Life is an adventure

 

For My Old Mate

Hedley White

 

I wanted to write a bit about me old? mate Hedley White.  I first met Hedley as one of the regulars at the RARC back in 1990.  Hedley was one of the usual crowd, which included the late Joe Grogan, the late Roger Knight and Beno. 

Hedley was one of those tough, funny old buggers, a typical Aussie with a load of stories to tell about his life.  Liked the boxing and enjoyed a beer, worked hard all his life in many varied things.

 

I worked with Hedley for a time, helping him round the property and working doing the concreting.  Hedley used to make concrete plumbing fixtures like bolted trap screws and concrete slabs for eagles plumbing supplies (aka Roger Knight).  I can never forget the secret of a good concrete plumbing fitting was to first coat the PVC fitting in the plumbing glue and liberally sprinkle with sand, and a good 12,6,3 mix of Gravel, Sand and cement. That made the fittings tough, unlike the normal ones you?d by where the concrete would crumble after a while.

I could barely move a full builder?s barrow of cement, yet Hedley and Adam Benson could run with them? J and Hedley was in his seventies.

 

Some of Hedley?s warries:

The Chain Gang,

He told me a story about when he was draining in North Sydney.  Where he was working there was also a chain gang of prisoners working with picks cutting through the sandstone.  Hedley got himself in trouble with the prison guards several times for taking the prisoners picks and sharpening them.

Mushrooms,

Hedley had the idea of growing mushrooms to make some extra $$.  He had them growing in the cool under the house where he lived, and one day went to grab some as he?d promised them to a fella, only to find his wife Joyce had beaten him to the punch and went and sold his crop down the local pub.

The Hotdog Van,

Hedley had a mobile hotdog stand where he sold hotdogs, pies and mushy peas on the weekends down along the river in Penrith.  There was one fellow that would come in every weekend and ask for the hottest mustard he had and would then jokingly have a go a Hedley saying it ?isn?t hot at all, was that the best you could do?.  At that time Hedley was working for a soft drink factory, and got hold of some pure capsicum extract they used to make the soft drink.  This was liberally applied to the fella?s hotdog the next time he showed at the van.  Hedley said he could see the steam coming out this guy's ears and he NEVER asked for a HOT hotdog again after that day.

The Dodgy Brickie,

At one time he was building brick fences for a company, and employed a bloke who was supposed to be a top notch Brickie, only to find that after a whole day brick laying, this guy had used less than a quarter of a bag of cement in the mud he was making.  The entire fence fell with one push, the guy was sacked and Hedley had to redo the whole lot by himself.

Those Damn Goats,

The next door neighbours had about a dozen goats, and helping old? Hedley chase these critters out of his Pumpkin and Melon patches was akin to keystone cops, Pumpkins flying and goats running in all directions.  Even with an electric fence ?.  Pinching his Tomatoes and eating all Joyce?s Flowers round the house, we even found one that had died, choked on a coke can ? goats really will eat anything?

Parramatta Road,

For those of you who know Sydney know that Parramatta road is one of the busiest roads in the place.  Yet Hedley remembered a time when he and 3 other fellows where piled into a (it think it was) model T ford with the top down, zigzagging up Parramatta road playing the accordion and singing at the tops of their lungs.. Not a car in sight.

The Pine Trees,

One day I went over to Hedley?s place, and he excitedly told me he was going into the Christmas tree racket.  On the back of his Ute where e over 2000 baby pine trees all about 1 ? foot tall.  It took us days to plant them all.  Unfortunately he never got the chance to harvest any of them, and if you go past the old place now the trees are all pushing 30 feet tall, it?s like old growth Forrest.

Rabbiting,

I went with Hedley one weekend up to Bathurst to lay some piano wire snares on a property to catch some ?rarebits?.  We set the snares around the burrows and retired to an old train carriage that was left on the property as a feed shed.  After about an hr there was an almighty racket and we raced over to find the biggest feral cat I?ve ever seen caught by its paw.  This thing had a head the size of a soccer ball ?no joke ? and we had to wait till it tired itself out before we could free it.  After a few Hrs it finally faded.  We thought it was dead, but the Cat jumped up with a hiss and ran off into the night.  Frightened the bejasus out of both of us.

Mushroom compost,

Old? Hedley always on the lookout found a mushroom farm in Londonderry that was giving away it?s spent peat mushroom compost.  Off we go with the 6 foot hungry sides on his old Ute and brought a load home ? all light as it was fresh from the kilns where they dry it to kill off any remaining spores.  The second load was WAY more interesting as it had rained overnight.  That poor old Ute limped home at a top pace of 40km?s an hr with the mud flaps dragging parallel to the ground.  Was the last load we ever took from there...

 

Fireworks at the Brin (slightly off track)

We had a couple of Blokes who got their cracker licences and where letting off fireworks at one of the do?s we where having at the RARC.  Watching all of us scramble as the 4 inch starburst mortars vibrated out of the clay ground and lay down prior to going off was the funniest thing I?ve seen.  People diving in all directions as these things where taking off horizontally ? showering sparks in all directions. Lesson learned, always use sand to mount the big fireworks J

 

I miss the old fella and I?m sure I?ll think of some more warries to add to this list.

RIP me old mate, still thinking of ya.

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