Name: John Charman
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Age: 93
Suburb: Helensburgh
Occupation/title: retired coalminer
Holiday location: Bulga, near Otford.
We used to go camping for our holidays.
I have never had a car so a lot of times we would walk, or other times we would take a lift with a horse and cart that was going down anyway.
We’d be there for a week or two during school holiday, me, my sister and my parents. We’d go to places where there was fishing.
We would wander around the rocks, kicking a bloody ball, just ordinary things of what you do when you’re young.
Other times, we would go through the bush at Darkes Forest to Appin and trap rabbits.
All we could do was catch fish and throw a ball around, that’s all we could do.
The chaps would go out in a boat and come back with their catch - take what was their’s and give the rest to other people.
We would cook them over a wood-fired stove. We would go to bed and wouldn’t tell stories around the campfire because we would be up early. I reckon my life as a child was great. Although we had nothing it was great because everybody helped one another. That has gradually got away from us.
In those days, Helensburgh only had a population of about 2000 and they were mostly miners.
Holidays all depend on who you go with. Just make any fun. Fun is fun. I was with all the mates I went to school with, so I was never bored.
Everyone worked together, it was the Depression. There were good times and there were very bad times.
Money? We didn’t have any. We used to love those holidays, it was hard but we got through it. They’re on clover now compared to what we were. But everybody was happy.