. The lights on the sulky and later the buggy were also cleaned. All was in readiness for the Sunday afternoon picnic when we would also look for mushrooms and gather manure on paddocks for the garden. At other times he took the boys out to Four Mile Dam on the property of a friend to teach them to swim and to catch crayfish. Sometimes dad took the horse and cart and went to cut trees down for our wood where it was permitted by the local Council.

Before cars became common country people would come to town in carts or sulkies to shop and to meet in groups such as the Red Cross or the Country Women's Association. They would hitch their horses to a special rail near the water trough outside most hotels and give the horse a chaff bag to feed.

As the boys grew they were allowed to go rabitting with a group of friends: Keats, Southwells, Bill Gardiner, Dave Grimmond, possibly Roy Gardner and his sister Lola and cousin Hazel. They would take potatoes and onions to cook in a hole to entice the rabbits. No traps or ferrets. They would just form a circle and close in on them. Dogs could also help.

Reg's Sunday 'best' consisted of a silk shirt with a plain white, separate collar, either stiff or soft, starched and attached to the shirt with studs, a three-piece tweed suit in pin stripe, brown or navy and a calf length overcoat. A tie and knitted white silk scarf completed the attire.

At this period there was no buildings at the side of our house and we had a large playing space which in Spring time was covered with wild flowers such as buttercups, cowslips, Nanny Goats and Billy Goats, star flowers and dandelions. Dandelions were good for making playtime decorations as head and necklace ornaments.

We always had dogs at our place. My mother had an Australian Terrier called Togo. We also had Kelpies and Cattle dogs. Other pets included coloured rabbits, guinea pigs, hens, calves & lambs (given by stockholders taking flocks along Hill Street to the Common to rest. Sometimes one was too young or not well and we were given it to look after.) We also had a bird aviary for pigeons.

Inside the house we had silk worms.

There were many birds in the garden hedges and trees not seen as much now: swallows, sparrows, starlings, goldfinches, robin redbreasts, magpies.

We played lots of games: the meccano set, kite making (I especially liked sending paper 'messages' up the tail), marbles ('six holes' was a popular marble game which required following the holes), 'go carts', spinning tops, card flicking against a wall, cricket (regular and French), football. We played football on lane hill at our back behind the Taylor's house. Football boots were heavy and black, reaching up the leg and help by long, white laces, with heavy studs on the sole. In Winter we played draughts and card games such as Crib, Snap, Memory, Matching Pairs, Patience, Euchre and 500 on the kitchen table. We played table tennis on a large 'bobs' table - as well as 'bobs'. We played tennis at school and on the railway courts.

The Railway Picnic was an annual event. There were many races: 50 yard dash (my favourite), three-legged, sack, egg & spoon, relays, piggy-back. There were also races organised by the Sunday School.

We all had pocket money. At first we kept our money in money boxes but later we were given bank cards which were only to be used for banking money. The boys were allowed to use their 'Billy' carts and sell some of our large garden produce such as peaches, plums, nectarines, peas and beans of which we had more than we could use. They also worked as 'caddies' at the local golk links when tournaments were on and got to be known as useful.

Our kitchen was a busy place, cooking during the morning while the oven was alight; dinner was at midday. Cooking vessels were of cast iron and the inside was enamel. The boiler was oval, there was a round pot for soups and another large one for making jams and pickles or brawn or sauces. The 'Coolgardie Safe' on the verandah under the grapevine trellis was used for fresh milk and cream. There was a meat safe, square and of metal with many breathing holes also hanging in the shade under the grape trellis. When cake cooking was on, expectant people were waiting to have the mixing basin 'to finish'.

In the early years the kitchen had a white scrubbed pine table and a large pine board for mixing cooking needs. As the family grew the table was changed for a larger one and the chairs were seated with replaceable leather and some had plywood seats. There were two large dressers and one aerated cupboard.

Every room had its carpet on a roster to clean and its side polished wood to be waxed. A hall went from the front door to the back door and was always bright looking. The children slept on the covered verandah but if the weather was stormy we packed up and used the bedrooms. The verandah had two double beds and three singles. Pillow fights were inevitable.

As times changed cars began to appear. J.S. Taylor had the first; he also had the first accident, having a quarrel with a post office pole. Otherwise, everybody walked, cycled or rode horses. Steam trains were the life of Junee and Reg Lovelock was a grade one driver. Aeroplanes came to Bullocky Hill to give rides and race: Puss Moths and Tiger Moths. The paper train arrived about 4pm up from Sydney. On Sundays a farmer used his aeroplane to bring the Sunday papers to town.

There was a flu epidemic in 1917 and the school at Junee was closed and used as a hospital. Everyone was required to wear white face masks.

There were a great many hotels in Junee. The Locomotive Hotel was near O'Connor railway gates at the base of Hill Street. It was licensed to Millers. The hotel was serviced by a carrier Con Sullivan who had a flat top lorry pulled by a horse. He used to sit on the right hand side floor holding his whip. The Railway Hotel - now the Junee Hotel - was in Seignor Street. It was started by Mr Crawley. It was near Keast's Providore. The Red Cross (Union Club) was in Junction Street, across the railway from the Black Bridge, Main Street. The Broadway Hotel was built by Tom Mutch who also built the Presbyterian Church, was in Lisgar Street. Mutch's Timberyard was in Broadway. The Commercial Hotel was owned by Doyle's Family on the corner of Lorne and Peel Streets. The Loftus Hotel was owned by Nellie Edmonds and still has the beautiful staircase. It was the base for Flynn's horse cabs and the Lovelock's Sociable Carrier was parked there. It used to take crowds to sports, shows and races.

There was an Open Air Pictures in Lisgar Street, opposite the doctor's house and neat to the Fire Brigade Station. It cost 6d for children and 1/- for adults. It later moved to a hall in Lisgar Street, behind the corner chemist facing Lorne Street. It was called the Lyceum theatre. The sessions opened with piano music which softly played through to picture time. Some early silent pictures that played there were "The Ten Commandments" and pictures starring Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd. It was also used as a concert theatre for schools and Sunday schools. Much later it burnt down and the Athenium was built on Broadway. Sound came in the 1930s.

Roy Gardner helped build the War Memorial Clock/Tower to those who fell in the 1914-18 World War. A cannon from the war was situated alongside it. In 1919 att the end of WWI, a big celebration of the town was held here and all the school children were given a special medal.

There were travelling picture shows such as 'Regent Pictures' which was owned by Arthur and Fred Sterry (Gwen's uncles) and Fred's son Keith They used a van and a wagon with projectors and mostly went to small county towns showing early movies. There were travelling photographers such as Fred Sterry who specialised in photos of family groups, home, sporting teams, church and civic groups. He travelled with a covered wagon with a white horse. He made our home in Junee one of his stops. J.S. Taylor hired out a room for the use of photographers.

There were travelling tea merchants who sold 50lb tins. Hawkers were always on the road: Indians sold silk and jewellery and Syrian women had backpacks of silk material for sale. Others sold brooms and sewing materials, haberdashery and, especially after WWI, house linen; Rawleigh's and Watkin's medical products; religious literature; rabbits at 6 pence each; poultry and dairy products from farmer's wives (butter was 1/- a pound); fowls or turkeys at Xmas time only; eggs.

In the early days Chinese Green Grocers walked the town with two baskets supported by a pole across their shoulders. They often had gifts of green ginger in ceramic jars for a good sale; they also sold chinese tea.

Each Monday families could give their grocery orders to storemen who came personally to people's homes. Each store took a month's turn. The groceries were delivered by horse and cart. Stores who provided this service were Taylors, Keasts, Farleys and later Ogilvie Cooperative Society. A bonus of a bag of boiled lollies or biscuits was often offered if the order was paid at the month's end.

The larger department stores in town had an overhead wire along which travelled a container holding cash or invoices. The wire ran from the sales counter up to the office situated on a high platform. Money was sent up the wire and change returned if necessary. Grocery purchases were wrapped in brown paper and string.

About 1918/20 the greengrocer's van called at ho e weekly. The milkman called daily. The milk on the can was in large metal containers with a tap. You paid for what you received. The baker delivered the bread in a covered basket. Bread was 4d per loaf.

There were many swagmen after WWI. They left signs on fence posts as a guide to other road men if the place was good for getting a meal to help them on their way. Our family obliged. They generally arrived for the midday meal and often cut firewood for their meal, especially on farms. We had a shady outside area where swaggies could rest for a while.