Last week on the ABC 1233 Breakfast show Aaron Kearney asked people to complete this sentence “ You knew you grew up in Newcastle & the Hunter “. This prompted many listeners to contact the station with many nostalgic memories. I was one of those listeners who tweeted in a few memories.
Reminiscing about the past has inspired me to write this blog titled Maitland an incomplete history part1, as seen through the eyes of a small boy in the 1960’s & early 70’s .
Maitland‘s shopping area in the 1960s was High Street & its side streets a bustling place where farmers could purchase all their farm needs.
Monday was the day most farmers converged on Maitland. Monday was sale day! Not your Harvey Norman sale day but cattle sale day. Early in the morning trucks with rickety wood crates would roll in to unload stock collected from around the district, trucks with models such as Dodge, Commer & Bedford. The Bedford which had a mechanical hand to indicate that the truck was turning. Maitland Saleyard which was located straight across the road from Maitland Hospital. It was here an auctioneer perched high on a timber catwalk sold pens of Hereford & Shorthorn cattle with the Auctioneers eying the crowd of buyers & onlookers, who would lean on the splintered old grey timber rail, here he looked for a raised finger or a nod that would send the price racing. In seconds the auctioneer would go from “who’ll give me $200, come on buyers start me off, ok 150, I’m not a charity sir but I’ll go with you “ the auctioneer would joke “160, 170, 180, 190, 200, to the man in blue shirt 220 against you sir,230, 230 once. 230 twice, 230 three times” & with the bang of a stick would the auctioneer would yell” sold!”
After the sale farmers would head to a hotel within Maitland to wash down the saleyard dust & to catch up on the gossip of the week. There were many Hotels in Maitland all with shiny tile walls & gleaming mirrors that advertised the popular beers of the day. Those not heading for a hotel drove back across the Long Bridge, past the gleaming new Holden’s in the Young & Greens showroom, & down High street to replenish Farm supplies.
If I was with my dad we would visit various shops depending on what was needed for the farm that week. High on the lists of favourites was Stockers at the bottom end of High Street. Here were the lustrous red Massey Ferguson tractors, the modern tractor that replaced the grey Fergie, here a young farm boy would sit on the shiny vinyl seat, hands tightly griping the steering wheel, pretend tractor noise at full throttle & plough 100’s of acres while his dad purchased spare parts. Stockers were also agent for Neptune petrol a brand now long gone. Across the road from Stockers was the Hunter Valley Bus company with a fleet of aging double-decker buses. Often a mechanic in greasy blue overalls would be observed working in the yard trying to breathe life back into a bus.
At the top end of High street was Jack Goodman’s pump shop. I think this was the name of the shop because as I remember it seemed to be a cross between a showroom, warehouse & work shop. On the bare wooden floor boards sat Harland & Ajax Irrigation Pumps along with milking machines & various irrigation fittings that were either galvanised or the modern shiny aluminium. On the pale green walls hung an array black V belts all ready to couple a motor & pump. Mr Goodman was a jovial man always dress in his work cloths, a man who smelt of pump packing & beer. Judging by the beer bottles in his work area I am sure he was the kind of man who enjoyed a beer whilst he worked. It seems ironic that after his retirement the shop that smelt of grease, rubber, timber packing & where farmer had come for their irrigation & milking equipment was turned into a fabric shop.
Reminiscing about the past has inspired me to write this blog titled Maitland an incomplete history part1, as seen through the eyes of a small boy in the 1960’s & early 70’s .
Maitland‘s shopping area in the 1960s was High Street & its side streets a bustling place where farmers could purchase all their farm needs.
Monday was the day most farmers converged on Maitland. Monday was sale day! Not your Harvey Norman sale day but cattle sale day. Early in the morning trucks with rickety wood crates would roll in to unload stock collected from around the district, trucks with models such as Dodge, Commer & Bedford. The Bedford which had a mechanical hand to indicate that the truck was turning. Maitland Saleyard which was located straight across the road from Maitland Hospital. It was here an auctioneer perched high on a timber catwalk sold pens of Hereford & Shorthorn cattle with the Auctioneers eying the crowd of buyers & onlookers, who would lean on the splintered old grey timber rail, here he looked for a raised finger or a nod that would send the price racing. In seconds the auctioneer would go from “who’ll give me $200, come on buyers start me off, ok 150, I’m not a charity sir but I’ll go with you “ the auctioneer would joke “160, 170, 180, 190, 200, to the man in blue shirt 220 against you sir,230, 230 once. 230 twice, 230 three times” & with the bang of a stick would the auctioneer would yell” sold!”
After the sale farmers would head to a hotel within Maitland to wash down the saleyard dust & to catch up on the gossip of the week. There were many Hotels in Maitland all with shiny tile walls & gleaming mirrors that advertised the popular beers of the day. Those not heading for a hotel drove back across the Long Bridge, past the gleaming new Holden’s in the Young & Greens showroom, & down High street to replenish Farm supplies.
If I was with my dad we would visit various shops depending on what was needed for the farm that week. High on the lists of favourites was Stockers at the bottom end of High Street. Here were the lustrous red Massey Ferguson tractors, the modern tractor that replaced the grey Fergie, here a young farm boy would sit on the shiny vinyl seat, hands tightly griping the steering wheel, pretend tractor noise at full throttle & plough 100’s of acres while his dad purchased spare parts. Stockers were also agent for Neptune petrol a brand now long gone. Across the road from Stockers was the Hunter Valley Bus company with a fleet of aging double-decker buses. Often a mechanic in greasy blue overalls would be observed working in the yard trying to breathe life back into a bus.
At the top end of High street was Jack Goodman’s pump shop. I think this was the name of the shop because as I remember it seemed to be a cross between a showroom, warehouse & work shop. On the bare wooden floor boards sat Harland & Ajax Irrigation Pumps along with milking machines & various irrigation fittings that were either galvanised or the modern shiny aluminium. On the pale green walls hung an array black V belts all ready to couple a motor & pump. Mr Goodman was a jovial man always dress in his work cloths, a man who smelt of pump packing & beer. Judging by the beer bottles in his work area I am sure he was the kind of man who enjoyed a beer whilst he worked. It seems ironic that after his retirement the shop that smelt of grease, rubber, timber packing & where farmer had come for their irrigation & milking equipment was turned into a fabric shop.
Next blog & Elgin & Church Streets To be cont.
