Skatey...The life of Les Skate
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Skatey...The life of Les Skate

Biography of Les Skate edited and prepared for publication by volunteer biographer Lorraine Blythe on behalf of Eastern Palliative Care October 2019 Biography of Les Skate edited and prepared for publication by volunteer biographer
Lorraine Blythe on behalf of Eastern Palliative Care October 2019

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29.10.2019 Views

Skatey The Life of Les Skate We lived there till we moved down to Croydon. Anyway, then the shearing took over and I was to go away back up to where Pop used to do his contracts, up around Deniliquin. I went up there and shore there for a few years. Les and the old T- Model Ford which he found in a creek and rebuilt just enough to get him to his shearing jobs Once I got married, (I’ll cover that a bit later) I found shearing a bit closer, up around Charlton. I used to go up there for a week or two weeks at a time, then come home. Joan, my new bride and I, lived at Croydon then. I built our house there. I had never built a house in my life. But I’d done odd jobs around the farms for people. What I used to do of an evening, after the builders had knocked off, I’d sneak around and see what they’d done and how they’d done it. After the builders had knocked off, I’d sneak around and see what they’d done and how they’d done it. Anyway, we had quite a nice home there eventually. It was a struggle. But I was getting better at shearing and shearing prices were good. At that time, it was the wool boom, the early fifties. That was when we were married and built the house. I could earn, without any trouble, I could earn four times as much as the basic wage. It was hard work but you got paid for what you shore. So, I’d bring that money home and we’d invest it in the house. Put a floor down in a room instead of walking through the door and falling through! We reared 12

Skatey The Life of Les Skate our kids there. We were very lucky there; we had a good position. There was a state school just one side of us, and by the time the girls were ready for high school they built one close by to our house. Les in his early shearing days. Up to that stage I just kept on shearing. Eventually, because it’s seasonal, I kept on doing a bit more building and I got involved with a good friend of ours who was a very good builder. He’d decided he’d like a tree change so he bought a block of land and took his family out this way. I needed someone to help me with my building jobs, but before long I was working for Ken. I learnt all the finer parts of building from him. That worked out very well and then he went his own way and I went mine. We left Croydon in ’81 and we bought a 120-acre bush block from my sister, Marjie and her husband Ern, up at Gruyere. We built a very nice home and were there for the next nineteen years It was our one home in a million that you dream about 13

<strong><strong>Skate</strong>y</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong> Life <strong>of</strong> <strong>Les</strong> <strong>Skate</strong><br />

our kids there. We were very lucky there; we had a good position. <strong>The</strong>re was a state school<br />

just one side <strong>of</strong> us, and by the time the girls were ready for high school they built one close<br />

by to our house.<br />

<strong>Les</strong> in his early shearing days.<br />

Up to that stage I just kept on shearing. Eventually, because it’s seasonal, I kept on doing a<br />

bit more building and I got involved with a good friend <strong>of</strong> ours who was a very good<br />

builder. He’d decided he’d like a tree change so he bought a block <strong>of</strong> land and took his<br />

family out this way. I needed someone to help me with my building jobs, but before long I<br />

was working for Ken. I learnt all the finer parts <strong>of</strong> building from him. That worked out very<br />

well and then he went his own way and I went mine. We left Croydon in ’81 and we bought<br />

a 120-acre bush block from my sister, Marjie and her husband Ern, up at Gruyere. We built<br />

a very nice home and were there for the next nineteen years<br />

It was our one home in a million that you<br />

dream about<br />

13

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