A BRAVE AND CARING CONSTABLE

A  BRAVE AND CARING CONSTABLE

In April 1929 there was a devastating flood in the small tin mining town of Derby, in north-eastern Tasmania. A dam burst after a period of unprecedented rain. Fourteen people lost their lives and many others their homes and livelihoods. The death toll would have been much

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LAURIE’S COPY BOOK

LAURIE'S COPY BOOK

Sorting through documents while researching our family history I found a section of one of my Uncle Laurie’s school copy books. It had been kept as a treasured memento by his mother after his death in WWII.  Each page was dated; from May 3 1932 through to

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LES MURRAY; COWSHEDS AND CONCRETE

LES MURRAY; COWSHEDS AND CONCRETE

As a Baby Boomer I grew up with little exposure to Australian literature.  It was all English boarding school stories,  Enid Blyton and Charles Dickens. My early knowledge of poets was limited to those represented in a primary school textbook called (appropriately in my case) Poems for

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IODINE DEFICIENCY = NIGHTMARE NECKS!

IODINE DEFICIENCY = NIGHTMARE NECKS!

Broadcaster Simon Marnie got into a bit of strife when advocating ’boutique’ salts on ABC morning radio. His rather cavalier dismissal of thyroid issues due to un-iodised salt resulted in dozens of protesting texts and a call from a health expert. When I was attending the Ulverstone 

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ARTHUR SINGLETON’S ENDLESS WAR

ARTHUR SINGLETON'S ENDLESS WAR

On February 19 1922  my great uncle, returned WWI veteran  Arthur  Singleton, was arrested. According to a  later report by the Ulverstone police  he was in a disturbed  mental state. Like many men, he had never recovered from his war service.  As one of the first  Australians

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A MAGICAL LUCERNE ‘FARAWAY’ TREE

A  MAGICAL LUCERNE  'FARAWAY' TREE

The climbing tree I grew up with was a giant lucerne. It provided as much delight for our family as that fictional ‘faraway’ tree. One of my favourite  childhood books  was The Magic Faraway tree, by Enid Blyton. It actually belonged to my sister. Who could not

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TASMANIAN FOOTBALL FOLKLORE

TASMANIAN FOOTBALL FOLKLORE

 AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL RULES I grew up in the small Tasmanian town of Ulverstone, where Australian Rules Football was the sport we were passionate about.  Ulverstone’s colours  have always been  black and red, hence their name, The Robins. In the 1960’s football was untainted by the corporate sector and

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