School-days (continued)

The period is now towards the end of my first year of high-school - the start of summer, November 1958.
In the senior-college we were offered a choice of summer sports; cricket, rowing or tennis. As I hated cricket and loved boats I chose rowing, which I didn't do much of due to my small and light stature. So I was made a coxswain, starting off coxing fours and, in the final year in which I was active in the sport (1962), the college 2nd. eight.

This photo was taken - as mentioned above - in November 1958. I can remember the names of two of the crew - not bad after 50 years.

Here's a version that I colourised so as to display the school colours - blue and gold.

___________________________

Fast-forward 5 years and it is November 1963. I had been a member of the college pipe-band for three years and had attained the rank of Drum Sergeant - I played the side drum (or "snare" drum, as some know it).

The college band was the largest school pipe-band in the world at one time and a decade after I finished my schooling the band was invited to the renowned Edinburgh Military Tattoo, in Scotland. I was very envious.

Incidentally, the cost to be fully kitted out in my regalia (see below) was very high, somewhere in the region of (in today's prices) AUS$2,000.
Fortunately for the parents, the school supplied the entire uniform, which was returned at the end of one's membership of the band.

Every ANZAC Day we would lead a contingent in the annual march through the streets of Sydney and throughout the school year we would be invited to attend fairs, garden parties, fetes, openings, balls......the list was endless. It was a very, VERY successful way to meet girls!

The photo above is of those band members who were leaving the college at the end of the 1963 school year - as was I (photo below). (Note: We are sans headgear - it was a deliberately informal pose.)

This was a very emotional time, saying goodbye to good friends, most of whom we would never see again. Funnily enough, down the years and quite by chance I met up with two of the lads in this photo.
Life is funny.

____________________________

The final photo in this series is of the Macintyre House seniors.
There were six boarding houses and I was in "Mac", as it was known, from 1958 through 1963 - my last year. In our final year the senior boys had a few perks and were treated as young adults rather than boys.
The best year at college, definitely.
Several of us even chipped in to buy an old 1939 Pontiac so that we could get from Bellevue Hill to Bondi Beach. When we finished the year we just walked away from the old heap and left it parked in the street.

That's me in the centre (the smallest). Two very good mates are also in the pic and, do you know, I can remember the names of everyone shown.

That completes this visit into the past.

Nostalgia - BK's Schooldays.

Just a few days ago one of my internet-forum friends posted a photo of himself which was taken in 1961 for his high-school yearbook.
This led to a bit of discussion, including how here in Australia we have a tradition of end-of-year group photos rather than the "yearbook" so common in the USofA.
So I threatened to post these types of pix, taken when I was at boarding school in Sydney between 1956 and 1963. Fortunately my mother had kept these and had given them back to me after I became a parent myself and understood the sentimental (and family history) value of such things.
Tonight I scanned a few of what I consider to be the most memorable and present them for your amusement. They are in chronological order.
This first one was taken at the end of 1956 - late November, just before school broke up for the annual summer holidays which, back then, extended from end of November until the end of January.
I had just had my 11th. birthday (November), having joined the college at the start of the school year back in January of 1956, and would have been finishing my 5th. Year, or penultimate year in primary school.
(Like all the images in this blog, if you click on them you will be able to see a much larger version)
The photo is of all the boarders who were in the prep-school for that year. I am the small, dark-haired kid in the 4th. row, extreme right....in front of the column.
We were wearing our summer uniform of khaki shirt, shorts, leather sandals and the school tie....blue with gold/yellow diagonal stripes.
The adults comprised the various house-masters and the school matron and assistant matron.
The location was at Bellevue Hill, in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

This next one was also at prep-school, but in 1957. It is of the 4th.XV - Rugby, of course! I played fly-half some weeks and break-away other weeks.

I'm the one holding the ball. I would have been going on 12 here, as the photo was taken at the end of the football season - about September.
Uniform was yellow/gold jersey, dark-blue shorts and dark-blue socks with yellow/gold tops.
My mum - bless her - always considered this as my cutest photo from college!

I think this is enough to be going on with tonight - I don't want to scare you off!
I'll pop the others up over Easter.

Time on my hands.

Quite recently - like, within the past month or two - I have developed an interest in the collection of small horological devices......watches.
Not just any old watch but specifically the Seiko Bell-matic model, which was made between 1966 and 1978.I remember wanting one of these back then but could not afford it, as they were very expensive; newly-weds also have different priorities, like setting up house and paying mortgages.

I'm not quite sure what has sparked my interest 30 years on from that period in my life.
I think I may have seen mention of the Bell-matic somewhere on the 'net and, as usually happens, one link led to another link and so on, until I discovered a web-site forum devoted to the model.So I bought a couple of them - not pristine, concours-winning examples but in good running order, quite presentable and very reasonably priced.
This is they (these are those?)......
(If you click on each image you can view them full-size)
The reason they are termed "Bell-matic" is that they have an alarm feature.
This is set by rotating the inner bezel (using the crown, pulled out to its first "click"), with the red segment and little arrow, to the time that you wish the alarm to sound. The crown is then pushed back in and used to wind the alarm and the little button at the 2 o'clock position is pulled out to make the alarm "live" and pushed in to stop it. (The crown is also used, in the conventional fashion, to adjust the time by pulling it out to the second "click").

The alarm is mechanical: a tiny striker inside the movement actually beats against the inside of the watch case, creating a metallic buzz and vibration.

They came in a range of styles and colours for the dials and were available in 17-jewel movements (the most common), 27-jewel and 21-jewel (the rarest and most expensive).That on the left, with the gold face, was manufactured in October 1977 and the one on the right is from July 1976. Both are 17-jewel movements.
Mint-condition Bell-matics may cost in the region of three or four-hundred Australian dollars.
Mine cost far less than that!

34 Keswick Street, Cowra

In June 2008 I was successful in tracking down the address in Cowra at which we lived when I was between 6-months and 3-years of age.
I was curious about what might be at 34 Keswick Street - maybe the old home had been torn down, replaced by a service station or a block of flats or something. Other than a couple of old small, sepia-toned and faded snapshots taken by my mother, showing the backyard and part of the front veranda, I had no idea what the place looked like.

You can imagine my amazement when I pulled up in front of the residence shown in the photograph (if you click on the image you will get a larger view).
Unfortunately the owner and his wife were not there on the Saturday morning that I arrived unannounced, but the kindly neighbour saw me and, after introductions, showed me around the outside of the house, which is listed on the National Heritage Trust.

I don't think we could have had the whole place back then (1946 - 1948), as it is way too big for just two parents and one child. I reckon it was a twin-tenancy, with the house effectively becoming two apartments.
I was able to match the old photos with the positions from where they were taken so long ago and sure enough, apart from new paint, the architecture is identical.

I feel as if I can say with some truth that, for part of my life, I lived in a mansion!

Beneficial exercise or physical torture?

Tonight I attended my first exercise session at a local fitness centre (they don't call them "gymnasiums" these days).
I was taken through the 1-hour program by a very nice bloke, a few years younger than I.
Tony had a quadruple-bypass about 4 years ago, took up regular exercise after the operation and became an instructor at the centre. Because of his age and personal background he is the ideal person to set and oversee the program.

It was a fun regime, involving about six different pieces of equipment, with an emphasis on increasing bone density, burning fat and improving overall muscle tone.
A tiring, but enjoyable hour that I found to be very satisfying. I didn't realise how much I had missed regular physical exercise.

Of course, tomorrow morning, I may well reverse my opinion when I find my muscles refuse to work without creating enormous amounts of pain all over my body.

Another day in paradise.

This evening I received this photo from my sister in Yamba.
Amy & Ashley are stating their marriage vows before the celebrant, with the three bride's-maids in attendance.
In the background, the late-afternoon sky is dappled with clouds and the blue Pacific Ocean rolls in to break upon the rocky headland.
I don't think that I have ever seen a more beautiful location for a wedding.

Beach Babe!

September 1982 and daughter Lauren - nearly 2 year's old in this photo - is enjoying the sun and sand at Lake Cathie (pronounced "Cat-eye" by the locals for over a thousand years), just south of Port Macquarie.
(Image scanned from a 35 mm Kodachrome slide. Camera was a Nikon EM)

Klang! Tinkle! Bong! Ka-Pling!

Schroeder from "Peanuts"? Elton John? Mozart?
None of these, but rather my 1-year old son belting out an unfinished piano concerto on the kitchen floor. But he did grow up to be a rather musical (guitar) and artistically-creative person, so maybe there was something stirring back in 1984.
(Image scanned from a 35mm Kodachrome slide. Camera Nikon EM)

A Fine Frenzy, indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I heard a track from this CD a couple of weeks ago (thanks, Tom) and enjoyed it so much that I was prompted to buy the album.
It is not available in Australia over-the-counter, so it had to be ordered in for me from the US of A.

If your music tastes include Dido then you will most likely enjoy the words and music of Alison Sudol, the young lady of the striking red hair and beautiful voice. Great arrangements, backings and accompaniments. Certainly a very Fine Frenzy.

Grandma & grand-daughter on a sunny Saturday

On Saturday 14th. March our daughter and son-in-law moved into their castle - their own home after 8 years of renting.


So while the move was on, our grandchildren spent the day with my wife and I - grandma pictured here with 2-year old Matilda, sharing the front entry porch in the dappled autumn sunlight.