Stories

The report on the establishment of the town of Yallourn was drawn up by 15th December, 1921. The architect was A.R. La Gerche, the State Electricity Commission’s own architect. His plan was influenced by those of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. The position of the proposed town was almost halfway between Moe and Morwell and about 1 ½ miles north of the main Gippsland railway line. To the north was the Latrobe River and on the east, the river flats that would become the Yallourn open cut mine. To the west was country comprising part of the Haunted Hills and to the south was a… more

My father, Dave Handley, loved to go ferreting for rabbits around the Trafalgar and Thorpdale Hills. My brother Ken and I (Brian) would tag along and it soon grew into quite a little business. It was not uncommon to bring home up to 100 live rabbits in specially made crates by Dad. From there we would skin and sell them to our neighbours. As the demand grew, the standing-order from customers was: “if the lights are on, knock on the door” which was sometimes as late as 10pm from memory. Another vivid memory of my beloved Yallourn was working at the Yallourn Hotel. Somehow (seems… more

CHILDHOOD REFLECTIONS – 10 Years in YALLOURN from 1932 to 1942

Our move to Yallourn in 1932, soon after I was born, followed dad’s appointment as Principal of Yallourn Tech. when the school consisted of three small timber cottages in Narracan Avenue and had only three other full time teaching staff. The family lived initially in Ridgeway West, moving in 1934 to live at 29 Latrobe Avenue on the corner of Reservoir Road. My only memory of Ridgeway West was time spent in a pale blue fish-shaped rocking horse on the back veranda. Another early recollection of life in Yallourn was the… more

Filmed by Bill and Dot Burns, Soundtrack added by Mike Hamilton.

Does anyone remember the couple who ran a business around the corner from Dolphins book shop. I think it was a male and female hairdressers, come tobacconist. There was a chess board (I think) in the front of the shop window. I don’t remember the man, but the woman was blonde with a hairdo like Dorothy Dors (English actress). She wore tight A-line skirts, and clinging tops???

Also Rev. Kirby used to live in the Vicarage in the early 60’s. He and his family moved to Geelong parish. They had a disabled son. Karl and I were sitting in a restaurant in Yarraville some years back… more

From Link issue 51, Nov 2011:
FOND MEMORIES OF THE YALLOURN RAILWAY
The Yallourn railway was a branch line from Hernes Oak on the main Gippsland line when the Yallourn power station commenced operating in 1922. The railway was owned by the Victorian Railways. The railway serviced the power station with branch lines to deliver goods to the stores and workshop area.
Morwell resident, Jack Huxtable, has fond memories of the railway and the staff that operated it.
"The station master was Jack Collins and he was a real character in the community. His assistant was… more

My dad was in the Capt Hurley Rover Crew very early in its existence, I'm not sure if he would have been counted as one of the founding members. Dad's involvement with the crew included helping with pre-fabricating the original Mt Erica ski hut (J. W. McMahon Ski Lodge), but he never actually made a trip up Mt Erica with the crew of his time. It wasn't until the early '70s (30 plus years later) that he actually made the trip, and that was to be present for the scattering of Doc Andrew's ashes (that task was given to me, [being then a member of the crew and the son of one of the early… more

A story that hit the headlines in the paper in the early 60's - a guy in the West Camp died in his unit. When it was being cleaned up, they found a cat of nine tails and other "implements" along with film and tape recordings. On the film there was evidence of a group of men that danced naked around a fire in the hills accross the road from the Power Staion, heading up to Yallourn North. The nasty part is there was a dead body involved - it was an elderly lady who was the housekeeper for the Catholic Parish Priest in Trafalgar. She was buried in the Traf cemetery, but the body was… more

First house built was in Maiden St, followed by Hillside and Maryvale Road. The Hattam's lived there in 1922; then in 1928 moved to a new house in 40 Latrobe Ave...at this time houses were going up around The Angles and Green St.

Myrtle Hattam was the first girl to be born to a Yallourn bride. Arthur Langford was the first boy to be born to a Yallourn bride.

St John's was the first church built in Yallourn. Myrtle Hattam was first baby christened there in 1924/25.

Primary School was built in 1930 in Hillside, then the Higher Elementary School was built. There were a… more

UPDATE UPDATE: Have now finished uploading the "J's" from the 1968 Electoral Roll.

26.8.11 - Thanks to Mark D'Alterio, we now have another electoral roll - 6 November 1968 - so why don't you check the updated names and see if you can add to them...in the meantime, WOULD ALL EX-RESIDENTS OF YALLOURN, WHO HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO, PLEASE COMPLETE THE "YALLOURN SURVEY" TO GET YOUR FAMILY NAME LINKED TO YOUR HOUSE IN YALLOURN AS A PERMANENT RECORD. A lot of the information so far is from Electoral Rolls only so does not include any children. IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE LINK TO THE… more