ST. JOHN’S WOOD MEMORIES
Lois McDonald
What year did you move into the Woods?
I moved into the Woods with my husband Ken, in 1979. After looking at a couple of houses in Ashgrove and then coming across this wonderful house, we decided that the price of $40,000 was viable and we bought 73 Royal Parade, St. John’s Wood.
What do you remember about the local area in the first years you moved into the Woods?
Since attending Brownies and Girl Guides at the St. John’s Wood Girl Guide hut in the 1960’s, I always thought that when I grew up and needed a home, I would buy one in the Woods. So from an early age, I was always attached to the leafiness of the suburb and dreamed of living here. The area had a distinct separation from the rest of Ashgrove and had a ‘little village’ atmosphere about it.
Who made up your family in St. John’s Wood?
The family in 1979 consisted of Ken and I. Our daughter, Pippa, was born in 1982. The closeness of the local Ashgrove State School (also my old school), the nearness of high schools, both at The Gap, (my old high school), Kelvin Grove and (the then) Newmarket high school. The ease of access to public transport, sporting fields, and a mix of older and younger residents in the area, as well as a fondness for the area was the reason for deciding to raise our family here.
Where did you go to do your shopping and how would you get there?
I would shop at Coles, Woolworths and the fruit shop at Stewart Road or the small supermarket, Latu’s, at West Ashgrove. In the earlier days of living here we bought our meat from the friendly butcher, Alex Lancaster, at the bottom of the hill. We would fill our car with petrol from the Mobil petrol station at Chandler’s Corner. I always used a car to go shopping.
Where did you go in the local area for family entertainment and recreation?
For family entertainment and recreation, we would take Pippa to the park across the road from us. Ken and I played squash at the squash courts on the corner of Gresham Street and Royal Parade. Ken and I went to the drive-in movies out at Settlement Road, both before and after we were married. Both sets of parents lived in Ashgrove. Ken’s parents lived in Amarina Avenue and mine in Kinkade Avenue. So they were always being visited by us or visiting us at our home.
Favourite memory of St. John’s Wood?
My favourite memory was probably buying our house in a suburb I had known and loved all my life. Time spent renovating the house and turning it into a home that I hope our daughter will love and hopefully live in eventually and raise her family in due course.
Describe the natural environment and how it differs from today?
I don’t think that the environment has changed too much here in the Woods. I think that we are now more aware of our environment and actually doing something to help the creek revive itself, by weeding out all the noxious weeds, planting more native trees and shrubs. Taking advantage of the Clean Up Australia Day to get the locals out into the parks and scouring the creek banks for rubbish washed down from up stream. Less people seem to be throwing their garden rubbish and building rubble onto the creek banks, or even worse, down into the creek itself.
Were there many challenges or difficulties involved in living in St. John’s Wood?
Arriving here in 1979, we heard about Mr and Mrs Tracey’s (who lived at 94 Royal Parade) battle with the 1974 floods and the subsequent washing away of their car, with Mr Tracey still in it, but he was quickly rescued by a helpful neighbour. The water came to the top of the kerb in our case, but unfortunately the four houses across the road had it above their floorboards. Luckily for Ken and I, the floods that have occurred were not of such severity.
Is there anything else you would like to mention?
As a child, I can remember going to the pictures in the Ambassador Theatre. Attending award nights at the theatre for my brother’s soccer team and buying lollies from the shop attached to the theatre on the way to Brownies. Going to the tennis courts, were my parents played tennis before the courts were removed. I would also like to add that apart from attending Brownies and Girl Guides in the Woods, several of my school friends and classmates, from both Primary and Secondary school lived in St. John’s Wood. Surnames like Levitt, MacArthur, Finlayson, Tweedale, Hanton, Rogers, Burdette, Freeman and Hope were all families that I knew had children around my age. So consequently, at primary school age, visits for birthday parties for friends were a common occurrence in the Woods.
Also, friends of my parents from the West Ashgrove Methodist Church congregation and choir, had musical evenings in our and their homes. Mr. and Mrs. Hansen from Laird Street were particularly good at singing, playing the piano and reciting bother serious and comedic poems. The Byrnes family all attended the church and one of their children was in my Sunday School class. So my love of the Woods goes back to being a toddler in a pram to a 59 year old, still wanting to live here for the rest of my life. I once heard a lady friend of my Mother’s, who lived in the Woods, say “You came into the Woods in a bridal carriage and went out in a hearse”, meaning that it was such a wonderful place to live that most brides and grooms never want to leave.
I moved into the Woods with my husband Ken, in 1979. After looking at a couple of houses in Ashgrove and then coming across this wonderful house, we decided that the price of $40,000 was viable and we bought 73 Royal Parade, St. John’s Wood.
What do you remember about the local area in the first years you moved into the Woods?
Since attending Brownies and Girl Guides at the St. John’s Wood Girl Guide hut in the 1960’s, I always thought that when I grew up and needed a home, I would buy one in the Woods. So from an early age, I was always attached to the leafiness of the suburb and dreamed of living here. The area had a distinct separation from the rest of Ashgrove and had a ‘little village’ atmosphere about it.
Who made up your family in St. John’s Wood?
The family in 1979 consisted of Ken and I. Our daughter, Pippa, was born in 1982. The closeness of the local Ashgrove State School (also my old school), the nearness of high schools, both at The Gap, (my old high school), Kelvin Grove and (the then) Newmarket high school. The ease of access to public transport, sporting fields, and a mix of older and younger residents in the area, as well as a fondness for the area was the reason for deciding to raise our family here.
Where did you go to do your shopping and how would you get there?
I would shop at Coles, Woolworths and the fruit shop at Stewart Road or the small supermarket, Latu’s, at West Ashgrove. In the earlier days of living here we bought our meat from the friendly butcher, Alex Lancaster, at the bottom of the hill. We would fill our car with petrol from the Mobil petrol station at Chandler’s Corner. I always used a car to go shopping.
Where did you go in the local area for family entertainment and recreation?
For family entertainment and recreation, we would take Pippa to the park across the road from us. Ken and I played squash at the squash courts on the corner of Gresham Street and Royal Parade. Ken and I went to the drive-in movies out at Settlement Road, both before and after we were married. Both sets of parents lived in Ashgrove. Ken’s parents lived in Amarina Avenue and mine in Kinkade Avenue. So they were always being visited by us or visiting us at our home.
Favourite memory of St. John’s Wood?
My favourite memory was probably buying our house in a suburb I had known and loved all my life. Time spent renovating the house and turning it into a home that I hope our daughter will love and hopefully live in eventually and raise her family in due course.
Describe the natural environment and how it differs from today?
I don’t think that the environment has changed too much here in the Woods. I think that we are now more aware of our environment and actually doing something to help the creek revive itself, by weeding out all the noxious weeds, planting more native trees and shrubs. Taking advantage of the Clean Up Australia Day to get the locals out into the parks and scouring the creek banks for rubbish washed down from up stream. Less people seem to be throwing their garden rubbish and building rubble onto the creek banks, or even worse, down into the creek itself.
Were there many challenges or difficulties involved in living in St. John’s Wood?
Arriving here in 1979, we heard about Mr and Mrs Tracey’s (who lived at 94 Royal Parade) battle with the 1974 floods and the subsequent washing away of their car, with Mr Tracey still in it, but he was quickly rescued by a helpful neighbour. The water came to the top of the kerb in our case, but unfortunately the four houses across the road had it above their floorboards. Luckily for Ken and I, the floods that have occurred were not of such severity.
Is there anything else you would like to mention?
As a child, I can remember going to the pictures in the Ambassador Theatre. Attending award nights at the theatre for my brother’s soccer team and buying lollies from the shop attached to the theatre on the way to Brownies. Going to the tennis courts, were my parents played tennis before the courts were removed. I would also like to add that apart from attending Brownies and Girl Guides in the Woods, several of my school friends and classmates, from both Primary and Secondary school lived in St. John’s Wood. Surnames like Levitt, MacArthur, Finlayson, Tweedale, Hanton, Rogers, Burdette, Freeman and Hope were all families that I knew had children around my age. So consequently, at primary school age, visits for birthday parties for friends were a common occurrence in the Woods.
Also, friends of my parents from the West Ashgrove Methodist Church congregation and choir, had musical evenings in our and their homes. Mr. and Mrs. Hansen from Laird Street were particularly good at singing, playing the piano and reciting bother serious and comedic poems. The Byrnes family all attended the church and one of their children was in my Sunday School class. So my love of the Woods goes back to being a toddler in a pram to a 59 year old, still wanting to live here for the rest of my life. I once heard a lady friend of my Mother’s, who lived in the Woods, say “You came into the Woods in a bridal carriage and went out in a hearse”, meaning that it was such a wonderful place to live that most brides and grooms never want to leave.
