© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Nine decades of memories

In recent times I've taken the opportunity to sit down with some nonagenarians - that's people aged in their 90s - to hear a sampling of their recollections. What follows is a selection shared by Leonie Leben and Ken Watt, who grew up in Merewether and Cooks Hill, respectively. Leonie Leben. Photo by Greg Ray Leonie Leben grew up in the Newcastle suburb of Merewether and was a schoolgirl during the years of World War 2. Her father, Leopold "Bob" Hay, spent most of his working life on Newcastle Harbour, on dredges and tugs operated by…

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The 1926 Aberdeen rail smash and the heroine who saved a tenor

It was June 10, 1926, and the Brisbane Limited train was on its way from Sydney to Wallangarra with 143 passengers aboard. Among the passengers was a member of Australia's federal parliament and a number of members of the cast of a J.C. Williamson touring production of Katja the Dancer. Aberdeen Station, in the days following the accident The steel bridge over the Hunter River at Aberdeen At about 9.50pm the train, with eight carriages hauled by two engines - a heavy NN type and an AD class in front - had just passed Aberdeen station…

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Off the rails at Woodville Junction: a vintage photo essay on a railway mishap

As a newspaper reporter, I often had the experience of spending time covering a story, only to have it never appear in print or, even worse perhaps, see it cut to a brief on a page deep inside the next day's edition. Even though I disliked this, I had to admit that our staff photographers suffered the problem to a far greater degree than most reporters. The photographers would be sent racing at a moment's notice to some event that seemed to hold promise for the news pages, returning later with a comprehensive set of shots…

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