St Johns Wood Recollections
There are some facinating stories of people who lived in St Johns Wood.
Please select from the list of people for whom interviews have been conducted and transcribed by our Historical group and discover what life in "The Woods" was like in the "Olden Days".
Do you know someone that lived in St Johns Wood in the early days? Perhaps you or a grandchild could conduct an interview and send it in for publishing? See bottom of page for details and help build the story!
Please select from the list of people for whom interviews have been conducted and transcribed by our Historical group and discover what life in "The Woods" was like in the "Olden Days".
Do you know someone that lived in St Johns Wood in the early days? Perhaps you or a grandchild could conduct an interview and send it in for publishing? See bottom of page for details and help build the story!
"We were bound together by the smallness of the suburb, the shared experiences of the flooded bridge and the Saturday nights on the canvas seats of the Ambassador." "There was a deep hole in the creek upstream from the bridge near the "With fire in her belly she became a force to be reckoned with as Ashgrove’s "Ravaged by drought once more, Bob and Pat sold up and moved to Brisbane in 1964, buying a home at St John’s Wood and a milk run." "We thought it different, it was very countrified.... Not many people knew about this area. We thought it was the best spot in Brisbane. We could not think of "My parents ran the shop at 31 St. John’s Avenue for many years...I have fond memories of the children coming in with small amounts of pocket money (anything from 1 penny to 3 pence) to eagerly choose a selections of sweets from the large glass fronted counter. "...Walking home from school always started by going through the 'opening' in the ridge near the south west corner of the school grounds, then down the gravelly hill beside Waterworks Road, then down the deeply creviced track to the bridge at the bottom of the hill. Sometimes we would stop at Hinton's Store in Royal Parade to buy a treat for the journey home..." "Imagine seven family members having to share one outback loo, situated at the end of a long...winding, brick path! Often one would arrive hurriedly at the door, only to find it already occupied. And not always by a fellow human being!!" "Every house seemed to have a home-made trolley and with the Woods streets being steep and most yards having a slope, death-defying stunts were the order of the day." "The children were told there were crocodiles in the creek and not to go near it until an adult checked it first!" "Playing with my brothers and friends in the gutter, outside 23 Gresham Street, with our paper and balsa boats and Dinky cars. We were always waiting for the next wave of water from someone’s sink or bath. No sewers in those days, but we never seemed to catch any infectious diseases or get sick either." "Before “Greenlanes” swimming pool was built, we used to swim in the creek down "They were all canvas seats and on one level, it was quite good to have that picture show, just so handy there and everyone in the neighbourhood would be down there on a Saturday night. Then with the Hinton’s shop being there, you could always race out to get your jaffas and ice-creams at interval." "The brick house at the corner of Laird and Piddington Streets... A feature of the front corner of their allotment was a magnificent "when you live in St. John’s Wood, you live in “God’s own country”. And having good neighbours was wonderful." |
"The area had a country feel about it and people talked with each other and were friendly. People were willing to help their neighbours in need. That is the Australian way of life. There was also a lot of wonderful wildlife in the area. "There was no sewerage and everyone had a thunder box in the back yard along with a choko vine, macadamia nut tree, and a chook yard. The fences were all closed timber palings with a gap in them, so neighbours could visit each other." "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..." "All food was delivered to the house, milk, meat, groceries, bread as shops were located out of the Woods. Mum was a keen gardener growing vegies and beautiful flowers." "When they first arrived in St. John’s Wood, there was no gas to the suburb, only "...the garbage man collected their bin from inside the yard and carried it to the truck in the street, and mail was delivered daily by the postman on bicycle, with a blow of his whistle. Milk was delivered in glass bottles each morning and the money and empty bottles were left out on the door step." "...looking for land, they then drove into The Woods and knew this is where we wanted to live. Surrounded on three sides by the creek and on the other side by the hill, it was ideal. Their initial thought of St. John’s Wood was that it was new, clean, had no through traffic. No noise, no nothing...And we found the Woods, before the millionaires did!" “Cooling breezes, rustling trees, twittering birds and flutterbys jostle my eyes. Children scamper, dogs romps as skateboards fly. Ginger cat and tawny frogmouths watch. "We made home-made canoes from iron roofing, timber and tar. Then sail them down "On the east side of their house on the adjacent allotment, they had garden beds and in the rear there was a chicken run on one side and a duck run on the other. During the war there was an in-ground air-raid shelter between the two runs." |
"The footbridge to the Bowls club and sporting fields was originally stepping stones across the creek. Then the wooden bridge was built, then destroyed by flood, rebuilt using steel girders, the next flood bent the bridge. They bought in a crane to lift the bridge with the bow pointing upstream, they then repositioned it. Known locally as the “Banana Bridge”." "Where the child minding centre is now, the theatre was there. It was a very dilapidated place...When we got down there it was a cement floor and canvas deck chairs. All these people were bringing blankets, cushions and goodness knows what. We were just bringing ourselves to the pictures and we discovered that that’s the way that they saw the pictures down there." "Mum caught the bus in Laird Street to go to town... She always allowed an extra ten minutes to reach the bus stop to allow time to have a chat with neighbours who might be out in their gardens... Returning home, she'd get out of the bus at the Piddington Street stop. It...offered an opportunity to speak to a different set of neighbours." "May...had made her name as a stalwart and ultimately Patron of the Ashgrove Ladies "We would catch tadpoles in the gutters. Then we would put them in bottles and watch them grow into frogs. We would make balls out of the clay. I remember that soft squishy feeling of the clay in my hands. We’d bake them in the sun and "Speaking of backyards, there were backyard dunnies present in every yard; not a pleasant smell, and the disposal of rubbish was by burning it in your backyard. How things have changed." Mum and Dad observed small groups of Indigenous peoples crouched over an open fire in our backyard, having come down from the hills of the 'Taylor Range’. Pioneer builder of St. John's Wood. He was different. He was creative with his designs, on the lookout for something different. He upheld a high standard for himself as a builder. |
Conduct your own interview
Please use the file below as a guide to conducting the interview. Record the interview on a smart phone or tablet and then transcribe the words into the document.
Then send it to us for publishing. Got a photo? The story will present better with a photograph of the person being interviewed. Thanks for building the story of early St Johns Wood!
Then send it to us for publishing. Got a photo? The story will present better with a photograph of the person being interviewed. Thanks for building the story of early St Johns Wood!
| st._johns_wood_local_oral_history-guide_for_interviewers.doc |
