COMMITTED RESIDENTS CREATE GOOSEBERRY HILL COMMUNITY CENTRE - 1984

By Marian Rolfe

During the middle 1970’s there had been a concerted effort by the community of Gooseberry Hill to have a preschool provided at the new Gooseberry Hill Primary School. This goal achieved, this same group of like minded people also sought to have a community building at Ledger Road Reserve to act as a playgroup venue.

In 1978 the Shire of Kalamunda erected a surplus demountable fibro building on the site as a temporary measure to test demand. An active Playgroup used the building every weekday. Multiple busy bees saw a verandah erected around the building and a barbecue area constructed inside a fenced off area. The Shire built a brick toilet block adjacent for the users of the Reserve. It is still there. Soon after, the large semi trailer caravan that served as the Infant Health Centre became permanent in the car park. Sister June Butcher saw almost every child in the community through its doors.

The community had by then established two active Cub packs and a Brownie group that used the building in the evenings. Social functions and fundraisers were held also in the building often in and around playgroup equipment. Following the success of Cubs and Brownies, the parent groups sought to have a Scout Troop and a Guide Company. By 1982 the groups had outgrown the facility and a community committee was formed to seek funding for the Gooseberry Hill Community Centre.

Chairman Norman Venus.

Committee Members Dr. Bruce Hamilton, Terry Rolfe, Ian Thrower, Marilyn Thrower, Mike Nelson, Bill Van Bronswyk, and Marian Rolfe.

The first Application was made to the Council in September 1982 and personal at home lobbying of the Councilors commenced with Stuart Kostera, John Suckling, John Campbell Claus, John Harper- Nelson, Hugh Sanderson, Peter Marjoram, Viv Robinson, Peter Willmott, John Reid, Chas Wright, Jim Winterhalden, and Vince Sala Tenna.

A folder was presented to all Councilors with the attached proposed drawing, floor plan, and question and answer format. These were also distributed to the local residents and parents of User groups.

With help by qualified community members a plan of the proposed building with finalized drawings was submitted with the application. A logo was designed by Lyn Hamilton and used on all documentation.

This was a period in time when ‘User Pays’ was first being promoted by the Shire, so the funding application was modeled with the Shire paying one third, the Department of Sport & Recreation - State Government one third and the Community one third. The approximate cost was $150,000. The community contribution could be in ‘real’ dollars or ‘in kind’ by qualified contractors. Such as site works donated by McKay Earthmoving , drafting of drawings & plans by Terry Patrick, plumbing by Ian Thrower, etc. Site layout and footings was conducted by Busy Bee with Shire supervision by Shire Building Inspector Neil Gaunt.

The final proposal to the Department of Sport & Recreation was a more detailed application with sections on population projections, community age range, financial details from User Groups, support by grading of application by the Shire etc. This application was extensive and was printed and manually collated in the offices of David Hallam and Associates with a very new photocopy service.

A fundraising program was established. The first Fundraising was a community raffle with $1 tickets and first prize of a Commodore 64 and a Video Cassette Recorder. Newsletters were produced by Marian Rolfe on a gestetner machine monthly with updates. There was also a ‘Buy a Brick’ promotion for individuals and businesses.

Another event was a Fancy Dress Ball held at Hartfield Park for over 400 people with ‘JT and the Jazzmen’ playing and a ‘Barbarella’s’ lingerie parade. Supper was served to all by caterers. A huge success and an excellent money raiser.

A community Fete was planned for 12 November and a committee established to oversee the multi facets of that event. A large storm the night before nearly wrecked that day with Terry Rolfe and Mal Roberts holding down wet canvas whilst camping overnight for security reasons. A great day dawned and it was a well attended event with many stalls- even on the partly constructed verandah of the new Centre.

In early 1984 a most successful Hundreds club was conducted and weekly prizes were most popular. The final prize being $1000 with the winners (Richard and Carol Gates) ultimately receiving 1000 in one dollar coins (released by the Australian Mint on 14th May) at the opening ceremony of the Gooseberry Hill Community Centre on 2nd June 1984. The opening was conducted by Peter Marjoram as Shire President, Jim Kelly as Shire Clerk, the Hon. Ian Thompson MLA Darling Range and the chairman of the Building Committee Norman Venus. The community had raised approximately $40,000 in ‘real’ dollars and over $10,000 ‘in kind’ dollars.

The building was a double brick construction with metal decking roof supported by steel trusses and purlins. The base was a reinforced concrete slab on a sand pad. The internal walls were single face brick as this was easy to maintain and provided better sound proofing for the separate areas. The high overhead windows provided both light and air and it had a separate external door for easy access to the large gravel car park.

The internal storeroom was secure for storage of groups small equipment and the large store had roller door access for trailers and large equipment. There was a small kitchen with an external fire pit area constructed in the following years by Bruce Hamilton and Terry Rolfe. The floor was made of a new product of a wood infused ceramic tiles supplied by Charlie Mitchell of GranWood Flooring. This required a seal to be applied every two years. The 12 foot high ceiling in the hall allowed for boisterous behaviors and was initially an aluminum strip ceiling. This being a request from the Shire Engineer Geoff Dutton for aesthetics. It did not last and was ultimately replaced.

In 1985 it was decided that a Management Committee structure would best suit the interests of the groups and the Shire. After much negotiation, the Gooseberry Hill Community Centre Management Committee was formed under section 218 of the Local Government Act with Terry Rolfe as its inaugural Chairman. This was a first for the Shire of Kalamunda and sought to enshrine the rights and responsibilities for user groups with equal representation on the Management Committee. The Shire had a representative- the Shire President and the community was also able to have a nominated representative. The GHCCMC met three monthly in the Committee room off the foyer. The room was used also by other committees of the groups in the building as well local craft groups and exhibitions.

The GHCCMC was awarded the cleaning contract and parents of Scouts and Guides were rostered to clean the Centre each week. This provided a monthly income to the GHCCMC (approx. $80 ) for future improvements. Marilyn Thrower was appointed Booking & Key Holder for outside bookings and administered the cleaning roster. Most people completed their duty about once a year. All equipment and supplies being provided.

The GHCC now hosted Cubs on Monday and Thursday evenings, Brownies on Tuesday, Guides on Wednesday, Scouts on Friday. There was Aerobics sessions two morning per week and an early class on Monday evening. Playgroup continued to use the old decaying demountable happily without the requirement to make the venue neutral for other groups.

The Infant Health Clinic was renamed Child Health Centre and Sister Butcher now had new rooms with a waiting room off the foyer, reliable air conditioning and there was an inside toilet. Other groups also hired the facility for social functions. It had a capacity of about 80 people for the hall and about 20 for the committee room.

The scout group continued to grow with many varied activities organized by Group Leader Gordon Lamb. These were camping in the bush of the Ledger Road Reserve and other areas such as Walyunga, abseiling at Statham Quarry, a semi permanent flying fox down onto Ledger Road Reserve, canoing on the Blackwood River and every other imaginable boyhood dream. The storage area quickly became too small.

Again as the children aged, a Venturer group (teenage boys and girls) was formed with much success. Their activities being largely conducted at events off-site.

Perhaps of most note is the strong link between all these interested community minded people who then progressed onto other community projects such as KADS Theatre, Ray Owen Sports Centre, School P & C Associations, Kalamunda Learning Centre and also the Kalamunda Shire Council as Councilors and staff. Marian Rolfe, John Blair, Leon English and Sue Blair being North Ward Councilors in the next twenty years. Quality Shire Staff were too numerous to mention by name.

The capacity of the Community to contribute should never be underestimated.

A copy of the initial folder, photos of construction and opening are also available.

Walliston Wanderers

By Bernard Arrantash

While Bernard Arrantash was a teacher at Walliston Primary School, he took groups of students on holiday camping safaris to WA’s Murchison Goldfields.

Although the participants were mostly students and parents of the Walliston School community, Bernard established and led Walliston Wanderers independently on his own initiative as a school holidays activity taking place in his own time. So Walliston Wanderers was not part of, but supplementary to, the formal educational programme of Walliston School.

Getting Started

The first Walliston Wanderers safari was in the May 1973 school holidays. Ten students were away for a week, travelling in two vehicles. They used hired camping equipment and traveled 1,736 kilometres, camping in a different location each night. The group discovered much about the region, about bush camping, about bush survival skills, about the Aboriginal culture, about the flora and fauna, and about teamwork. There were meetings along the way with people of the region, who told our group about their life and work.

Australia’s population is largely city based, suburban and coastal. So it is often outside the experience of our students to see the wide expanses of our inland region which account for most of our country’s land area. Walliston Wanderers broadened the understanding of “city kids” about our country’s vast and relatively empty interior.

The challenging adventure into that remote pastoral and mining region was successful and there was considerable interest in planning a second Walliston Wanderers trip for another group of Wallis ton students in the following year.

36 Safaris

And so began a feature of the life of Walliston School that was to continue until 2005, with a total of 36 week long Walliston Wanderers safaris. They were all undertaken in school holidays. A total of 800 Walliston students went on a Walliston Wanderers safari. Parents made up our convoys with their four-wheeldrive vehicles, typically eight or nine vehicles in later years. 171 different adults went on Walliston Wanderers, some of those adults many times.

For management and control on the move, the group operated a net of vehicle mounted UHF CB radios. There was a pre-planned vehicle seating arrangement for all passengers, so that they traveled in a different group and in a different vehicle each day. Similarly, tent groupings for the students were in a different mix for each night.

At each campsite the children collected firewood for the campfire, which was the focal point around which we gathered to prepare meals and enjoy the evening under the stars. Toasting marshmallows at the fire was a special treat. There were night games, through which the students built confidence in their new, remote environment. Spotlighting, using the vehicles and powerful, hand-held spotlights to see the nocturnal bush creatures, was especially popular.

Special Places and Experiences

Arrangements were put in place so that our group could visit places of particular interest, such as the gold battery at Paynes Find, the excellent museum at Yalgoo, the gold mining operation at The Island on Lake Austin (between Mount Magnet and Cue), the ghost town of Big Bell, a rare orbicular granite deposit on a remote sheep station, the ancient Wilgie Mia red ochre mine, and station homesteads north of Yalgoo and west of Mount Magnet.

Very occasionally we saw an echidna or a snake. More frequently seen were kangaroos, emus, and the great big bungarra lizards. We found nests of wedge tailed eagles. At the gnamma holes and wells we enjoyed the clouds of budgerigars and zebra finches.

We visited and explored Walga Rock, with its ancient rock art, and Milly Soak north of Cue. We often camped at Woolgerong Rock, further to the west. Further west again, we explored mud brick inn ruins from the bullock wagon era on the Sanford River, a tributary of the Murchison. On some trips we also visited Youanmi (a ghost town) and Sandstone (with its remarkable “London Bridge”), and the abandoned gold mine and settlement of Fields Find. Sometimes everyone had a ride on a sheep station mustering motorbike or horse. Sometimes sheep would be brought in to the shearing shed, so that the students could watch them being shorn. We visited the Dalgaranga Meteorite Crater.

We found the lonely bush grave of pioneer woman Jane Oliver, and heard about the privations of her lonely life. We explored Joker’s Tunnel, and learned about the shonky deal to convince buyers that it contained payable deposits of gold.

Before moving out on each new day, students were rostered to work with the drivers doing vehicle service checks. Oil, water and tyre checks were done and windscreens and interiors were cleaned. For showers we had pre-arranged visits to pastoral station shearers’ quarters.

Bush Policeman

There were consecutive trips when our convoy was joined by Yalgoo’s policeman. He was with us to support what we were doing. The students quickly warmed to him. Through his fine example, the children built the confidence to accept this policemen as their friend. An important lesson learned.

Finance

Each safari was self funding, with all participants contributing towards the cost of equipment, catering and fuel. Occasionally there was a student who was keen to go on Walliston Wanderers, but whose family could not afford the cost. There were generous donors who confidentially contributed, so that nobody missed out through lack of funds. Over the years, camping equipment was purchased. Other equipment including cooking gear and a purpose built food trailer were added to our inventory. Surplus unspent funds accumulated in our account.

Guest Participants from Overseas

We spent these accumulated funds over the years on air fares to bring overseas guests to share our Walliston Wanderers adventures with us. By the end we had done this five times, each time bringing two overseas student guests: in 1979 from UK, in 1991 from Malaysia, in 1997 from Solomon Islands, in 2002 from Mauritius, and in 2004 from Kenya.

Bicentennial

In 1988, to celebrate Australia’s Bicentennial, we chartered a plane to bring six special guests to meet us at a sheep station airstrip near Cue for an overnight camp with us. Expenses for the air charter were covered by a grant from Kalamunda Rotary, and a gift of aviation fuel from two Geraldton oil company agencies. The chosen guests were patients of Perth’s Princess Margaret Hospital. They all had serious health issues such as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and Down’s syndrome. Some were in wheelchairs. A nurse traveled in the plane to us with them, and the Walliston students all shared in welcoming and looking after their extra overnight guests. That was a happy and enriching occasion for everyone who was there. It gave a rare and exciting experience to the guests, and it taught our Walliston students about tolerance of, and empathy with peers who faced serious and different challenges in their lives.

A Unique Enterprise

For a WA State Primary School, Walliston Wanderers was a unique project:

• Unlike the traditional “School Camp”, Walliston Wanderers was a school vacation activity.

• Few primary school activities involve overnight stops at new locations every night.

• This project had a life extending over 33 years.

• Few primary school projects involve as many as 800 students.

• Few primary school projects involve the inclusion of overseas guests.

Change

To remain current and relevant over so many years, Walliston Wanderers had to evolve as society did. A major change observed over the years was in the students themselves. They became better informed in some ways, more sophisticated, bigger built and more mature twelve-year-olds. At the same time, however, they became “softer”, less resilient, and more reliant upon creature comforts. Interests, priorities and attitudes changed with the times. Walliston Wanderers accommodated those changes.

In later years, all participating students were issued with whistles, which they wore on a string around their necks. (See the yellow shirted student in the photo above.) If they feared they were lost or in danger, they had their whistle to summon help. Those whistles rarely needed to be used, but having them afforded the children feelings of added confidence as they explored the bush and the remote townships we visited.

Statistics

On Walliston Wanderers safaris, the average total distance traveled by each convoy was 1,850 kilometres. Each vehicle on the first trip in 1973 required just $35 worth of fuel. On the 36th and final trip in 2005 each vehicle used an average of $269 on fuel to cover virtually the same distance. The sum total of the distance covered by Walliston Wanderers convoys equates to more than one and a half times around Planet Earth.

Telling the Story

As adults, numbers of ex Walliston students still talk of Walliston Wanderers as being a highlight of their primary school years.

For the participants, the Walliston Wanderers adventure made deep and lasting impressions. After their return home, we heard about households in which happy and challenging experiences took several days to be related to families.

After their children returned home, parents often observed that their sons and daughters had changed and developed through their Walliston Wanderers experience. They saw maturity, more evident consideration of others above themselves, improved willingness to undertake household chores, and increased readiness to integrate with others as part of a harmonious team.

More of the Walliston Wanderers Story

A more comprehensive record of the Walliston Wanderers story has been donated to the Local History Collection held by the Kalamunda Library. That document lists the names of all 800 student participants and the 171 adults, many of whom did many trips. There are also many photographs and a detailed map of the Murchison region explored by Walliston Wanderers.

9th December, 2022