INTERVIEW NO. 25			DATE OF INTERVIEW:  13 December,1991.

MRS. ALICE POTTER
'KIMBERLEY'
BEACONSFIELD ROAD
ROOTY HILL.

0.20	My name is Alice Potter and I live at 'Kimberley' Beaconsfield Road, Rooty Hill.  I was born on the 30th September, 1929 at Blacktown.  I am married. I'm Australian and I have two children.

0.37	Well, first of all just some background questions.  What did your father do?

	He was a carpenter, a body builder.

	And your mother - did she work?

	No she didn't.  She was totally in the home.

	And did you have any brothers and sisters?

	No.  An only child.

	And only child, right.

0.54	So when did you first live in the Blacktown area - you were born here were you?

	Well, I was born in Blacktown itself.  In a little private hospital that was there at the time.

1.07	And you lived with your parents in a home that they built?

	No it had been built by an elderly aunt before then.  It had been there for - oh, we were one of the earliest families actually in the district - an old weatherboard home.  Very interesting to see it built when it was pulled down, though, to see how it had been built.  A very old home - it had been in the family for years.

1.38	And why was it pulled down?

	Well my mother and father sold it - built a new home - and it was sold to the Workers' Club which is now there.

	So that's on that corner where the Workers' Club is.

	Yes. Right on the corner.

	So that was pulled down about when?  The '60s?

	Oh.  Look I cannot remember, isn't it strange.  I cannot remember.  It seems for ever now.  I suppose it would have been about 20 years ago. Yes.  It would be the '70s.

2.20	So when you lived there, that was really in the heart of Blacktown.

	It was.  

	What was it like when you were a child there?

	Well, it was ... the road we lived on, Flushcombe Road, came from the Western Highway right through down to the centre of Blacktown, Blacktown station, and it was just a ... well it was a tarred road that was dirt either side.  Rather arough sort of road and in the time I lived there I saw it resurfaced and from the town virtually you could say, to where we lived, except for the Council Chambers and two Churches, there were private homes.  So you sort of knew everybody and then bit by bit they all went, the road was widened, and things changed drastically.

3.14	And you had neighbours close by you did you?

	Yes.  Only on one side because beside us there was a lane going down which isn't there any more, and we had people on the other side.

	And so did you have open land fairly close to your home?

	We had open land behind us which my parents owned and there was - between that and behind that - there was another open area.  There was open area actually right around behind us - completely behind us - which is all now built on.  And my grandparents owned the land where Blacktown Hospital is now built.

	Oh did they?

	Yes.  

	What was their name?

	Harvey.

4.04	Harvey.  And so how did you feel when all the land disappeared?  Were you still living there at the time when it started to become built up?

	Yes.  We were.  But I think being young, you don't notice it.  Now, thinking back, it must have been.  Because the same thing is happening to us here now.  

	In Rooty Hill?

	Yes.  And the age I am now I don't like it.  But when you're young, of course, you just take it as a matter of course, you know.

4.29	Yes.  And the block your house was on, was that a very large block?

	It was.  It was a very wide and very deep block.  Yes, I suppose really now you'd call it about four or six blocks.  You know, but it was only the one house on it at the time.

4.47	And did your father keep a vegetable garden?
	
	Oh, yes he did.  Yes.  Grew our own vegetables at the back, yes.

	And did you have chooks?

	No.  Never had any chooks. No.  Horrible old outside toilet!  (Laughs)  And my mother cooked on a fuel stove at that stage.

	Did she?

	We had a beautiful old fuel stove which she actually loved.  She loved cooking on it.  And then later on, of course, an electric stove was put in. but the old fuel stove was never taken out.  It was left in, so the electric stove was put in beside it.

5.25	And did she use it again or was it just there as a nostaligic piece?

	No, occasionally it was used.  It used to make the most beautiful rice puddings imaginable.  Long, slow cooking, you know.  And of course in winter when it was used it made the house so lovely and warm as well, you see.

5.44	And what about other electrical appliances?  Did your mother have a refrigerator and ...?

	Oh, yes.  The refrigerator, yes.  But she used to wash in a copper - boil up the old copper - and it was only in the later years she got a washing machine.

	And what about vacuum cleaners and things like that?  

	Yes, she had a vacuum cleaner.  Oh, yes.  a vacuum cleaner.  But of course it was before the days of television and what-have-you.

6.10	So, did you go to school at the local school?

	I went to Blacktown Public School which has been closed down now  -which is disused - and from there went to Parramatta High School.

	Did you walk to school when you went to Blacktown?

	Oh yes.  It was just down the road.

	Did your mother take you or did you walk on your own?

	No.  I went on my own.  Oh, it's probably a bit stupid, but I remember not long having gone to school, there was a message came to the class and I was supposed to go and see the Headmistress, and I was only tiny at the ... I can remember this as clear as day!  And I panicked and ran home to Mum.  I thought I was going to get into strife, and all it was was in those days at Christmas time they arranged for little presents for the children, and all she wanted to know was what I wanted for Christmas!  And Mum took me back.  I was crying - the tears were streaming down - took me back by the hand and the Headmistress said 'Why did you run away?'  (Laughs)  Oh, that's just digressing - that's a stupid thing that's stuck in my mind all these years.

	Oh well you were close enough to run home!

	Well I was.  (Laughs)  Yes.

7.29	And did your parents have a car or did you use public transport?

	No.  No, we always had a car.  Dad had a utility at one stage and then he went to a big old American sort of car, and we always had a car to drive around in, yes.

	I suppose you would have needed it in the Blacktown area?

	Well ...

	The bus services were not very good?

	Well, yes.  Never caught a bus, ever.  You know we always had our own transport and further afield that you wanted to go, you just caught a train.

8.01	And did your mother shop locally?

	Yes.  Always.  Always.  You see, we were so handy to the shops.  You could just walk down to the shop, yes.

	And did she have to go far to ... did she ever have to shop in Parramatta or Sydney for clothes?

	Well, occasionally, yes.  Occasionally for other things they did and it was actually quite a thing to go into town for the day.

	The big outing?

	Yes.  Well it was.  That's right.  And of course the steam trains - we had steam trains - the line wasn't electrified.  I just can't remember when it was electrified.  I was still working in town when it was electrified.

	It was1955.

	Was it?

	Yes.  Well that was to Penrith anyway.  I presume it would have been the same.

	Yes. That's right.

8.48	So what would your mother's daily routine have been when you were a child?  She didn't work - but she was ...?

	Well, I suppose when my grandparents were alive often she'd finish the work she had to do in the house and when I was a school she'd go down and see them, and walked through the paddocks then, down the back way through to see them.

	Where were they - in Blacktown?

	Yes.  Where the Hospital now is.

	Oh, I see, right.

	Yes.  But it was only just paddocks you had to walk through then to go and see them.  Then I suppose come home and do just the ordinary chores that women did.

9.34	Was she active in any community groups or school organisations?

	With the Church she was.  She was Church Organist at Christ Church which was just across the road from us.  That's where John and I were married actually.  We walked to our wedding.  We only had to walk across the road.  And she played the organ there for years and was very active.  Not in Women's Guild or anything like that connected to the Church, but just as a Church goer and was the Church Organist.  Yes.  And it was a home where a lot of people knew her and just dropped in on their way to and from the street, just for a chat.  So there was sort of always - it was open house more or less - there was always someone dropping in or calling in to see her.

	So there was a lot of visiting in those days too?

	Much more so than now.  That's right.  People tend to keep to themselves now don't they.  

10.28	And did your mother sew?

	No.  A great knitter, but she never sewed.

	And did she cook much.  Did she make jams and that sort of thing?

	Yes.  Well occasionally.  I won't say she was a great preserve maker or putting fruit down in bottles and things like that, but a good basic cook and used to like cooking.  But nothing beside that, you know.

10.54	And as a child what sort of things did you do for recreation in the school holidays and that sort of thing? 

	Well, I had a good circle of friends.  Being an only child I was actually very lucky.  There were people living beside us who had children, and I used to go to Church - I became a Sunday School teacher - and with my school friends we used to go out a lot.  But they were outings that the children these days don't seem to do.  We'd go for long hikes.  We'd catch the train, pack our bags, and go up the Mountains.  And we had one fellow who was a very keen bushwalker even in those days, and he had maps of all the trails in the Mountains and we'd go for miles - and nothing every happened to us, you know.  We never got lost and we'd have barbecues and make a fire and cook our meal and come home totally exhausted, and then like as not we'd get bathed and changed and go down to the local picture show to the pictures at night.  You know, simple things like that that the children don't seem to do any more.  You know, they're after more sophisticated enjoyment.   But they were great days!  We'd get on bikes and go for bike rides, and just ordinary simple things like that.  Out-doors sort of things.

12.28	Yes.  What about dances?  Did you go to local dances?

	No.  No I didn't, because being in a Church group, the Ministers we had at the time sort of frowned on dances, and the friends I was with - well out activities those days were involved around the Church which, I suppose thinking back, were a little bit strict really.  But we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

	So the Church really provided social acitivities?

	It did, yes for us it did.

13.02	So do you think the Church played quite a big role in the community in those days?

	Yes.  In those days it definitely did.

	And the other churches as well?  Say... like the Anglican and ...?

	Well I would think so, because Robert Brown that we were mentioning a while ago, he belonged to the Presbyterian Church and we had joint visits and joint outings, so I think it was a time when people were more church conscious than they are now.

13.28	That's interesting.  So what sort of things your parents do for recreation?  Did they go to the pictures and that sort of thing?

	Yes.  Occasionally.  I won't say they were great picture goers.  Dad I don't think ever did!  But my mother and grandmother and my mother's sister, they often went.  We weren't a terribly social family. They didn't go dancing or anything like that.  We'd occasionally go out to picnics and drives on the weekend, but just ... they were sort of happy in their own surroundings more or less.

14.10	So when did you actually leave?  You left here after you were married did you?

	No.  We were married at Blacktown.  I lived there until we were married.  My husband came from Concord.  And then we lived at home for one year - for 12 months.

	What year were you married?

	'54.  And we lived at home for 12 months and then we bought this home here.

	At Rooty Hill?

	Yes.  In Rooty HIll.  And we've lived here - except three years in between when we moved to Melbourne - and then we came back here.  We had this rented while we were away.  And we've been here ever since.

14.58	Did you work after you left school?

	Yes.  I did.  I worked in an insurance company in the City.

	So you travelled in by train?

	Yes.  By train.  First of all the old steam trains and then - great excitement - we could catch the electric train in, which cut the time down a little bit, which was very good.

15.20	And did you mind having to travel so far?

	Towards the end it got a little bit tedious.  I worked for a year after I was married and it got a little bit tedious.  It was very, very stuffy in the winter time you know, and in wet weather it was rather inconvenient.  You had to walk home.  But all in all it wasn't too bad.  You did it because ... well that's sort of what you had to do, you know!

15.50	So when you were married in '54, you moved here.  Had you noticed much change in the Blacktown area before you moved here?

	From when I was a child?

	Yes.

	Well, I suppose yes.  The new Council Chambers had been built.  Some of the houses that were there when I was a child had gone.  And the town was sort of gradually coming up, encroaching ... the town itself was encroaching on what were private homes.  Yes ... I suppose ... some of the shops had changed.  Some had been pulled down and others built, and the old picture-show that used to be there had gone.  There used to be an old cinema.  Well, actually that was burnt down.  I remember seeing that burnt down.  Those changes had happened, but over the last twenty years or so, that's when the rush has been, you know.  But the change was starting then.

17.09	Yes.  And did you feel any particular way about it or did you just accept it as progress?

	I think I just accepted it.  Yes.  Just accepted it.  It's only in your later years when you get to the age I am now that you think 'Oh, my goodness!',  you know 'Why has it got to happen?'  But it is - it's progress!  It's got to happen!

17.31	When you moved here, what was the landscape like here?

	Oh, almost total desolation!  My mother was horrified!  The road which you now see is a tarred road, a very good road.  When we moved here it was just a dirt track and down the hill from our home it sort of went into - there were trees growing in the middle - and it diverged either side of the trees and so it went into two tracks, and in wet weather it was almost impassable!  It was shocking!  There were no houses around us except a bit old home opposite - directly opposite - and one about, oh a couple of hundred yards further along to the right on the opposite side of the road.  So ... oh, there was a house beside us on this side, I'm sorry.  Yes, so we were the only four houses just here and then there was just open paddock, ground, trees.  And then I remember having my first child.  I didn't have a car - my husband had a car but he took it to work - and I walked down to the train.  I used to get the train to my mother's at Blacktown.  I'd do my shopping there and then my father would bring me home with the shopping, you see.  This day it had been raining and I was very pregnant with Susan and the ground was muddy - it was almost going over the top of my shoes - and I thought 'Why am I living in this place?'  'What have I done?' You know.   Oh we must have been made to have moved up here!'  Oh dear of dear.  (Laughs)  But times have changed now.  That has got a bit better.

19.14	Yes.  And did you feel isolated at all?

	For a while, first, yes.  We did.  We did.  It was about the first couple of weeks we moved in here we had a terrific storm and because of all the trees around we seemed to have lightning and thunder directly over our heads, and I remember one night.  It was shocking, really was, and I panicked and I said 'I don't want to live here anymore.  I want to go back to Mum!'  You know, being a young person!  But it was - it was very, very isolated for a while.

	And I suppose being on the hill in a storm you'd feel as though you pretty close to the elements?

	Well it was.  It seemed to be directly over our heads, you know.  It was terrific here - very isolated.  But the people who lived beside us in the house - oh over the years when the house was there, there were various people - but they were always rather nice.  We got on with them very well, so you did have someone beside you.  But all around us in the other directions was nothing, you know.

20.16	And you had your family not too far away so ...

	Well, only at Blacktown.  That's right, so it wasn't so bad.

20.22	So did you rely on your mother and your family when you needed help with the children or if you were ill?

	Well, I didn't rely on them.  They just came!  You know.  They came up here a lot, yes.  Yes.  That was no problem.

	And your mother too had had her family close by, so you all had that extended family?

	Yes.  That's right.  Yes, that's it.

20.45	And did you find the other neighbours friendly?

	Oh, yes.  Yes.  Very nice.

	So you had a bit of a communal feeling here?

	Well, when the children went to school I belonged to the Mothers' Club which was where I gradually got to know other people in the area.

	Right.

	But that didn't bring people close beside us.  It wasn't only over the years when the land was sold that all the growth has come around here.

21.11	And how to you feel about that?

	I didn't like it at first, but it's proved to be quite acceptable because everyone seems to be nice people.  No one worries anybody, you know, and I think probably it's just helped the area a lot.

2.27	And you've still got a fairly large block?

	Well, we have.  But it's in the process of being sold. 

	Is it?

	Not our house block, but the rest of the land is in the process of being sold, so we're accelerating this, you see!  We're doing the same thing ourselves!

	So someone will build on that part?

	Yes.  That's right.  That will be houses.

	And you'll have closer neighbours, I guess?

	Yes.  That's right.  But they won't be - we're keeping quite a bit of ground at the back - so they won't be right up close to us.

21.56	So you shopped at Blacktown?

	Yes.  Mainly.

	And were their any local shops around here?

	Yes.  There were - very small grocery shops and a green-grocer.  But anything particular you wanted you'd go to the bigger area of Blacktown.

	And what about for clothes and shoes and that sort of thing?  Did you ...?

	Oh nothing here.  You'd have to go to Blacktown for that.  Or not even at Blacktown in those days.  Possibly Parramatta.  You would think of going to Parramatta.  They had a very limited quantity of things there you know.

22.40	And did you ever have anything delivered to the house, or did you have to carry it?

	When we first moved here, yes.  We did occasionally get some things from the little local shop and then he would deliver them to the house.

	And in Blacktown?

	No, no.  We'd bring them home ourselves in the car.

	And had your mother had deliveries from Blacktown to her home?

	I don't think so.  

	'Cause she was so close, I suppose?

	Well that's right.  And she would - if the car wasn't available - she'd just carry a few things, it was just so handy, and make a few trips if necessary.  It didn't really matter

23.12	So did you sew for your children?

	A very limited amount.  I'm a knitter too, not a sewer.

	Like your mother?

	Yes.  That's right.

23.24	And are you a cook?

	Oh, well.  I won't say I'm a mad keen cook.  But I'm an adequate cook, let's say.  Occasionally I like to burst out and do something different.

	But you don't spend a lot of time making preserves or that sort of thing?

	No, no, no.  My husband actually is the preserver in the family.  He loves it!

	Really!

	'Cause he's an industrial chemist and he likes to get his hands into things and he makes jams and preserves.

	Does he?  Good for him! 

23.53	So when your children were small did you have any help in the house or anything like that?

	No.  No.

	You did everthing yourself?

	Coped quite well.

24.03	And did you work after you were married?

	Only for twelve months.

	Oh, not after you had your children?

No.

24.12	So what would your daily routine have been when your children were small?

	Well, just basic housework, I suppose, and when I was in the Mothers' Club occasionally there'd be a Mothers' Club Meeting and things like that, and just ... well, basic housework.  Washing, ironing, and thinking about the evening meal and waiting for them to come home from school and what-not.

24.39	And the health services in the area - when you had your children, were they born at the local hospital?

	No.  They weren't.  They were born at Crown Street Hospital.  I had a Macquarie Street specialist, an obstratrician I went to, and I had them both at old Crown Street.

	That was a long way to go from here.

	It was.  It was.  But I managed it quite well.

25.03	And did you plan to have two children, or did it just work out that way?

	Yes.  Yes.  No, I planned to have two because I was an only child. And ...

	And you thought you'd like to have two.

	Yes.

	And did they get on well - after having two?

	Well, they did.  But there was a four year gap and there was a bit of friction at odd times.  But they're marvellous friends at the moment.  

25.33	And did your children go on to the tertiary ... they went to the local school too?

	Yes.  And then they went to Rooty Hill High School, and the elder one went to university and became a high school teacher, and the younger one went right through and became a veterinary nurse.

25.53	Right.  The girl's the eldest is she or the ...?

	The one on the right is the eldest and the one on the left is the younger one.  And actually she is still teaching - the one on the right - she has her family, has a young one, and she is still teaching.  So ... a career woman ...

	And so they went on to tertiary education, both of them?

	Yes.  

	They're both teachers are they?  

	No, no.  Jenny, the younger one, was a vet nurse.  

	Oh, I'm sorry.

	Yes.  A vet nurse, yes.  There's only the two of them.

26.31	And did they move out of the area when they were married?

	Yes.  One is in Canberra and one is in Kurrajong.

	Oh.  Well she's not too far.

	No, that's right.

26.45	And what about finances?  Did you manage the household finances or did your husband?  

	No my husband did at first.  It's in only in the latter years that I've sort of taken it over.  He had a lot of overseas trips and I had to do it.

26.59	And what industry was there when you were growing up in Blacktown?  Was there much indusstry?

	Well there's a big - behind our house, further down at the end of this lane I'm talking about that came beside the house - there was a big plaster works.  A big fibrous plaster works.  And thinking back - and the problems now with fibrous plaster - you know.  I'm just wondering, you know, what happened as a result of that being there.  But there were poultry farms and market gardens around Blacktown.  There wasn't a great deal of industry.  It was really a poultry farming and market gardening area.  Probably only later years there were other things.

	Now there's more industry?

	Other ones came.

27.48	What sort of industry is there now?  It's not terribly heavy industry is it?

	No. It's not.  It would be light industry I suppose you'd call it.  On the other side of Blacktown, down off Sunnyholt Road, that's become quite an industrial area with smallish factories that have all sprung up over there.  But there's no heavy industry I would say.

	And how about here in Rooty Hill?  Is there much industry here now?

	Well, BHP is!  That's been a great bone of contention here.  They've put there factory over there which is almost to the stage of being operational now.  That's on the other side of the railway line in Rooty Hill.  But that's about the main thing, yes.

28.38	So the people in the community fought it?

	People were very much against it, fought it, but couldn't do anything about it.

	They won!  Big industry ...

	That's right.  You can't fight a big company like that, you know.  You can try.

28.52	And what was the main reason for opposing it?

	Well I think noise, traffic, pollution, you know.

	Yes.  So people are becoming more aware now of the consequences?

	Yes.  Very much so.  But I think these companies have got to tow the line because rules are so strict nowadays that I don't think it will be such a hazard as people thought it was going to be.  But I think they had visions of seeing these big trucks laden with all this sort of junk on the roads.  And the roads around here are terribly busy now, and I think they thought they were going to be more clogged with all these rattly trucks and what-not.  But it probably won't be.

29.36	And what about the banking?  Getting back to finance for a moment - did you bank locally?  Did you have a bank at Rooty Hill?

	No.  In the early stages we didn't, and then the Commonwealth Bank came and it was in a little building down at the end of the shopping centre.  Well now there's a big bank - they built a new one.  I used to bank locally then when they came here, other than that I'd go to Blacktown.

30.05	And did you use credit for your shopping or did you pay in cash in the old days?

	Never, never.  Always paid cash.  I didn't know what a lay-by was.

	You waited until you had the money to afford such a thing?

	Yes.

30.22	And Churches - you mentioned those, that they played a big role in your life growing up -  and what about after you were married?  Did your children get the same benefit from Church and social activities?

	No.  I won't say they did.  Not up here.  They went to Sunday School.  There wasn't a church fellowship then.  It was just a Sunday School.  So that's wholly and soley the time they attended Sunday School - and came to church with us occasionally.  And I'm afraid that after the years we have sort of waned a little bit.  That's how times have changed as far as church going's concerned.

	Yes.  Generally I think.

31.15	After the War, when the European migrants came to live out this way, did you notice them around this area very much - you know, displaced paople?

	Oh, well, quite a few Italians.  A lot of Italians in this area, and a few German people.  Actually we have German friends on the other side of the line now.  But ... no, it's only since these houses have come that we've noticed alll the different nationalities that have come over the later years.  But quite a lot of Italians in the early stages here, I think because of market gardening around area.

	There were a lot of market gardeners.

	Yes.  European people.  Maltese too.  And poultry farms in the area - there was a big one on the other side - they were run by Maltese people.

	And did you have much to do with the European people in those days?

	No, not really, no.

	Did you go to the market gardens to buy vegetables?

	No.  To the poulty farms to buy eggs, but not actually to buy vegetables.  No.

32.41	And how did you feel about it when all the poultry farmers starting disappearing and the market gardens - did that worry you?

	Oh, it didn't really effect us at all.  There's always been on the highway...
END SIDE A

SIDE B
0.04	... not far from us and it was very small years ago, but now it has grown to quite a big size, and you could always get fresh produce there if you didn't want to go to Blacktown.

0.19	Right.  And so when your children were growing up did they have the space to run around here like the space you had around your home?

	Oh yes.  Just as much.

	More, probably?

	Yes.  

0.31	And what did they do for recreation?

	Oh, what did they do.  Well they both had bikes.  I suppose went out with their friends.  Actually my younger daughter - she had a horse then - and she used to go horse riding with a couple of friends.

	Just around the local area?

	Yes.  And also across in the paddock - we used to call it the Dunlop paddock because there's a Dunlop factory over there too where BHP now has built , the big open area there - they used to ride there and of course the traffic wasn't quite so bad then as it is now.  And just visiting friends and their friends used to come here.  Just the normal things, I suppose, that young people do.  (Laughs).

1.26	And of course they would have had television in their lives?

	Oh, yes.  Goodness yes.  Television, that's right.  And they were great ones for books, especially the elder one, who's the studious one of the family.  In fact all her homework ... how she did so well right through school, university, I don't know - because all her work was done in front of the television!

	Really!

	It was, in front of television.  Incredible!

	She'd the vet nurse is she?

	No.  She's the teacher.  The younger one's the vet nurse.

	Oh, right. I'll get it straight in a minute!

	What does she teach?

	Well, she's a librarian - a teacher-librarian - and English.  She's actually not at a high school.  She went to Canberra College and was teaching would-be teachers - lecturing teachers.  And now she's in - I don't know the name of it  - but it's a Government position, and they get all the old text books from universities, colleges, schools and what-have-you, and they separate them all into boxes, into different classes, different subjects and what-have-you, and they're sent out to Third-World countries.  So she's not actually teaching. but her librarian teaching training is suiting her for this job, and it's a part-time job which enables her to have time at home with the little girl, you see.  

	It sounds great.

	It's a very interesting job.  She's had a couple of trips to Indonesia and got one coming up, I think, to Thailand in the near future, trying to get them to hurry them up to accept the books and the things we've got here.  In some of those countries it's very hard to get them into the country.

3.24	And did you travel yourself, either when your children were small, or later?

	No.  It's only in later years we've travelled overseas, not when they were little.  My husband did, but they were all business trips.

	Yes.  Recreational travel didn't really come in until the sixties or so?

	No.  Not then.

3.47	And did you keep any animals?  Apart from the horse?

	Oh, just a cat and a dog.  Never had any chooks or anything like that.  We had two horses as a matter of fact, just the horses.

4.03	So how do you feel about the way the area has changed now, when you look back at what it was like when you were a child in Blacktown and how it is now?

	Well in Blacktown I feel it's become very cramped.  It's very congested as far as traffic is concerned because they've made a mall now, which in a way, I suppose, is a good thing but it means the traffic's got to be re-routed all the way around and there are so many traffic lights, and it's really a hazard to drive through the place now.  I can't see it's made it much better.  Shopping-wise it has become better because of the big shopping centre - well two shopping centres now - and there's really no need to travel further afield for anything at all because you can get anything you need locally. So, I suppose in that respect it's good.  But it's different.  Years ago you could walk down the street and you'd probably see quite a few people you'd know.  But now you hardly see a soul.  You hardly see a face that you know.  It's become so busy and crowded.

5.08	And what about the feeling of security then and now.  Did you lock your house as a child?

	Oh, never!  Never!   There was no need to.  And even when we first moved here to Rooty Hill our neighbour - and we used to do the same thing ourselves when we went out for the day.  We woulnd't lock the house.  We'd perhaps leave the radio on, but there was not need to totally lock the house.  Now you have to go around and secure windows and double-lock, deadlock doors and, oh no, it's completely different.  There was a complete sense of security there.  And when I used to work, my friend and I often we'd go out in the evening and we'd come home late at night on the trains with very few people in them, which you would never think of doing - I wouldn't these days.  But nothing ever happened to us!  No.  That's right.  That's completely changed.

6.15	So really the main things are the traffic and the lack of security and the impersonal, less friendly atmosphere of the place?

	Yes.  The atmosphere of the place.  That's right.  It's grown so big.

6.32	And how do you feel about the landscape itself, the way that it's changed from a more rural looking area?

	Well, I suppose there's nothing much you can do about that whether you like it or not, you know.  I suppose that doesn't affect me in any way, no.

6.41	And do you feel any sense of loss about any of the old landmarks that have disappeared, like your parent's old home and things like that?

	Well, actually thinking back, we often think that would have been a fantastic home to use as a wedding reception/function centre.  But it would have taken a lot of money to turn it into such a building, and the town was encroaching on it, so it wasn't in the best position because it was becoming very busy around it.  But it was a bit sad to see it go, you know, as those things are.

7.35	Did your parents have to move out of the house for that development or had they already ...?

	Oh no.  They sold it of their own volition.  They weren't forced to do it, oh no.  But the Worker's Club had been approaching them quite a lot, to buy it, and they resisted it for a while.  But the rates they were paying to live there were so enormously high, and it seemed so silly, that in the end they let it go and they built another home for themselves.

	Oh did they and where did they build?  Did they move far?

	Oh well it's down near the Bowling Club in Blacktown.  It's still in Blacktown.  My mother's still alive down there.

	So she would have seen a lot of changes in the area then?

	Oh, goodness yes.  My word, absolutely.

	And she grew up here too, so she would remember, I suppose, the days of the horse and sulky?

	Oh, yes.  That's right.  My word.  Well as a child myself I can remember ... there was a bakery down in Blacktown, and this lane I'm speaking of beside our house, the baker's horses used to come from a paddock that was further down on the other side of our home.  They'd come along the street - every morning this used to happen - they'd go down the lane to the bakery to be harnessed up in the carts.  And there was a fellow that'd go with them and he'd just say 'Hoy' or just whistle them and the jolly horses would just walk behind him, and then back they'd come in the evening.  So... those changes ... children these days miss out on a lot of those sort of fun things.
	
9.13	Yes.  And your children, when they grew up here, I suppose it had become fairly suburbanised by the time they were teenagers would it?

	Yes.  It was.   Yes.

	Well I think we've just about covered everything there, unless you can think of anything else you'd particularly like to tell me - any childhood memories or ...?

	I don't think so.  (Laughs).  No.  I think that's about all.

	OK.  Well thank you very much.
END OF TAPE.
	

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