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Chapter 9              The Depression Life for the folk of Richmond in the first half of the twentieth century was often perched on the very fringe of poverty and destitution. One missed step – and your home, livelihood and scantily stocked kitchen table could vanish in front of your eyes. The worn-out, humble houses that wereContinue reading “Chapter 9”

Summer Holidays At home the Summer between school years usually passed agonisingly slowly. Shirley, at eight years old, was allowed to head to the Richmond Swimming Pool whenever she pleased, if she organised the admission money with her father beforehand. The diving squad in Richmond was a popular club, and children of all ages flockedContinue reading “Chapter 8 Summer”

Sister Alfred – Surviving Grade 3 and other adventures Education for Shirley became both a warm world of friend-led excitement, and a dark fortress of confusing concepts and mind-numbing directives. Arriving at school, having dressed herself in a dishevelled heap of ill-fitting clothes, her hair a mess of frizz; her shoes scuffed and often onContinue reading “Chapter 6 and 7”

School days soon seemed to pass much the same monotonous way as long days at home had; there were just with more kids to play with. Sister Jeanne led them through an agonising adventure of seemingly endless lists of words, and complicated letter formations, which they were required to copy over and over into theirContinue reading “Chapter 5 – Life with Lorna”

Summer bought alive the welcoming waters of the Richmond Baths opposite Shirley’s house.  It offered a shelter both from scorching days under the hot tin roof of Griffith Street, and the tortuous monotony of long afternoons with nought to do but watch the heat hunted birds fight for space on gap-toothed paling fences. When herContinue reading “Chapter 4 School days”

By the age of three or four, it was possible to wander around the neighbourhood and bump into other children that were playing on the street, and the search for a playmate became Shirley’s daily dedicated mission. Cars were still far from being the dominant vehicular species in Richmond, and the horse and jinker remainedContinue reading “Chapter Three”

Chapter 1 Richmond July, 1927 Bessie was called early that morning to Griffith Street. It was a cold, wet July morning; streaking the dawn with grubby squalls that squealed along failing fence palings as the early horse and jinker of the milkie tumbled over the broken ruts of the Richmond streets. May was silent butContinue reading “Richmond 1927”