© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Read more about the article Brave miners re-opened a crippled pit
Miners with breathing apparatus working on the re-opening of Aberdare Central colliery on July 1, 1944.

Brave miners re-opened a crippled pit

When Aberdare Central colliery caught fire in July 1942, in the darkest days of Australia’s wartime struggle, 550 miners instantly lost their jobs and the nation was deprived of about 1800 tonnes a day of vital coal. Experts were sure the mine, near Kitchener in the Hunter Valley of NSW, was finished, but mine manager Fred Hemmingway disagreed, asserting that he could beat the fire and get the mine re-opened. A highly experienced miner in his own right, Mr Hemmingway rejected repeated negative reports and eventually got permission to make his attempt. It was a bold…

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Read more about the article Nudes, beer and pasta in 1960s Newcastle
Copy of a Goya nude in a Cessnock Hotel, February 1962. Photo by Ron Morrison

Nudes, beer and pasta in 1960s Newcastle

In the 1960s a nude picture on the wall of your pub or restaurant might have caused strife with the authorities: unless of course it was a copy of a nude by an old master, which is a different thing altogether. In a Cessnock pub, for example, a local artist daubed a copy of Goya's Nude Maja for the edification and titillation of Coalfields drinkers. I don't know which pub was so gorgeously adorned, nor the name of the copyist, nor the fate of the copy. Here's a link to the original, so you can judge…

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Read more about the article A pleasant personal coincidence
My father on exercise with RAEME at Gan Gan, Port Stephens, in 1960.

A pleasant personal coincidence

WHEN my Dad got called up for National Service he ended up in a section with two other blokes named Geoff. The sergeant didn't like that. It was inconvenient having men with the same names. So one Geoff got to keep his name and other two were renamed on the spot by the sergeant. My Dad's name became "Sam" or "Sammy". Funny how the name stuck. Years later when I met blokes who been in the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RAEME) with Dad they honestly believed his name was Sam. Dad in uniform at…

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