Wonga, Skipper and Gundhy - horses at the Reid family property 'Hazel Glen' c 1920s. Photo credit Reid family
…Mr. Lodge then wanted me to ride his horse. I said, ‘I will for a pound’. He said, ‘It’s quiet’. I said, ‘Alright, ride it yourself’. He said, ‘I’ll give you a pound then’…
The following news item was published in the Advertiser of June 13, 1941 under the heading ‘Farmer tossed by Bull’.
‘While taking his Shorthorn bull home from Mr. Healey’s property last week-end, Mr. Les Apted was suddenly attacked by the bull and tossed in the air. Quickly recovering his feet, Mr. Apted dodged round a post nearby, and Mr. Healey brought down his dogs and drove the animal off. Later Mr. Apted shot the bull.’
The following is an extract from the Reminiscences of Chester Draper (born 1905).
‘(My brother) Tom and I used to break in horses. One day Bill Edgington, who worked for Reids, wanted a horse to ride. There was a mob belonging to various owners running in Denny Murphy’s paddock at Streamville. Tom and I yarded them at Lodges. Mr. Lodge wanted us to buy his horse, but we chose one owned by Leo Ryder for six pounds. Mr. Lodge said, ‘You’ll never ride it’. I put my saddle on and got on. It went through two fences of his yard and I rode it home (along Running Creek Road to ‘Barton Hill’). It went O.K. after that. We called it ‘Fire-works’, and we owned it after Bill left Reids.
Mr. Lodge then wanted me to ride his horse. I said, ‘I will for a pound’. He said, ‘It’s quiet’. I said, ‘Alright, ride it yourself’. He said, ‘I’ll give you a pound then’. We were told by my father (Jim Draper) not to ride it home. We took it home and found it an outlaw, but we soon got it under control. Mr. Lodge got it back, but we never got the pound.
Another one of the mob was Denny Murphy’s. It was wild. I rode it to Glenburn and let it go with hobbles on it, but we could not catch it next morning and finally it jumped from the 640 acre paddock to the 700 acre. I said, ‘We need a horse paddock’ and fenced in about nine acres straight away.’
A mob of wild horses (brumbies) known as The Flyers frequented the foothills of the Plenty Ranges above Ardchattan. After coming down the spur between the Arthurs and Running Creeks, the horses stopped to drink from a clear pool with a rocky bottom. The pool, known as The Flyer’s Hole, was located not far from the site of the 'Charnwood' homestead on the lower reaches of the Running Creek. Some of the first farm horses used by the Draper family came from this mob. James Chester Draper recalled some of his trips would be on unbroken horses. He and his siblings would charge the owner a pound to break the horse in. Information credit Bruce G. Draper
James Chester Draper was born in 1905 at 'Barton Hill', and was known as Chester in the Arthurs Creek area so as not to be confused with his father, Jim Draper. However, he was known as Jim when he lived in Heyfield, and appears as both Chester and as Jim Draper in numerous documents. Photo credit Draper family
‘Farmer tossed by Bull’, Eltham and Whittlesea Shires Advertiser, 13 Jun 1941. Credit Trove, National Library of Australia
Horses Yarbo and Gundhy harnessed in a phaeton at 'Hazel Glen' c 1920s. Florence Reid wrote in 1892 'Miss Waugh and I rode over to Drapers ('Charnwood') yesterday and we got some lovely flowers, I would like to send you a few of them the garden was a perfect picture'. Photo credit Reid family
Remains of the old house and detached kitchen at the former Healey property. James (1859-1924) and his wife Margery Healey (1855-1924) and eldest son James Healey (1890-1924) all died here within about 12 months of each other in 1924. Alexander 'Alec' (1895-1979) and his sister Christina Healey (1888-1960) lived here until the 1960s. Photo credit Bruce G. Draper, 2003
While taking his Shorthorn bull home from Mr. Healey’s property last week-end, Mr. Les Apted was suddenly attacked by the bull and tossed in the air. Old wattle and daub hut and kitchen of the Healey family house. Photo credit Bruce G. Draper, 2003
Chimney and detached kitchen of old Healey house, last occupied by Alexander 'Alec' Healey, son of James Healey. Photo credit Bruce G. Draper, 2003
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