Show Notes
Episode 4 - Part 1 (July 2024) "Top Riders, Fires and Fatalities" 88 year old Laurie Pointing was a ringer in Taroom for 7 years from 1952 to 1958, working on multiple stations such as Nunbank, Gwambegwine, Ghinghinda, Broadmere, Glenhaughton, and The Bend. Laurie was the first of many Ipswich lads to make the journey out west looking for work as a stockman. In 1958 he joined the Queensland Police force with Taroom mate Paul Phipps, where he worked his way up to Assistant Commissioner of Police before his retirement.
In Part 1 of Episode 4, Laurie talks about the top riders he knew during his time in Taroom in the 1950s, notably his lifelong friend Jack Clarris. Many other characters of the district are mentioned in this entertaining episode. Laurie also touches on some sad stories, including the fire at Broadmere when the entire homestead complex burnt to the ground, and the death of a young cook from the Leichhardt Hotel at the new years eve dance on 31 December 1951, just before he arrived in town ahead of his 16th birthday in August 1952. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from TAROOM TALES Yarns from Back in the Day
Christy Curtis and Bronc Bradshaw, ex-Glenhaughton ringers, first met in 1964. They were reunited in 2023 in Taroom, Queensland, Australia. Christy arrived at Glenhaughton Station from the UK - a fresh faced 18 year old straight out of English boarding school, sent to work on the 900-square-mile property for his step-mothers cousin, Duncan McConnel. John "Bronc" Bradshaw was already an experienced old-hand at 23 years of age. Bronc first drove cattle as a 13 year old with drover George Lamb, before working as a 15-year-old ringer on Glenhaughton in 1957-1959, returning again a few years later after a stint in the North Queensland Gulf country. The two young men became great friends working at the Tin Hut camp in the Amphitheatre, a remote outstation a days ride from the homestead. 58 years on, Christy returned from France to catch up with his old mates at the Glenhaughton Ringers and Cooks reunion in Taroom (Sept-Oct 2023), camping once more at the nostalgic Tin Hut.
Vi Hay (Part 2) "Always a Bush Girl - Bedourie & Bill" continues from 1952 with stories of Vi's married life at Bedourie Station Taroom (for 47 years), the subsequent moves to other properties, and eventually into town. Picking up from her marriage to Bill Hay at 18 years, Vi discusses family life in the bush, and the many lifelong friends and memories gathered along the way. Some early Taroom history and stories of other families she remembers are also included. Numerous conversations were recorded for this episode, and other special guests are sometimes present to help tell the stories. Now in her 92nd year, Vi says that life wasn’t always a bed of roses, but it was a full life - the good times far outweigh the bad. For Vi, her ever-growing family is the most treasured of all achievements.
Vi Hay, a Taroom local for more than 90 years, grew up on Bradley Farm near Kinnoul Station. She married my great uncle Bill Hay (of the "Palm Tree" Hay family) and spent more than 47 years living at Bedourie Station. Part 1 of "Always a Bush Girl" covers the early years growing up in the Taroom bush with 6 siblings, through the war years, and her move to Bedourie. In the beginning, it was more than 12 hours by vehicle from the nearest town over the roughest tracks, with only her husband for company - when he wasn't out in mustering camps. This was before the age of electricity or refrigeration, and there was no phone or running water. Bush life was never easy, but it was a life Vi loved.
Ep5 Part 2 of conversations with Laurie Pointing covers events and characters from the 7 years he worked on a host of cattle stations in Taroom, arriving as a 15-year-old before leaving to join the police force as a 21-year-old. In the 1954 floods Laurie witnessed the tragic drowning of a stockman friend, shortly after living through the destruction of Broadmere homestead by fire. Bob McCorry, the other stockman present at the time, had a secret of his own which was discovered and kept quiet by the local Police Sergeant Jim Johnson. Laurie’s good mate Jack Clarris is remembered as a legendary horseman, and the tale of Jack’s near-death accident as a 16-year-old is discussed. Bobby Dunbar, Bill Scantlebury, Charlie Gassman, and many other characters of that remarkable time are mentioned. Following further research and details provided by listeners, some more details are revealed from stories told in Part 1, such as the death of George Marcel, a cook at the Leichhardt Hotel Taroom who was killed in a brawl with a stockman at the New Year’s Eve dance in December 1951. Other guests contributing to this episode are Vaughn Becker, Lex Smith and Mick Ratz. Laurie is 88 years old at the time of publishing (Nov 2024) and resides with family in Townsville. He has remained friends with all those he knew during his time in Taroom, and he keeps in touch regularly. Laurie has written numerous poems and has published 7 books, including his own memoirs from childhood, and his police career, as well as the biography of Jack Clarris.
Glenhaughton Ringers - Nugget Roser, Bronc Bradshaw and Lex Smith, return to their favourite mustering camp after more than 60 years at the Amphitheatre Tin Hut, Taroom. Reunited at the Ringers and Cooks Reunion 2023, the three old mates talk about the days of catching scrubbers, and some of the many near misses they survived. Cattle management on the 900-square-mile station was a lot different to how things are done today. Everyday the young stockmen risked life and limb doing what they loved in the beautiful Central Queensland bush… and they wouldn’t have it any other way.