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INSPIRE
Memories of the old school bus
For the Ginninderra valley kids back in the 1940’s, getting to school was a daily adventure that involved stow away ducklings, trading valuables such as catapults, and sometimes getting bogged. The Old Weetangera Road dates back almost 200 years and was the main track that connected rural homesteads in the old parish of Weetangera to Canberra, providing important access for the homesteads that lay on its route. During the 1940s, it was used to shuttle the children from farms between the Barton Highway and Ginninderry, to their schools in Canberra and back home again. The Weetangera ‘school bus’ was initially an old Buick, that was later replaced by a green panel van. It was also the source of regular car sickness, much bonding and some fantastic memories. Dr Mary Hutchison was asked to conduct a Local History Study for the development of Ginninderry, to help new and existing residents appreciate the area’s rich cultural history. She interviewed two of the former school children who travelled up and down this old track through the 1940s and early ‘50, as part of this study, and unearthed some amusing anecdotes.
Marc Polglaze, The Old School Bus, 2019
For Nannette (Nan) Betts (nee Dixon) her foremost memory is one of dread.
