Bob Chamberlain remembers a time when life ran at a much slower pace, and everything seemed carefree. The 70-year-old lifelong Werribee resident sat down with Charlene Macaulay to talk about his childhood, enjoying retirement, and his family.
Tell me about your connection to Werribee.
I’ll be 71 in July and I’ve lived here all my life. It was a beautiful open space [when I was a kid]. You could ride your bike around, you could go out at night, you could leave your house with the doors open. Life was easy and carefree.
Across the road from where I used to live, there were cabbages and cauliflowers and everything like that. We used to go down to Corpus Christi College when the priests were down there and pinch their apples.
We used to roam the Werribee River, ride our bikes, swim in Bungey’s hole … we used to go after rabbits along the river. I’d walk up the main street of Werribee with a rifle on my shoulder and rabbits on my arm. I went to
St Andrews, and then I went to Altona North Tech.
Now that you’re retired, how do you fill your time?
I go out to the gun club once a week. I walk and ride the bike every day, I’m a trainer down at Werribee Centrals Football Club and in the off season I do a bit of fishing.
How did you and your partner, Iris, meet?
I frequented the pub at the Racecourse Hotel, and they used to have a dance there … Iris turned up one night with a group of girlfriends. [Ironically] Iris doesn’t drink, but she loved dancing. We’ve been together 25 years in May.
Iris adds: We were the second time around for each other.
How many kids and grandkids do you have between you?
We’ve got seven kids, 17 grandkids and five great-grandkids.
If there was something you could change about Wyndham, what would it be?
I reckon it’s too over-populated in Werribee now. We haven’t got the beautiful open spaces we used to have. The roads around here are shocking. It’s still a beautiful place.
