Early Years

I spent most of my early life growing up in Whyalla, South Australia on Eyre Peninsular. My early school years saw the family living at 91 Playford Avenue and me attending the Memorial Oval Primary School.

Whyalla News, Tuesday, March 27, 1962.

Mum and Dad were always actively involved in my education, plus contributed as members of various school committees.

The caption to this item in the Whyalla News read, "Mothers rallied to South Infant School on Thursday to inspect classroom activities. Here Mrs D. L. Borrett, with daughter Susan shyly hiding from the camera, looks at one of the project books of her son Lloyd."

Mrs Smith and the 41 student Grade 3 class in 1964 (I'm 3rd from left in the back row)

Mr Smith and the 34 student Grade 7 class in 1968 (I'm last on the right in the back row)

Cricket in the back yard at Mum's (September 1964)

The family home at 91 Playford Avenue had the sort of back yard that kids love. Interesting nooks and crannys, plus wide open grass areas. Thus it was a bit of a focal point for the neighbourhood kids. Many an afternoon after school was spent playing kick to kick Aussie rules football, back yard cricket etc.

Setting off on a cub scout camp.

I went through the boy scout movement with the 3rd Whyalla troop in Peters Street, first as a Cub Scout and in October 1967 graduating to become a Scout.

Saturday mornings were spent at the YMCA in the old airport hangar (now part of the Whyalla wetlands) doing gymnastics, athletics and basketball. I remember well a trip to Broken Hill with the YMCA in 1968 for a state competition. I was still in Primary School, so we had to fudge my age so that I could compete as the competition was meant to be for High School students only. I was in the basketball team and did gymnastics on the parallel bars. I was also entered in the public speaking contest as no one else would do it. My topic was "Education as Growth and Change." And I won! As I recall this was the only thing the Whyalla YMCA team won during the whole of the competition. Everyone, including me, was most surprised.

Saturday afternoons were often spent visiting my paternal grandparents in the house my grandfather Robert Lewis Borrett built at 19 Ward Street, Whyalla, or in his tiny workshop at the back of the small three room abode he built for his family of five to live in while he built the main house.

At the beach in Adelaide with Uncle John Robertson and his dog.

Our family holidays were often spent in Adelaide, staying with grandma and grandpa Williamson in Military Road, Henley Beach South. This meant plenty of swimming, shopping in the city with mum, and visiting a lot of relatives. Mum was one of eleven children and many of my aunts and uncles lived in the Adelaide suburbs with their families.

Lloyd with Aunty Ethel (circa 1959)

We also spent many of our family holidays, down on the farm. My great-aunt Ethel Harvey (sister to my grandfather, Robert Lewis Borrett) ran a property called "Lake View" on the northern side of Lake Alexandrina, not far from Langhorne Creek, South Australia.

Noske, Clarry and Lloyd (December 1961)

This farm was what remained of the property of William Borrett, my great grandfather. It had been a fully self-contained farm in its day, with a dairy, piggery, blacksmith shop, shearing shed, horse stables, quarters for the farm hands etc. We slept in what had once been the school room for "Lake View" and the neighbouring farms.

During the 1960's when we visited the farm it was a sheep and wheat property, with just Aunty Ethel and Clarry Saltmarsh running the place. We would help with the wheat harvest, shearing, marking lambs, or whatever else was going on when we visited. Clarry also had a small place of his own down on Lake Alexandrina, at the mouth of the Bremer River, next to the Lake Plains school, where he raised prize winning beef cattle.

Dean Borrett, Chief Engineer, Mt Newman Mining, 1969.

In late 1968 my dad took on the position of Chief Engineer, Mt Newman Mining Company. Thus we spent three months of the 1968/1969 summer in the Pilbara mining town of Mount Newman and all of 1969 at Port Hedland, Western Australia. We were in Mt Newman for the opening of the railway to Port Hedland, which at 426 km is still Australia's longest privately owned railway. 

We were also at Nelson Point, Port Hedland for the opening of the port facility on 1st April 1969.

121 Sutherland Street, Port Hedland, 1969.

Our house was in 121 Sutherland Street at Point Cook, close to what was then the single-men quarters. (You now often see the single-men quarter buildings on the TV news as the Port Hedland detention centre for illegal immigrants.)

1970 saw the family returning to Whyalla and taking up residence at 43 Wood Terrace, opposite the entrance to the Whyalla Hospital.

I attended the Whyalla High School and played senior basketball in both winter and summer at the courts in Wilson Park on McBryde Terrace. In the summer season I also sailed, from the Whyalla Yacht Club out at "The Basin", with my dad in the Heron he built.

For pocket money, I worked part-time at the BP Lincoln Highway service station on the outskirts of town, which is now a vacant lot between the Sundowner Hotel Motel and the Airport Whyalla Motel.