Teenagers in 70's Mosman
Mosman in the 70’s was a great community. Our big family lived in Belmont Road opposite the primary school. There was no social class, no haves or have nots. The neighbourhood was made up of school friends, family friends, soccer friends, scout friends, and just street friends. We rode our bikes everywhere.
Many a long hot summer afternoon was spent riding our skateboards down the concrete hill of the primary school. Watching the big kids do their dare-devil stunts; being massively injured trying to repeat them. (How hard can it be to do a handstand on a 30cm piece of plastic as it hurtles down a hill at about 40km an hour, anyway?) I remember we were always trying to be cool in front of the girls and being annoyed that the girls only ever seemed to be interested in the dare-devil big kids.
We were lucky to have a pool and summer was spent with a never ending rotation of kids coming over for a swim, a skate across the road, and then another swim.
In about 1974 the dog had a big litter of pups and Dad sold them and bought a colour television! That summer holidays was spent glued to the tele. Hogans Heroes, Gilligans Island, War movies. The boredom.
I got an after school/ weekend job at the Regal milk bar on Military Road. $2 an hour. This was Jim the Greeks milk bar, next to Franklins supermarket. My mates would come in a loiter around, buying smokes and milkshakes. Kids would jump the back fence and try to steal the soft drink bottles because they had a 5c refund on them. Jim’s wife didn’t speak English and her two sons were about 3 years younger than me but spent their entire life working out how to play tricks on me.
Before that I washed up dishes at the Indian restaurant opposite the KFC at Spit Junction. $2 a night!
My brothers and sister had friends all over the place. The Petaras’s owned the deli; the Segreto’s owned the fruit shop. My mate Robert’s mum, Marjorie, was an actual descendent of the Mosmans. My mate Andrew’s mum was a TV star on No. 96. Some dads worked in business, the arts, the banks.. it was a real mixed bag. We went to scouts at Balmoral Beach, learning to sail. We played soccer at Balmoral oval and Mosman Oval. Brett Borders brother became captain of Australia’s cricket team!
I was 15 when a few of us got together to run some dances at the Mosman High hall. It was $2 to see 3 punk bands, the rugby team were the bouncers. 600 kids came! Then I found music, motorbikes and girlfriends.. I got drunk at the Mosman Hotel seeing new wave bands – yes… Midnight Oil, Spy Vs Spy, The Models.
It didn’t seem so unusual at the time but growing up in Mosman as a teenager in the 70’s was a great experience.
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Hi grew up in Mosman and in that time frame of 1973-1977 was in my early teens also.
Balmoral Infants, Mosman Infants, Mosman Prep then Sydney Grammar Edgecliff then onto Sydney Grammar College St Sydney.
I was friends with and on FB today in contact with both Petaras from the Deli and Kostansas from the Regal Milk Bar. My sister went to Queenwood and our family home was on Raglan Street No 216 Balmoral beach end.
Hi Brian, Lived in Mosman from 1962-1975. You brought back great memories. Lived in Shadforth St, Whiting Beach Rd. Went to Mosman Prep 1972-74. Daryl Dresden…wow …went to school together. Played Rugby with Mosman Whales..Bruce Stinson was our coach. The milk bar… Milkshakes were 20 cents, lollies 3 for 1 cent. Skate boards..Mindy Bailey…I could go on and on..Take care.. David Holloway.
Hi Brian, Wow what wonderful memories, I lived on Military Rd from about 1965 to about 1975/76 (14 years old). Mum and dad owned Jackson’s Deli and we lived upstairs. What a great place it was to grow up, so many memories and some wonderful friends.
Made a visit a couple of years ago, the Deli is now a florist and there are massive around the school. But I could still picture how it looked all those years ago.
Sharon Jackson
does anyone recall a wine bar
in Military Rd down near the Y intersection (Bradley’s Head Rd.), pub right on that corner. Wine bar on right hand side of Military as you head to zoo? Mid 1970s. I think it started with an S, on street level, live performers there on Fri & Sat nights sometimes
Fantastic memories I also went to Balmoral Infants School, 65 to 68, met Michael Gerard, Johnny Biggers and so on. Also attended mosman primary and then onto Mosman High 73-77. I remenber the wine bar only went once and learned not to mix beer and wine!!.
Worked at the zoo, loved Jim’s milk bar and the lollies and the vanilla hot milk shakes. Delivered the Mosman daily, and Mosman back then was a wonderful place to grow up in, lived in 39 Woleseley RD.
Great memories of Mosman High, Mosman Primary and Balmoral Infants 1965-1977. Andrew Dean Smith is right
Hi everyone, we lived on Parriwi Rd, across from Cyprian St but eventually moved to Badham Ave. I was one of only two Canadians that were at Mosman High, the other was Brad Murray. Eventually we moved back to Canada but have wonderful memories of Mosman.
HI Vicky, The wine bar was Bevy’s Place. Cheers, Glenda
I went to Mosman High from 1967 (1st form) to 1972 (6th form). As I recall the class of ’67 was the first HSC year at MHS. I remember the maths teacher, Mr Jack Riley (what ever happend to him…I guess he has passed on by now) a wonderful teacher. I remember Mrs Jenkins (English teacher), Mr Colin Taylor (Geography and PE)…he also appeared in the popular soap, “Number 96” and many others whose names escape me. The school magazine was called “The Wanderer” and I still have a 1967 edition of that…but the best time was the “senior” years…The deputy principal, My Fraser (a gruff guy, but quite fair) gave us seniors a portable at the far end of the playground where we could smoke (as long as it was out of sight of the juniors) Talk about feeling grown up. Gees, I could go on and on. Does anyone know of some of my chums from 1972…Patrick Molloy, Louise Venn, Richard Jenkins, Peter Johnson, Micheal Van Kool, George Ironside ? Anyway, thanks for reading my rant. Thanks Mosman High, for the memories.
Oh the memories.!!! So many familiar names in these posts.
Mindy Bayley .. as mentioned above … was my first ever friend… Middle Harbour kindergarten 1967
Then I went on to Mosman High in 74-79.
Jack Reilly a wonderful maths teacher and remembered well by so many of us. Happy to say I am still in touch with many school friends (including Mindy ) and one teacher.. Judy Spicer .
My brother Tim was two years older and friends with Peter Petaras ( of Deli fame) amongst others.
What I love to reflect on is our simple life in those early school days…plenty of old unrenovated homes, people from single parent families .. no car..living with grand parents .. including myself ( how lucky) .. we just happened to live in a nice area with a beach and a zoo.. oh how we took it for granted!!!
It’s still a beautiful area of course and I do enjoy a trip down memory lane…. Thanks for the opportunity.
just hit a nostalgia bump and was thinking back to my friends at mosman high in the1970s despite being known as the school weirdo I do have some good memories of those crazy years with one of my best mates at the time the incomparable FREAk with whom I edited the underground school newspapers we were very unPC which nobody had ever heard of back then but I digress…Does anyone remember the name of that fantastic English teacher we simply called Gronk and the hilarious encounters he had with Brett Hogan Paul Hogans kid sorry about the name dropping…
Mosman High was a happy time for me, lived at Neutral Bay, we would hitch to Manly most of weekends such a easy going life style only recognise three names from this pages Mr jock Frazer that Bellowing voice lol Mr Kronk and a old friend Brad Murray a Canadian kid lived at Clifton Gardens
What a lovely story Brian. I left Mosman high in 1970. You jogged my memory about many things. Perhaps you could dig out some photos from the time and insert them in your post. Growing up in Muston St , Mosman Junction was the locus of my childhood world. I rarely ventured all the way up to Spit Junction! It seemed a world away.
— Linda Cairnes · 31 October 2015, 06:32 · #