Strathewen's Elders
Strathewen Has Always Been Home For Us, And It Always Will Be
Previous
Next
-
The Strathewen Community Renewal Association gathered elders of the Strathewen community together to share stories and memories of the old town.
-
From left to right: George Apted, Bronwyn South, Helen Apted-Roach, Robin Bailey, Ron Bailey, and Lyn Nink
-
Bronwyn South (nee Apted) and Joyce Horne reminisce about life in Strathewen. The Hornes and the Apteds were some of the first settler families to 'pick a selection' in the area.
-
Alan Horne prepares to write out his Dream
-
George Apted and Helen Apted-Roach encounter old family photos from the Apted archives.
-
Joyce Horne's Dream, "My dream is to live to 100 years like my mother. I long to see the trees grow big again in Strathewen, beautiful once more. I would like a long, hearty life to enjoy the beauty of Strathewen, Alan & Joyce Horne."
-
Lyn Nink reads through letters, hunting for memories.
-
Barry & Rae Tully, "We purchased the land in 1960 and started an orchard in Strathewen. We travelled from Doncaster to Strathewen to grow the orchard. 1962 was the first time I fought bushfires, that was with Leslie Apted’s spray pump. Those fires went down to Whitehorse Road, Mitcham – it was a huge fire in those days."
-
Ray Mann, "I went back to Strathewen to help my father on the farm, Violet Glen. I farmed there til my parents died, and I got married. We sold it to Malcolm Hackett in 1988. The home had been built by my great uncle Johnny Mann in 1884."
-
George Apted, "In my time at Strathewen Primary School there was only 6 kids at one point and the school almost got closed. We walked to and from school which was about 3 or 4 miles each way."
-
Alan & Joyce Horne, "When we first came to Strathewen in 1944 the war was on. We’d come from a drought area where there was nothing left. When we came to Strathewen it was a thriving little happy community. There were things on at the Hall all the time. Everybody knew one another. We didn’t have much, but we just loved being together and having that little social get together."
-
Helen Apted-Roach, "I grew up in Strathewen. I had 5 brothers and sisters and I was the eldest. We were pretty wild children and we'd just run and play all day. Mum would be inside doing the things mums do. My youngest memory was thinking the days used to take a long time and as you got older the days got quicker."
-
Helen Apted-Roach, behind her school report... "Helen has done quite well this year, although I was disappointed in her Arithmetic test marks..."
-
Ron Bailey, "We’ve had to move since the fires, I miss the place very much. I’ve put an awful lot of work into the property. I’ve let a lot of bush grow back – we’ve got wildlife corridors, we’ve got a wildlife corridor that goes from Jacksons road which is the watershed between Diamond Creek and Arthurs Creek it rights almost all the way to Arthurs Creek, not all the way through our property but I’m proud of that."
-
Lyn Nink, "I was a Hewitt. My family’s been in the area for over 100 years. There's a Hewitts Road. My grandfather was the head of the Shire of Eltham in the 1920s and 30s. I started at Strathewen school in the mid 50s. I went there until it was shut March 1959."
-
Norma & Laurie Nelson, "We’d just had out first child and the wife, Norma, decided she’d like a block of land to live on and have a horse. I don’t know why, but anyhow that started me and Dad looking and we found this farm up in Strathewen. We went from 1 acre to 300! That was in 1955."
-
Ian & Rosemary McKimmie, "It’s hard to call anywhere else home once you’ve lived here and for as long as we have been alive…particularly when your ancestors have been here since the first selection. It’s like you are embedded in it. Your imprint is here."
-
Mary Avola on Strathewen's Hall: It's a place to gather, old or new. I’m sure we will have even greater events at the new hall remembering all the events we had at the old one."
