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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<strong><strong>Skate</strong>y</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong> Life <strong>of</strong> <strong>Les</strong> <strong>Skate</strong><br />
Harvest time at the property in Gruyere 1982. <strong>The</strong> hay was all fork-pitched.<br />
<strong>The</strong> only thing was, we were getting older. We hadn’t really done a lot <strong>of</strong> things we would<br />
have liked to have done. My wife was a very keen gardener, and because there were lots<br />
<strong>of</strong> acres, I think she just kept spreading the garden more and more! It just got too much.<br />
An opportunity came up, <strong>The</strong> Coldstream Hills Winery was on our boundary and it was<br />
bought by a big company, Rosemount Winery. <strong>The</strong>y wanted to use the land to spray their<br />
effluent out onto it, to stop the run-<strong>of</strong>f down into the streams. So, I had the chance to sell<br />
it to them. It wasn’t in a place where it was attractive to people. Very small frontage No<br />
opportunity to clear, with heavy Council controls over it. So, we got out and we came<br />
down here. To Lilydale.<br />
So we got out and we came<br />
down here. To Lilydale.<br />
To 28 Mont Vue in Lilydale. We’ve been here nineteen<br />
years now and we’ve been very happy here. We’ve<br />
been able to do quite a bit <strong>of</strong> travelling. I’ve kept on in<br />
the building trade right up till my eighties.<br />
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