When I was young and in Primary school……….

We moved to Bayswater when I was about eight or nine. I can never remember exactly what year it was we left Richmond. The house in King Street was put up for sale. My father had the option to buy it but decided we’d be better off moving to the suburbs. It wasn’t until years later I found out why. But that’s another story.

The house in Bayswater was huge. Big yard in the front and back on a corner block. Three bedrooms. Two bathrooms. Even today it would seem like a palace. Out back was pretty wild. There were the remains of a garage that was falling down. Then a step up to the back, back yard, which at some point must have been used as a vegie patch or something. Plenty of room to tear around on our bikes, and later an old mini bike Dad picked up somewhere.

In the front yard in the corner stood a big willow tree. It was one of the few trees we had we could actually climb. And that big yard came in handy once we were all old enough to get our drivers licences.  Cars everywhere. But that was a long way off yet.

We went to school at Heathmont East. It was a big change from where we’d come from. No more Greeks, Italians and Turks. They were replaced by English, German and Dutch. It was around this time I first heard the term ‘wog’. Seems those in the suburbs saw themselves as a better class of immigrant than those in the inner city. And I guess I started to feel a little inferior having come from there myself.

We made new friends. There were quite a few kids our age just living in our street. We lived on the corner of Gray St. Behind us were the Haglands. Andrew, Ross and ……Three boys each the same age as my brothers and me. Next door to them the Easons. A girl Tamara ,my age and a boy Phillip, the same age as my youngest brother Craig. Next to them the Blandins, Ivan and Trevor. Two boys same age as me and my second brother. A further two doors down a boy my age named Johnny Klabbers and his sister Debra, a couple of years younger. Then across the road from them Belinda, and her younger brother Carl.

This meant there was no shortage of kids to hang out with after school.

Unlike Richmond, there wasn’t much exploring to be done close to home. We’d usually play in the street, or someones back yard. Now and then we’d venture off the Gracedale Park, and have a kick of the footy without the risk of losing it in the grumpy old folks rose garden.