Author: Clayfield News Columnist

• Robin wrote in about his great grandfather’s farm diaries that he was currently typing up, starting in 1906 running until 1948. His great grandfather’s name was Alfred Mitchell and the day’s entries reflect what he did on the farm, which was in Samford in Western Victoria. He said eventually he would find the right place to pass these historical records.
  
  
• Jack wrote in about his camping equipment store in Beenleigh (North of the Gold Coast, Macca!) who got a huge lift in customers just before Cyclone Alfred.
  
  
• Peter from Christchurch called in, having moved there from Melbourne four weeks ago. His wife was a Christchurch lady. It was the 5th anniversary of the terrible mosque shooting, the earthquake now in the rear view mirror, having happened in 2011.

• Ted rang in about the Dandenong Glass Factory closing down, he reminisced about his connection with the factory. He was a skydiver and was offered a job of putting the roof on the factory, which he did to raise money for his skydiving. Back then in the 1970s, Dandenong was believed to be the only self-sufficient town in Australia. He also recalled the first pilot that worked on the Pakenham Skydiving club. He was a chap by the name of Sess Long and he went onto be the very first pilot of Reg Ansett’s airline. He also told the story of why he was moving to Condinon in WA, he had been looking to move somewhere with a good community spirit and he heard that in Condinon, a few months ago, the town swimming pool’s roof caught fire, the local residents took the roof down, repaired it and put it back on so the locals could swim in the afternoon of the same day.

More about Ansett’s history:

• Libby from Mount Dandenong in Melbourne rang in to say the area is very dry, fires are occurring and there is very little rain falling.
  
  
• Peter from Manly in Brisbane rang in to talk about the passing of Peter O’Reilly AM, who ran Green Mountains, O’Reilly’s Guesthouse and Lamington. Recognised for his work in tourism and conservation. Peter met him in around 1975. In 1977 he launched the first O’Reilly’s bird week, it is still going 48 years later. The caller had established a rainforest in his half acre, 142 different species of trees planted to attract a range of birds, though he feels birds are disappearing even from his rainforest.

• Phil wrote in to point out that the word “posh” originated from wealthy english people coming back from their travels to India and speaking with a different accent on their return, Port Out Starboard Home produced the acronym.
  
  
• Macca talked about Heard Island, and a film called The Great White Whale. The Island is very isolated. Michael Dillon, the film producer came into the studio for a chat. Big Ben on Heard Island was Australia’s highest mountain and was bequeathed to Australia in 1947. It’s very hard to get to, hence people don’t know about it or climb it. He said going back 120 years, a young 13-year-old boy got inspired by the view from climbing the Knobelist Hill in Orange. His name was George Finch and he became the World’s Best Mountaineer. His son Peter Finch became a well known actor. He was chosen to be amongst the team of the first attempt to climb Mount Everest in 1922, as a research scientist. He got higher than any other member of the expedition and would probably have reached the summit if the rest of his team hadn’t suffered so badly from exhaustion. He held the height record for many years but also pioneered an oxygen system that would be the same system used decades later when Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing climbed Everest. He also told the story that, in 1984, a group of five Aussies climbed Everest without Oxygen, a new record. Tim McCartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer were the two that reached the top. In 1990 Michael filmed Tim McCartney-Snape starting the Everest climb at sea level in the Bay of Bengal Surf, crossing India and swimming across the Ganges, and climbing to the summit, making a documentary about it. Michael told stories about Sir Edmund Hillary, who he got to know very well. He told a story of Chris Dewhurst who used a hot air balloon to go above Everest for the first time. Michael’s documentary-making career had been inspired by Albie Mangels and the Leyland Brothers who would hire town halls and other venues to showcase their movies. He runs a similar model including a Q and A. He funded this movie himself. He’s running the movie at a range of venues.

More about Heard Island:

More about The Great White Whale Movie:

The 1984 expedition without Oxygen:

• Claire wrote in about a group of dads at Somerset College who have a Whatsapp group that keeps in touch about issues in their community. After Cyclone Alfred, they rallied together to clear trees, provide food and water, generators and hired an excavator so a family could get out of their driveway and allow access for Energex. This help extended beyond the Somerset Community. A homeowner on Strawberry Road in Mudgereeba had two trees fall on the property. The Somerset dads cleared the trees.
  
  
• Macca replayed a 97-year-old gentleman talking about the great danger that the saddlery trade was encountering here in Australia with cheap Indian imports taking over the market. He was a life member of the Saddlemakers Association of Australia and he said there were no apprentices coming into the industry so they were applying for a grant to train apprentices.
  
  
• Pam Cupper (wrote a book 40 years ago with Phil Taylor called “Gallipoli-A Battlefield Guide) called in from Canakkale, the city closest to the Gallipoli battlefields. She related Turkey is largely first world rather than the third world she recalls 40 years ago. She recalls when Australians and New Zealanders would be seen wandering around regularly in the area but no longer. She also demonstrated the strength of customer service over there compared to here. There were some fires last year that burnt areas around the Commonwealth War Graves, not the graves themselves though. She got to know two generations of gardeners employed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. She noted that erosion at the edge of Anzac Cove and Brighton Beach had required retaining walls to be built, rising seas have also damaged V Beach at Cape Helles. About a third of the cemetery had been flooded after the ocean washed over the retaining walls. She thinks erosion will cause the cemetary to disappear within this century. Beach Cemetery, where Simpson is buried, has suffered a lot of erosion already. The 1915 piers are no longer visible. The erosion she put down to rising sea levels, and the development of the road and parking, which cut into the hill. Cape Helles has become an eyesore with erosion and rubbish laying around. Visitor numbers have declined a lot since 2015, when they used to get 20,000 visitors, now it’s a only a dribble of people throughout the year. A local tour operator used to take battlefield tours everyday of the year and six or more a day in April, but now very rarely gets any interest. The local tourist office in 1980 was focused on Gallipoli but now has no profile of it. She was a massive fan of the local tomatoes. The locals say they are the best in the world.

• Mark Campbell rang in from Manly the NSW Lifesaving Titles were happening, North Steyne and Queenscliff were two of the other venues. A shark was sighted and they shooed him off. Mark referenced that he knows where Keiran Kelly swims and he said, “You wouldn’t get me in there without a stainless steel cage”. Mark’s brother has been trying to invent a commercial anti shark wax. Macca related a story of Keiran Kelly doing a Palm Beach to Manly swim and being accompanied by a guy in a canoe with an electrical device designed to keep sharks away. Matt talked about how the number of girls participating in the surf boat racing had increased from virtually none in the 1980s to 50% of the current competitors.

• Steve in Cairns called in having bought “The White Whale” documentary for his father in law, they loved it.

• Sally from Culburra Beach on the south cost of Sydney, called in about Jack Jefferies who was a hooker for Wests and St George, passed away on Friday. Sally’s sister was his boyfriend. He was the guy that slapped Tommy Raudonikis in the face.

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• Simon rang in about having brought some buildings over from Alice Springs to the Sultan of Brunei. His daughter had recently spent 2 years teaching on Palm Island off Townsville. Her experience was great, she taught grades 1 and 2. He said there were around 17 aboriginal tribes on the Island, after they were all moved there in 1918 after a cyclone. He was also in the process of reinstating a roadhouse at Cullamulla.

• Danielle in Griffith talked about attending the National Donkey Championships in Young the previous week. She related many different breeds and sizes, the large Mammoth Donkeys were used in the war, she related that they are perceived to be very intelligent. The Young Pony Club hosted the event, the volunteers were exceptional and the event was great. Macca related there are a huge number of feral donkeys in the deserts of Australia, perhaps 100,000. They would have been used regularly in the past and then escaped and bred.

Listen to the podcast episode here.

Disclaimer: Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara or the “Australia All Over Show.” This weekly review is an attempt to share the wonderful stories that Ian broadcasts each week and add value to what is a smorgasbord of great insights.

• Aaron from Dandenong was at the Oceania Glass Factory (old Pilkington Glass Factory), in the process of closing the factory for architectural glass manufacturing, typically 3mm to 12mm window glass for construction. The issues driving the closure were cheap imports (Indonesia, Vietnam, China), the furnace needing to be repaired, and the rise of energy and gas prices. The factory employed 250 people. Since announcing the closure, Chinese glass has gone up in price. The end of 169 years of glass making in Australia, as they were the last manufacturers of glass over here. Aaron had spent 20+ years cutting up glass and will now have to look for a new job in a new industry. Listen to the closure being discussed here.

Drone flyover of the huge factory here:

• Ross Smith from the Australian Light Horse rang in from the Chauvel Light Horse Trail Ride from Shepparton to Tallangatta. Six weeks and 750km. It’s an anniversary ride, commemorating 80 years since Harry Chauvel died, doing educational talks along the way. Find out more here.

An insight into the important history of the Australian Light Horse here:

• Tony from Singleton rang in to talk about the King Island Racing Carnival he had ridden at, riding seven winners. The horses were taken over on a barge, shipping on and off the island was difficult. He talked about King Island Dairy being sold to an Australian with the help of the Tasmanian government, saving the famous cheese brand.

This video talks about the King Island Racing Club Struggle:

• Jalal rang in from KC in ACT to talk about Ramadan, which started on March 1 to 30 pr 31 (depends on lunar cycle). He was originally from Bangladesh. All muslims celebrating will have breakfast before sunrise and dinner after sunset.
  

• Marion from Benalla rang in having sold her cherry farm, after 35 years. The children didn’t want to inherit it. She was organising a Women on Farms event, which is the 35th annual event, focusing on letting women know what’s happening in farming. The event is over 3 days from March 14-16, find out more here.
  

• Bob Crowther’s book “The Wonders of the Weather” the tropical cyclone season in Northern Australia is normally from December to April. The earliest season recorded cyclone was Cyclone Innes in 1973 and the latest was Cyclone Herbie in Western Australia in May 1988. The average number of cyclones per year is 10 of which six cross the Australian coast. The highest number in one year was 16 in 1963. Cyclones cross the coast most frequently between Onslow and Cape Leveque in WA and between Mossman and Maryborough, Qld. Tropical Cyclones do less damage in Australia (compared to other countries) because coastlines are often sparsely populated.
  
  
• John wrote about Cyclone Trixie which happened in February 1975. He was living in Dampier, he was working for Hammersley. Construction in the town had been to Cyclone standards, partially due to the managing engineer of Hammersley visiting Darwin to inspect what had happened after Cyclone Tracey where the city was smashed. The maximum recoded wind speed was 246km/hour, yet very little damage was done. He and his family hid in the bathroom in the centre of their house.

• Rocks in Rockhampton rang in to talk about stem cell donation. Every 28 minutes in Australia someone gets diagnosed with Blood Cancer. Many of these people require a Bone Marrow Transplant. The Red Cross Blood operations used to be the only places to be able to register. Now cheek swabs are being used to register, making it more accessible to join the register.

StemCellDonors.org.au is where people can register, if you are 18-35.

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• Bob from Flaxley, who talked about not having had rain in South Australia for 12 months. They are desparate for hay and so are getting it delivered from Gippsland, Victoria to the Adelaide Hills, Rotary are donating them, costing three trucks of 32 bales at $110 per bale. They are calling out for donations to Rotary Australia World Community Service, Project 42/2024/25. Donate here.

• Wayne rang from Belladonia Road House heading to Shepparton for the 20th GT Falcon Nationals. He was in a group of eight cars from Perth, in a 1972 XA, yellow fire colour.

Listen to the podcast episode here.

Disclaimer: Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara or the “Australia All Over Show.” This weekly review is an attempt to share the wonderful stories that Ian broadcasts each week and add value to what is a smorgasbord of great insights.