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The South Eastern Times : April 1st 2014
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The South Eastern Times, Tuesday, April 1, 2014 - 11 www.thesoutheasterntimes.com.au NEWS 11 ALMOST seven decades have passed since the family of retired Millicent nurse Tina Mowbray (nee Hemmings) built a simple house near the foreshore of Beachport. Ms Mowbray, who retired from Millicent and District Hospital in December, reflected about her childhood at the seaside. "My memories of early Beachport hold a special place in my heart," Ms Mowbray said. Known as 'The Cottage', the Hemmings home is one of the oldest dwellings along Beach Road. "In 1945, my widowed mother and I moved next door the 'Seaview' homestead," she said. "It was owned by Elsie and Charles Willoughby ('Wilby') Chambers. "Harry Haines built the cottage for us. "We had a wood stove, cup- boards made from packing cases with a curtain across them, a chamber pot under the bed, kerosene lamps, a meat safe, a rain water tank for the house, a windmill for watering the lawns and an outside toilet." Ms Mowbray said people in her household ate fresh fish and vegetables from 'Wilby' Chambers nearly every day, as did the nearby Cameron family. "Our other supplies were sourced locally from Mr Pretty the butcher, Mr Backler at the general store, Mr and Mrs Hodge's haberdashery and general store, Mr Laird the baker, the Rivoli café built by Amy Evans and of course the Beachport Hotel," she said. "The lobster fish factory was generous in those days as they only sold the tails overseas. "The bodies with all the legs were dumped in the sea or given away in cartons or bags. "It was left to the children to extract all the cray meat. "The competition was to take the leg meat out without breaking the meat. "Martin Cameron and I still have this competition going." Another childhood recol- lection involved a different member of the Cameron family. She said Mrs Walker milked cows and it would be collected in billy cans. "One day Mary Weir (nee Cameron) and I decided to see who could swing the billy in a circle for the longest time," Ms Mowbray said. "Our billies touched and we lost all the milk. "We were in serious trouble from our mothers as the milk was only allotted by orders every second day and no shops sold milk." Ms Mowbray said life improved for Beachport resi- dents after Mr Edwards built an electricity plant. "It meant no more kerosene lamps, no more heating up the irons on the wood stove and we even had a toaster," she said. "Our house was the first in Beachport to be wired for 240 volts as Mr Edwards rented it for a while." In her youth, Beach Road was just a sandy track. "We would run down the dunes and up and over to the beach," she said. "It was protected and there was an old wreck on the fore- shore, which we played on for hours. "We learnt to swim to the reef and collected the colourful shells for our sandcastles. "As we grew older we swam to the landing and ran unim- peded along the sand to Glen's Point. "We also enjoyed seeing the fishing fleet being dragged from the sea for winter and strutted upright above high tide." Her early schooling was at Beachport Primary School. "At that time the Penguin Island lighthouse had a per- manent lighthouse keeper," she said. "We marvelled at the ex- army amphibious vehicles called 'ducks' which used to service the automated light house. "The 'ducks' would be driven along the beach then motor to the island." Fishing was a popular pas- time for Ms Mowbray and her friends and family. "A real adventure was to be driven to the beach known as the Five Mile by Don Green in his old Land Rover," she said. "When we arrived the children would gather the driftwood for the fire. "Then Mrs Gwen Green would hand us a net and a stocking filled with bait. "Off we would run to find a rocky hole and place the net on the sandy bottom with the baited stocking dangling above the net. "We stayed very still and the crays would crawl out, their claws became caught in the stocking and the knack was to net them quickly. "The adults never had a shortage of crayfish to cook." Childhood memories Millicent resident reflects on early Beachport life HAPPY TIMES: Jenny Stanberry (nee Cameron), Mary Weir (nee Cameron), Chrissie Cameron (deceased) and Tina Mowbray (nee Hemmings) on the old boat wreck on the front beach at Beachport in the late 1940s. As part of our continuing commitment to providing local dental care to the Limestone Coast, we are pleased to announce that Dr Tom Blazé (General Dentist) will be seeing patients at Robe and Kingston SE in our soon to be renovated clinics within the Kingston Soldiers Memorial Hospital and Robe Community Health Centre. As a result all aspects of dental treatment from dental implants, dentures, tooth whitening, crowns and bridges, fillings and emergency services will be on offer almost full time at the clinics. Dr Blazé was born and educated in Australia, completing his Bachelor of Dental Science (BDSc) at Melbourne University in 1969. Dr Blazé has accumulated more than 40 years of experience in practicing as a general dentist, and has worked extensively throughout Australia (and internationally) to help improve local dental health. Among other honors, Dr Blazé has held roles as a Consultant Dentist at Dandenong Hospital, and as a Demonstrator for the Advanced Dental Technician's course at Royal Melbourne Dental Hospital, and has even helped run a free dental service for Health Care patients in conjunction with the Knox City Council. He brings with him his experience, integrity, reliability, trust and confidentiality, and a passion for helping people, and is eagerly awaiting the proposed refurbishment of the Kingston Dental Surgery. This will dramatically shorten waiting times for appointments and will give patients piece of mind in the case of an emergency they can be seen quickly. Dr Blazé also treats children and the practice will participate in all government schemes aimed at reducing the cost of dental treatment such as the Child Dental Benefits Schedule, (CDBS) which offers up to $1000 in free dental treatment over 2 years to eligible patients. Department of Veterans Affairs, (DVA) gold card holders can also expect treatment with no out of pocket costs. New Dentist joining the team at Kingston & Robe Dental 644528 To book an appointment with Dr Blazé at Robe or Kingston SE, call 0427 989 666. Linda, Ashleigh and Megan THERE'S NOTHING LIKE TAKING STOCK OF THE RACES. STOCK AGENTS RACE DAY SUNDAY 6 APRIL 2014 Naracoorte Racecourse Gates open at 11am General admission $10 | Concession $5 For more information and bookings phone 08 8762 2271 or visit theracessa.com.au SUNDAY SESSION AT THE RACES 644633
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