I am still in Sydney. I have taken the opportunity to do some sightseeing and visiting some special places.
A very special place for me is Balmoral Beach in Mosman.
My Aunt Mary lived in Balmoral and Mosman from 1935 until her death in 1990. She emigrated to Sydney from the North East of England with my Uncle who was a Naval Engineer. In those days there must of been very little thought of anything other staying or a permanent return home.
The story goes that my Aunt and Uncle first moved to Hurstville. My Aunt described this a as being in the ‘bush’. She was very homesick. She apparently met another English girl when I Uncle was away at sea. The girl told her of a really nice beach on the harbour. She offered to take her there. That beach was Balmoral.
When my Uncle returned, my Aunt told him that if he didn’t find a place for them to live in Balmoral, she would return to England. He found them a place to rent in Almora Street not far from the beach.
My Dad serviced in the British Army in WWII. He was a Prisoner of War (POW) after being captured by the Japanese in Singapore. After being forced to work on the Thai- Burma Railway and then in Japan he returned to England to find that his parents had died. He was repatriated to his next of kin. That person was his oldest sibling, my Aunt in Sydney.
My Dad often talked about the first time he saw Balmoral Beach. He said he felt that he “had landed in heaven”. He lived with my Aunt and Uncle in the small timber house in Almora Street for two years while he recovered from his wartime injuries and got his life back together.
With the encouragement of my Aunt, Dad decided to join the local cricket team. In those days Mosman did not have a grade team. The nearest team was North Sydney.
The story goes that Dad went to the first pre-season practice and announced that he was a fast bowler and batsman. He bowled and batted in the nets and was asked to come back for the next practise.
When he was batting in the second practise, a bowler who had not seen at the first practise came into to bowl at him. Dad’s recollection was that the first time he saw the ball was when he picked it up at the back of the net. After 15 minutes of this bloke bowling at him, he was “battered and bruised”. As he left the net the mystery bowler introduced himself: “the name in Miller, Keith Miller”. The story goes that Dad decided on that day to concentrate on tennis.
My first recollections of Balmoral were when I was about five or six. By this time by Aunt and Uncle had moved from Almora Street, up the hill to Arbutus Street. They lived in a house with a great view across to Manly and the heads. I can recall spending many days walking down the steps to the beach and the ‘island’ opposite the Rotunda near the Bather’s Pavilion.
When I moved to Sydney in 1988, I decided to live in Mosman. I re-acquainted myself with Balmoral Beach. Later I spent many days at the beach with my daughter.
Last week I when back to Balmoral to see the old house in Almora Street. It is still there surrounded by modern houses and apartments. There was builders sign outside, bearing the name of Andrew Wilkinson. No relation, but ironic.
I walked to the back of house where the builders were working. They told me that the owner was in. The owner, a middle aged woman appeared and we had a chat. She was interest in my story about my Aunt’s time in the house. She has decide to do a ‘minimalist’ renovation to the house rather than demolishing it and building something new. That is great.
Flickr Link
billrider2013 