Marion Weir explores her memories of Balwyn in the years following World War II, when children had a freedom to rove and explore that is unimaginable today.
“Although there was no sense of abundance so far as items for sale, this was made up for by the friendly exchanges between shopkeeper and customers. People were addressed by their names and enquiries made after each other’s families. I don’t believe it was just my youth that led me to feel that, above all, there was no hurry, just a feeling of limitless time.”
And a paean to the centrality of sport to Melbourne life in the 1950s:
“The sporting arena was the perfect place to lift the spirits of the locals. For a few hours on a Saturday arvo they could forget the grind of meaningless, poorly paid jobs, of unemployment and living in overcrowded, often slum like housing with little hope of bettering their circumstances. The honour of the community was at stake and the on-ground rivalry was their supporters’ Culloden, their battle of Bosworth Field. ”
Available here.