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
Skatey The Life of Les Skate Harvest time at the property in Gruyere 1982. The hay was all fork-pitched. The only thing was, we were getting older. We hadn’t really done a lot of things we would have liked to have done. My wife was a very keen gardener, and because there were lots of acres, I think she just kept spreading the garden more and more! It just got too much. An opportunity came up, The Coldstream Hills Winery was on our boundary and it was bought by a big company, Rosemount Winery. They wanted to use the land to spray their effluent out onto it, to stop the run-off down into the streams. So, I had the chance to sell it to them. It wasn’t in a place where it was attractive to people. Very small frontage No opportunity to clear, with heavy Council controls over it. So, we got out and we came down here. To Lilydale. So we got out and we came down here. To Lilydale. To 28 Mont Vue in Lilydale. We’ve been here nineteen years now and we’ve been very happy here. We’ve been able to do quite a bit of travelling. I’ve kept on in the building trade right up till my eighties. 14
Skatey The Life of Les Skate Building a family of my own. When I came back to Coldstream after working in the shearing sheds, my sister Marjie had become good friends with another girl from Coldstream. Her name was Joan. Joan spent a bit of time up home and that’s how I come to meet up with her. After a couple of years later we got engaged and then a year after that we got married. There were several things about Joan that stood out to me. She was very independent person, very straightforward. I can say that she’d call an apple an apple, there’s no doubt about that! And she got that from her father who was much the same sort of person. I don’t know, I suppose I just loved her, and that was it. 4 th October 1952 15
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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 />
Building a family <strong>of</strong> my own.<br />
When I came back to Coldstream after working in the shearing sheds, my sister Marjie had<br />
become good friends with another girl from Coldstream. Her name was Joan. Joan spent a<br />
bit <strong>of</strong> time up home and that’s how I come to meet up with her. After a couple <strong>of</strong> years<br />
later we got engaged and then a year after that we got married.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re were several things about Joan that stood out to me. She was very independent<br />
person, very straightforward. I can say that she’d call an apple an apple, there’s no doubt<br />
about that! And she got that from her father who was much the same sort <strong>of</strong> person. I<br />
don’t know, I suppose I just loved her, and that was it.<br />
4 th October 1952<br />
15
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