Recently added

A Trip Around Yallourn High David Drane YHS 1960 wrote: I was a student at Yallourn High from 1960 -1964 and have many good memories of the time that I spent in Forms 1C, 2A, 3A, 4A and 5B. I’ll try and take us on a trip around the Classrooms that we spent so much time in. I’m sure that others among us will have similar memories of time spent in these “halls of learning”.

Andrew Spaull YHS 1955 ...from the exhibition “Yallourn Revisited” 1993 It was his own special view (of Yallourn), he claims: revealed only to me as a pubescent paperboy on my daily delivery to the reservoir warden’s home on the hill. On a crisp autumn morning, I would pause for the sun’s first shafts to pierce through the mist below and unmask Yallourn’s sharp and clear and splendid patchwork quilt of bright rooftops, edged by the green hues of trees, and beyond the chocolate brown of the open cut flecked with sliver dredges.

BACK TO THE FUTURE - YALLOURN WOMEN’S CRICKET TEAM - 1938 - 81 YEARS AGO

Caption under first photo: GIRL CRICKETERS at St. Kilda today: Miss D. Williams (Ballarat) in action against Yallourn. The wicket-keeper is Miss L. Nicholl. Source: ‘The Herald’ Tuesday 19 April 1938. Page 24. Note: Miss Nicholl (perhaps incorrect spelling in the above photograph- see below) was the captain of the Yallourn team in 1938.

Alex McAllister YHS 1935 sent some details of his background. “I was born in Scotland & together with my parents and brother Tom immigrated to Australia arriving in Melbourne in November 1926 at the age of three. We settled in Melbourne for a time and in 1931 my father obtained employment at Yallourn during the construction period and the family, which included my two brothers Bob & Jim who were born in Australia, moved to Yallourn.

Tim Harvey, YHS 1971 You might remember Tim’s memories in the last newsletter (Part 1 - Water)....here is Part 2 - Fire: The first group of recollections in this series started with one of the classical elements - water, and it seemed fitting to move to another – fire. Yallourn was overlooked on three sides by symbols of fire and was bounded by a fourth. The first of the three was the chimneys of the power stations, or rather the series of them. The annual reports of the SEC spoke proudly of the smoke pouring from the chimneys. In the fifties, it was a sign of progress.

Terry Heskey YHS 1955 Ex-Yallourn resident, Elsie Heskey, passed away on 20th May 2006 at Atherton, Queensland. I have enjoyed reading the YOGA Newsletters and the article from John Lewis in the June 2007 edition was of particular interest regarding the mid-1950s education system at the YHS. It is the first time I've seen any form of explanation to questions I had pondered since those school days - but it wasn't all bad.

Steve Gray YHS 1971 On yer bike! As a kid in Yallourn, I distinctly remember standing at the front gate of our house as a very young lad and at a set time each day, a few older guys would ride by on their bikes on their way to work, handle bars turned upwards for comfort and a slow pedalling motion got them there, but not in a hurry. One or two of them used to wave to me and say G’day; I know not who they were but their old bikes carried them forward with a gracefulness and ease I don’t often see these days.

Richard Bush YHS 1955 “Must be part of the uniform “ It’s well worn but in good shape. The badge is pinned proudly to the front. The stripes around the edge are as straight as the yellow band on Elaine Verey’s marching tunic. The lining is worn silky smooth - a sheen derived from years of coal dust and Brylcream (or was it Californian Poppy). The brand is “Tee Dee” – probably the initials of a small manufacturer from the days when clothing was made in Fitzroy or Collingwood. Inside it says “Size: six and seven eights” which was supposed to be a large size.

Marje Weston (Gray) YHS 1956 photo taken at mini reunion held at Bendigo last year. Left to right are: Annie Clark, Marje Weston (Gray), Jean Robinson (Humphreys), Margot Guzzardi (Teasdale) and Margaret Loft (Browitt) - all 1956ers.” Jean has been over from WA for several months firstly caring for her Mum, and after her death, finalising the estate, so they have taken the opportunity to catch up twice since the YOGA reunion dinner last March in Morwell. We have one more "meeting" planned before she returns to WA - lunch at Kyneton on July 31st.

Steve Gray YHS 1971…. Cubby huts and hidey-holes… I guess Yallourn was blessed with practically every house having a shed of some kind and we were lucky as we had both a garage and a shed. For our family, the humble shed that was meant for wood and garden implements (after starting its life as an outside toilet) soon became the place to hang out. For us it was the cubby house, a place where stories were told, billy carts and bikes were stored, but more importantly - as a hidey hole for friends to gather.

Richard Bush YHS 1955 wrote:- Fathers and Head Masters My father, Jim Bush, had a connection with Yallourn High School in the 1950s beyond his three children attending (aside from me, there was Elisa 1950 and Susan 1953). He was a member of the Advisory Council.

Olga Dunn (Tabaczynski) YHS 1958 - wrote “found some photos of my dad (Mikolay) & his mates who came out from Germany in 1949 together to work in The SEC Yallourn, a year ahead of their families to setup work & accommodation. Mum & I came out in 1950, must have been difficult for a wife to be left to wait for a year & then come out with children on a boat to an unknown country - a real movie maker!

Irene Coates (Prosinskas) YHS 1952 wrote: I was going through the YOGA Newsletters looking to see if any of the Yallourn Tech Boys wrote in or are even connected to YOGA, they were such a great part of our lives once a week going passed the High School to swimming, all the girls had a sore neck peering out the windows to check on the talent, and searching for boyfriends.

Iodine Tablets?? Judy Vise (Leech) YHS 1952 - wrote: I thoroughly enjoyed the book it brought back lots of memories. Coincidentally, my neighbour - Daryl George - saw it and attended Yallourn Tech at the same time. His father was a policeman in Yallourn. We were discussing the iodine tablets we used to take at school during the 50's. The Form captain administered them each Friday. Would like to know more information about the reasons and directives of this if anyone knows

Greg Wernert YHS 1956 Memories are Made of This Fifty years ago, a bunch of ragged (metaphorically speaking) kids late of Grade 6, East Newborough Primary School went on a character building journey to the glittering palace of secondary education, Yallourn High School. From memory, they were Effie Bridges (Carr), Ann Clark, Marilyn Kennedy, Gwenda Leverton, Linda Rendell (Reed), Judith Spackman, Margot Guzzardi (Teasdale), George Dibsdale, Bruce Garrett, Colin Nash, Derek Pym, Jeffrey Stearman, Rodney Thompson.

PIONEERS OF MOE, YALLOURN AND MORWELL

Doug Farley YHS 1953 - wrote - “When I started school at Yallourn High in 1953, I had no idea that my great, great grandfather, William Robert Farley, originally owned all of our school site. In fact, he was the squatter on the old Merton Rush Run which was approx 24,000 acres and its borders were the LaTrobe River, the Narracan River, the Morwell River and the Wilderness Creek towards Yinnar and therefore took in all of Yallourn. So when I started at Yallourn it was exactly 101 years since he acquired the run.

Beanland Families in Yallourn 1932 to 1965

Barbara Godfrey (Comber) YHS 1942 - recently returned from Portschach, Austria where she played in the International team for over 75-year old tennis players in the "Friendship Cup", which is played against a team from America. Barbara writes: "The International team were from Australia, Canada, England, Scotland, Mexico & New Zealand. We had to play 3 set matches, singles and doubles. It was fantastic tennis as I discovered all of the American team members and 5 of our team members play all year singles and doubles every month all over the world and they go to a gym 4-5 times a week.

Arthur Hugh Bland I’ll try to be brief for, at 78, I am inclined to ramble, especially about the old days. My deep interests are not always entertaining to others. To begin at the beginning is always a good place….so Strzelecki Road is the place to start. My Aunts, Eunice Herbert and Muriel Herbert had a house there – I think number 3 from the corner. It was right at the top of the town and backed onto the bush. The neighbours were Mr & Mrs Law on the left, and Mr & Mrs Rainbow on the right. Mrs Rainbow just passed away recently at the age of 101.

Alex McAllister (YHS 1935) came all the way over from WA for the reunion last March at Woorabinda.

He wrote: "I tried to catch your eye at the reunion but every time I looked, you were completely surrounded and appeared extremely involved. I was the only male of my year there, but I did meet with Myrtle O'Neill (Hattam) and her sister Jean Fox (Hattam), Eileen Mitchell (Kerr), Marg Ebsworth who was in the year below and Enid Mills, who was in the year above.