Local people: Donald Street, Fairy Meadow resident Vicki Smede

Vicki Smede has a life long love for the Fairy Meadow area. She’s lived most of her life in the seaside located Donald Street in Fairy Meadow and is the first of three generations of the Smede family to attend Towradgi Public School.

She spoke to us about her early memories of the area, how it’s changed and why she loves the location so much.

You were born and raised in Donald Street, Fairy Meadow and continue to live there. What’s kept you in that same street?

I was born at the southern end of Donald Street at No. 45. Mum and Dad moved down from Lithgow and lived with friends in McGrath Street while it was being built. We no longer have it now. Mum and Dad moved away years ago.

We moved out for 12 months and then bought back into Donald Street. I’ve been there 68 of my 69 years. I only had a year away.

We moved back into Donald Street, because I just knew it was convenient to everything. With wanting a family, the Towradgi School was around the corner. I went to Towradgi School, my five kids went and four of my grandchildren all went to Towradgi Public School.

The bus was there for high school, because I used to catch the bus to Wollongong High. A girlfriend and I would come out of our house and look up the street, and if we could see the bus we’d run through the lane and catch it in Storey Street.

All the homes were built as two-bedroom Fibro houses. Most people would extend out the back with an enclosed verandah, but you were only allowed to build out nine feet, which is 3 metres. We’ve added on twice or three times. They’re a good size block.

What are your memories of the street growing up?

I can remember the street getting tarred, because it was a dirt road. We’d ride our bikes in the street.

The family only needed one car because we walked or had the bus service. Although, I love it now because I take the grandchildren on the free bus to Bellmore Basin or we go into the library or movies (in Wollongong).

When I grew up, Donald Street had the creek and there used to be tadpoles. The creek has all been concreted now. It used to be a cul-de-sac with a tennis court at the end of it, before the units went in.

Everybody in the street knew each other, so we had some great families that always worked together. You felt safe with the children walking home with their friends and we had the convenience of the beach and the train. Fairy Meadow Beach wasn't as popular back then, because the surfers preferred Corrimal and Towradgi. We also have the Princes Highway and the back road. So while it’s a really old area, it really was a street that provided a lot of convenience.

How else has it changed over the years?

One man owned all that land - Donald St and Storey St as well. You only had two plans - the U-shaped frontage or the L-shaped frontage. Mum and Dad built with the U-Shaped frontage.

Where Dalton Park is now, that used to be horse riding. Where Champs is - Towradgi Beach Hotel - that used to be a garage in Carters Lane, where Pioneer Sands is now. My Dad had a coal truck, so he used to go there.

Then over where the Towradgi Leisure Centre is, there used to be a roller skating rink. Every Sunday you’d hear the music playing.

We also had Puckeys (Estate Reserve), which made for a beautiful walk through there. I love the fact they opened that all up for people to walk through.

There’s also an old house in there, which is interesting to go and have a look at. He (Courtney Puckey) used to do salt works in there. If you walk through Puckeys, you can come across the remains of the old house, which was owned by Mr Puckey where he did the salt desalination. He used to row his boat across the creek to go to work.

It was also lovely to walk with the kids up to the nursery, which is where the Fraternity Club and its car park is now.

There was a butcher’s shop on Elliott's Road on the other side of the railway station. All your shops and transport were all there for you.

Now we’ve got Coles, Woolies and Aldis, dress shops and sports shops all within walking distance. We had 55 Parrots (furniture shop), which became a huge fruit and vegetable shop and then it became Cabbage Tree Meats. They would even deliver meat to the locals.

There used to be a garage. We had a baby health clinic and library, plus another park and tennis courts for the children. Coats and Kahler Chemists are still here. They delivered in those days. There was always a variety in the restaurants - Thai, Japanese, Chinese. There’s been a lot of changes and improvements.

Even the railway has changed from having the gate, to having the hump and now they even have a lift there. When the babies were crying, we’d walk up to the highway to get the kids to go to sleep. It would take 10-15 minutes.

We have another two members in the street who are originals. One has lived there since he was married and the other’s parents were originals. She moved away, but then returned to look after her parents.

You’ve had 3 generations go through Towradgi Public School - you, your children and grandchildren. Was there a particular reason for choosing that school for each generation?

The grandkids went to Towradgi too because I have a son and his family who moved into Donald Street as well.
Towradgi School was the closest school for us. A few of the kids started at Fairy Meadow Demonstration School, because it’s like 120 years old. Towradgi was a very new school when I started there.

What are your memories of the school in the early days?

When I attended Towradgi Public School there were 400-500 students, because we had Fairy Meadow hostels. The buildings haven’t really changed. That’s why we had so many classrooms, because we had so many students there.

The school opened in 1953 and they had their 60-year celebration in 2013.

I remember it always being very friendly. You’d go and play at the park every afternoon in Squires Way. One of the ladies didn’t like children playing in the park, so she got council to erect a huge fence. She didn’t like the balls and everything else going into her yard.

Up the street, on Carters Lane, there was a corner shop. Everyone called into the corner shop on their way home. And we always had a corner shop on the corner of Donald Street and Holder Street. My mother wouldn't let them sell me Choo Choo bars.

Having the five children there, I was associated with the school for 22 years. I did attend the P&C and worked on canteen. My husband and I helped out a lot with sport and transporting the children. And I even taught knitting there - mobile knitting it was called.

Ian Moora was the principal. The children were going on an excursion and were all catching the train. The numbers of students at the school were dwindling. He said to the other parents, “Now, come on, our numbers are dwindling. We need more numbers. We need more people like Mrs Smede. Have a look at her.” And here I was, with four kids at the school and eight months pregnant!

My husband installed the electric bell at Towradgi School because they had the old bell and he was the honorary sports master down there too.

One day a parachuter landed in the school grounds when the gates were locked. So there was no way for him to get out. I had to go and unlock the gates to let him out or he would have been stuck there.

How has the school changed over the years?

The buildings haven’t changed, except for a beautiful mural that was done by Jeremy Westblade... who lives in Donald Street.

There's always been special needs classes at the school. And they’ve always been integrated into the mainstream classes.

I can remember a race - because we had a lot of students from Vietnam at one time - and one of the boys had a bad leg. I can remember all these children clapping and cheering him on during this race, even though he was coming last. It was lovely to see.

One student, Lyn McClusky who started at Towradgi with me in 1957, went through Towradgi as a student and then retired from the school as a teacher. The school has always had such a good reputation and the teachers were always warm and approachable.

Mr David Worthington was a teacher there and he passed away after starting the school booklet. So I decided to help put that together. I’m glad to have done it all.

They always had a community language centre there for people in the community to come in on a Saturday morning. The Wollongong Spinners and Weavers were there from 1985 to 1993. They were always involved in the community.

What do you love about living in Fairy Meadow? And why would you recommend it to others?

It’s fairly quiet and has easy access to Wollongong and Sydney. You’ve got all the shopping areas. There’s a nice mixture of young families and old families.

We’ve also got the cycleway. That got built under the Red Scheme with Council. Council employed people that were unemployed under the Red Scheme and they built the cycleway. And you've got Park Run.

You’ve also got the Fraternity Club, which is so family friendly. I remember the little kitchen they started off with. We’ve been members there about 50 years.

Really, it's the convenience and friendliness of the people that makes Fairy Meadow such a great area.

If you'd like to discuss buying or selling in Donald Street, Fairy Meadow or other streets in the area, contact Joanne on (02) 4285 7400.

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