Preschool

I don’t remember anything really, but I know a couple of stories that parents and grandparents used to tell.

My grandfather Jimmy Hinge was a keen racing man, as were a few of his mates around town. He was also keen to have a drink, and used to take me as a small boy down to the Woolshed Inn in Bordertown (the pub not far from the Police Station) and sit me on the front bar. In those days pubs had racing photos as the main decoration, and I was taught to name the horses in the photographs. My favourite was Comic Court, 1950 Melbourne Cup winner, trained by Jim Cummings and the first in a long line of Cummings-trained Cup winners.

At that time we lived at a property called Girraween, west of Mundulla. Mum had to go to Bordertown (18 miles) or Mundulla (12 miles, but it only had the general store) to do any shopping. I guess she preferred Bordertown as she could leave me with Grandma. She played a lot of golf there too. They had a 1948 Chevrolet sedan, and in winter she had to negotiate some fairly wet unsealed roads, often flooded. She couldn’t always make it through and had to carry me out to get someone to help. When I think back I’m amazed at what she had to cope with out there. They built (or re-built) a limestone house, and I have vague non-specific memories of that. It would have been the only house where Mum had some input to the design.

Graham at Hinge’s (left) and at Girraween

The old house at Girraween had an underground water tank (a bit like a shallow pool) covered by sheets of corrugated iron. I cut my arm on the iron one day and had three stitches – the scar is still very clear.

We also have some professional portraits.

School