Peter Barter Nostalgic Memories circa 1956 - 1962
I was born and bred in the slums of North Balwyn, living south of Doncaster Road, but loved it as a place to grow up and go to school. I spent forms 1 – 5 at BHS and finally form 6 at Melbourne High School (MHS). My memories of these schools are like chalk and cheese. Melbourne High was elite, academic and conformist but educationally excellent. BHS, however, was ‘my school’ where life was fun (sometimes a bit extreme), I had lots of friends, there was a sense of community and academically reasonable for its time.
Transport to MHS was by tram/bus/train, however, in North Balwyn I rode everywhere by bike. I remember the bike sheds housing hundreds of bikes. All the racks were filled by the time I arrived at school at one minute to 9:00am so my bike just lay on the ground. After school in summer, when it was really hot, we would ride our bikes down to the ‘old’ Burke Rd Bridge and go for a swim in the Yarra River. You wouldn’t do that today!!
Life at BHS was full of fun and colourful times. I recall the big group of boys that played ‘keepings off’ at lunch time. Going into afternoon classes sweaty, smelly and uniforms in complete disarray. End to end kick to kick footy at lunchtime was great in winter and had the same result. What those poor afternoon teachers had to put up with!! School footy (and sports) bus trips were always pretty boisterous affairs, particularly after a wet and muddy game.
The yard at school was a ‘paddock’ and the creek was the safe haven for the smokers and truants. (I was a non-smoker!!) Remember that one big old gum tree?
In this era the Olympics had just passed, so everything was still very sporty. School sports were always a fun excursion with trips to Olympic Park and the swimming pool. Warrick Selvey (Australian discus Olympian) organized the shelter shed into a much enjoyed weights room.
One of the big advantages BHS had over MHS was that it had girls, even though the teaching staff tried to keep them separated most of the time. Occasionally having to sit next to a girl was metered out as punishment! Strange?! Later I was placed next to Lindsey Cook….poor Cookie. Ballroom dancing lessons were all the thing at St Silas Hall after school. Depending on who you could manipulate to dance with, it was either torture or bliss!
This was also the era of Rockers and Jazzers, Bodgies and Widgies. In latter years Friday/Saturday night dances were the teenage havens. I remember Gasworks, Q Club, Jazz Hutt, Opus, Keyboard and all the cute girls I just missed out on!! Then there were haircuts: crew cuts, flat tops, brush backs, long side burns, Brylcream, but of course the Beatles changed all that to long, shaggy hair, ending the Elvis slick greasy hair era.
Going to school in North Balwyn meant you could go around to friends’ places after school. My best friend at school, Don Wilson, and his Dad made the best billy carts in town. After school we would race down Elliott Ave, over Tivey Pde to Macleay Park at break neck speed, walk back up the hill and do it all over again. Once a year (can’t remember when) there was the formally organized Soap Box Derby down the closed off Balwyn Rd hill with starting ramps and prizes for the winners. It was always a great day! Sadly, Don passed away a few years ago. He was a wonderful friend and a true gentleman. I was privileged to attend his funeral.
The teaching staff had a wonderful array of characters and the students had their fair share of antagonists. It was colourful. Here are a few specials:
‘Daddio’ Dawkins – The saga of the ‘green apple eater’ was unbelievable but true. Everyday a new half eaten green apple core would mysteriously be sitting outside Daddio’s office door! Every assembly the concealed culprit and the gathered students were told by Mr Dawkins he was hot on the trail and the perpetrator would be caught and punished!! Daddio also loved kicking school bags down the locker rooms/halls. It was amazing how many got left in his way….
‘Snoop’ McCance – Every science lesson turned into an argument between big Bill and Snoop over the pronunciation of Bill Moran’s surname: ‘Moran’ or ‘Moron’. Snoop’s punishments were great: select any 2 eight digit numbers and multiply them by long multiplication until you got it correct. (Somehow Snoop could do these instantly in his head. He promised he would tell us how he did it when we left school, but he never did!).
‘Butch’ Higginson – What an array of detention techniques!
Frank Easterbrook – A lovely man! Monday woodwork was a joy. Tie your apron in a knot and play football between the benches then ask Mr Easterbrook if he could help straighten up the model you were making and had done nothing on, and of course you’d get a good grading!
‘Ma’ Ingham – The classic girdle hitcher at form assemblies.
‘Pop’ Coghlan – He’d rush into class late and stick his burning pipe into his sports coat jacket.
‘Millie’ Campbell – She wrote continuously in class in the smallest writing which went from one side of the blackboard to the other whilst mayhem reigned supreme behind her back.
‘Little Tommy’ Wise – He ran the gauntlet on Sue Jelbart’s top button of her summer school uniform. He always did it up and she always undid it or was it vice versa??
The best prank was the April Fool’s day one year when some naughty boys put plaster of paris into the domestic science flour bin. The cakes didn’t turn out too well that day!! However, the investigations were long and tortuous.
The school (BHS) has obviously come a long way since those young heady days, but that’s progress. For me attending BHS and living in Nth Balwyn was a passage of my life on which I look back on with fondness, nostalgia and no regrets.
(Click on this link to see what Peter did after Balwyn High School)
Transport to MHS was by tram/bus/train, however, in North Balwyn I rode everywhere by bike. I remember the bike sheds housing hundreds of bikes. All the racks were filled by the time I arrived at school at one minute to 9:00am so my bike just lay on the ground. After school in summer, when it was really hot, we would ride our bikes down to the ‘old’ Burke Rd Bridge and go for a swim in the Yarra River. You wouldn’t do that today!!
Life at BHS was full of fun and colourful times. I recall the big group of boys that played ‘keepings off’ at lunch time. Going into afternoon classes sweaty, smelly and uniforms in complete disarray. End to end kick to kick footy at lunchtime was great in winter and had the same result. What those poor afternoon teachers had to put up with!! School footy (and sports) bus trips were always pretty boisterous affairs, particularly after a wet and muddy game.
The yard at school was a ‘paddock’ and the creek was the safe haven for the smokers and truants. (I was a non-smoker!!) Remember that one big old gum tree?
In this era the Olympics had just passed, so everything was still very sporty. School sports were always a fun excursion with trips to Olympic Park and the swimming pool. Warrick Selvey (Australian discus Olympian) organized the shelter shed into a much enjoyed weights room.
One of the big advantages BHS had over MHS was that it had girls, even though the teaching staff tried to keep them separated most of the time. Occasionally having to sit next to a girl was metered out as punishment! Strange?! Later I was placed next to Lindsey Cook….poor Cookie. Ballroom dancing lessons were all the thing at St Silas Hall after school. Depending on who you could manipulate to dance with, it was either torture or bliss!
This was also the era of Rockers and Jazzers, Bodgies and Widgies. In latter years Friday/Saturday night dances were the teenage havens. I remember Gasworks, Q Club, Jazz Hutt, Opus, Keyboard and all the cute girls I just missed out on!! Then there were haircuts: crew cuts, flat tops, brush backs, long side burns, Brylcream, but of course the Beatles changed all that to long, shaggy hair, ending the Elvis slick greasy hair era.
Going to school in North Balwyn meant you could go around to friends’ places after school. My best friend at school, Don Wilson, and his Dad made the best billy carts in town. After school we would race down Elliott Ave, over Tivey Pde to Macleay Park at break neck speed, walk back up the hill and do it all over again. Once a year (can’t remember when) there was the formally organized Soap Box Derby down the closed off Balwyn Rd hill with starting ramps and prizes for the winners. It was always a great day! Sadly, Don passed away a few years ago. He was a wonderful friend and a true gentleman. I was privileged to attend his funeral.
The teaching staff had a wonderful array of characters and the students had their fair share of antagonists. It was colourful. Here are a few specials:
‘Daddio’ Dawkins – The saga of the ‘green apple eater’ was unbelievable but true. Everyday a new half eaten green apple core would mysteriously be sitting outside Daddio’s office door! Every assembly the concealed culprit and the gathered students were told by Mr Dawkins he was hot on the trail and the perpetrator would be caught and punished!! Daddio also loved kicking school bags down the locker rooms/halls. It was amazing how many got left in his way….
‘Snoop’ McCance – Every science lesson turned into an argument between big Bill and Snoop over the pronunciation of Bill Moran’s surname: ‘Moran’ or ‘Moron’. Snoop’s punishments were great: select any 2 eight digit numbers and multiply them by long multiplication until you got it correct. (Somehow Snoop could do these instantly in his head. He promised he would tell us how he did it when we left school, but he never did!).
‘Butch’ Higginson – What an array of detention techniques!
Frank Easterbrook – A lovely man! Monday woodwork was a joy. Tie your apron in a knot and play football between the benches then ask Mr Easterbrook if he could help straighten up the model you were making and had done nothing on, and of course you’d get a good grading!
‘Ma’ Ingham – The classic girdle hitcher at form assemblies.
‘Pop’ Coghlan – He’d rush into class late and stick his burning pipe into his sports coat jacket.
‘Millie’ Campbell – She wrote continuously in class in the smallest writing which went from one side of the blackboard to the other whilst mayhem reigned supreme behind her back.
‘Little Tommy’ Wise – He ran the gauntlet on Sue Jelbart’s top button of her summer school uniform. He always did it up and she always undid it or was it vice versa??
The best prank was the April Fool’s day one year when some naughty boys put plaster of paris into the domestic science flour bin. The cakes didn’t turn out too well that day!! However, the investigations were long and tortuous.
The school (BHS) has obviously come a long way since those young heady days, but that’s progress. For me attending BHS and living in Nth Balwyn was a passage of my life on which I look back on with fondness, nostalgia and no regrets.
(Click on this link to see what Peter did after Balwyn High School)
