I remember a dirt track up that way or whatever it was. As an older kid used to walk one of dads greyhounds long-distance up that way. Gees that is a long time ago... James Ruse Drive.... If I remember correctly, they started building that new road/Victoria rd interchange in the late 60's. Back in the early 60's there used to be many paddocks around Rydalmere etc. Loved climbing trees and eating fruit from some of those paddocks. Loved walking along the railway track towards Dundas/Carlingford, sometimes even along the creek, catching turtles, toxic fish, tadpoles, etc. It didn't take long for the industrial shift into that area during the mid/late 50's to wreck that creek.
James Ruse drive was started and built in the 70's - pretty much around the same time they did the 4 lane upgrade to Kissing Point Rd. We moved into Dundas in 1971 - from Harris Park. I remember the road upgrades well. Kissing Point Rd took forever.
I used to do the same thing Casper - lived a stones throw from The Ponds Creek, and used to catch tadpoles and frogs all the time. I spent my life as a kid playing footy and cricket in the grasslands beside the creek. Ahhhhh, those were the days.
Used to walk to either Telopea or Dundas stations to catch the "Carlo Comet" to Clyde, and then onto our away games. God it was a long way home in the dark for a kid.
Suity... Once we become strangers to each other, we can start doing harm to each other. Community is so important to the long-term well being of great community clubs like the eels, they provide immunity against what has been tearing our club apart for some years now. Once we lose the values that built such communities it is like threads unthreading from the fabric of community; each member, for whatever reason, being a thread walking away from community values and morals, leaving behind a frayed club. It is sad to witness what has become of our club. It is not too late to turn things around, to re-thread a community who truly care for each other so that no bullsh*t can creep in and cause havoc again.
This is where we differ Casper. We DON'T live in a perfect world. You say it is sad to witness what has become of our club. I suggest you take a reality check here.
So, what HAS become of our club? Sprout all the moral bullsh*t you like. We live in a business minded world, and we need to make business minded decisions if we want to be successful. Sure, things haven't been done perfectly, or to everyone's liking. There is stuff 3P promised and haven't delivered that I'm not too thrilled about either.
Are we better off than we were two years ago? I don't know whether we are.
But I ain't about to turn my back on the club that has given both tears and joy for the majority of my life.
Do I expect them to behave perfectly? In a Utopian world yes. In the real world - hardly.
The way you carry on, you must be the perfect example of scruples and morality.
Suity
