'Remembrances of Things Past'

We set off in high spirits on a glorious sunshiny day to explore Old Tailem Town, a privately owned pioneer village around 120 kms north-east of Encounter Bay, just past the town of Tailem Bend. Our excursion was organised by Steve's photography group (South Coast Camera Club) and 20 enthusiasts turned up. We were lucky in that friends Petra and Gary drove us, so we were well and truly relaxed by the time we arrived.

I didn't really know what to expect but it turned out to be a fascinating place, and all the better for being a bit low-key and unpretentious. The village was established in 1982 by one family. It's laid out like a regular town with shops and businesses lining the streets. There's also a school, a church and cemetery, a post office, doctor and dentist surgeries, a dance hall and a cinema. Many of the buildings were transported to the site from various places around South Australia with most dating from the 1890s; a ticket office is the oldest at 1870 and the school was originally built in 1881. The buildings are stocked with original products, furniture, items and artefacts. Some have mannequins posed and dressed in the period which add a human touch to the setting, and a bit of humour, too.

Here is a typical street scene.

And as well as the sedate town businesses, there was a car graveyard that provided plenty of opportunities for the photographers, as well as loads of old farm equipment, fire engines, boats and even a dozen train carriages. Here is a brief overview of what we saw.

Who knew there were so many styles of barbed wire!
In the barbed wire and fence museum this was one of about 10 such displays boards.  

A Coolgardie safe hanging on a verandah looking just like the one my Gran had.

Hmm...not sure I'd buy one of these.

We loved wandering around. The whole enterprise is a tribute to the hard-working Squires family. It must be an enormous job to keep the already old buildings from further decay and to ensure the 'shops' maintain a semblance of order and cleanliness.









Maybe a gardener is needed.

I loved the use of mannequins in the post office...

... the doctor's surgery ...

 ... the mortuary

... the hotel.

In the Salvation Army Citadel I discovered Sergeant Sarah Brown (lovers of Guys and Dolls will know who I mean).

Sadly, she didn't rattle her tambourine and sing!












I noticed lots of old bikes here and there as well as a bike shop, so here are some photos as a tribute to my cycle-loving son-in-law Kim. Not sure they would make the Tour De France this year.

Steve was hard at work, too.

If you're getting sick of old stuff, here are some close ups of the chooks I spotted.

Now back to some interiors, all evoking memories of the past.

I've included this next photo because I have always liked the representation of Aboriginal people on the plates and cups and saucers that were extremely popular in the 1950s. I know they were cheesy but I never thought them disrespectful although I suppose the Aboriginal people may not have liked them.  This was displayed on a shelf in a dining room in the 'hotel'.

The patina of rust and old age caught my eye on a number of occasions.

 We wandered into the cinema where World War II newsreels were playing. In the foyer were film posters. Steve and I love this 1958 classic 'horror' movie; it was Steve McQueen's first role and you can see that he is listed as 'Steven' here.  A young Burt Bacharach wrote the title song.
I am going way off piste here in my blog but I can't resist listing the lyrics.
Beware of the Blob. It creeps
And leaps and glides and slides
Across the floor
Right through the door
And all around the wall
A splotch, a blotch
Be careful of the Blob.











In the school room, ink wells brought back lots of memories of my early schooldays. I even remember ink monitors who had to fill the inkwells on our desk every morning.
A framed set of rules for teachers made me thankful I taught in a more enlightened era.
Rule 6: Women teachers who marry will be dismissed.
Rule 7: Every teacher should lay aside from their pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years so that he will not be a burden on society. 
Rule 8: Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor, frequents pool or public halls will give reason to suspect his intentions, worth, honesty and integrity.

I loved this great example of 'make do and mend'.

And I quite like the results when I tried to be a bit creative.

And I'll finish up with a few of the photos Steve took.

 And so we say farewell to Old Tailem Town... an exhausting but successful photo outing that certainly provided me with 'remembrances of things past'.