Judy Conway talks about Gulf Creek and Macintyre schools

My time at Gulf Creek and Macintyre Schools – Judy Conway
I went to Gulf Creek from first class (no kindergarten then) until fourth class and fifth and sixth class at Macintyre School.

My father was a stickler for education, so we went to school in whatever kind of weather.  The only time we got to stay at home was if we had a temperature or if the creek was so high in flood that a car or horses couldn’t get across it.

We all had our own horses, mine was Charles (named after Prince Charles) and he was very unpredictable.  He would try to bite you or stand on your foot.  I was too little to put my own saddle on so dad asked an older boy to put it on for me.  Charles would puff his belly out when he put it on and breathe out when I started to ride him, so I would fall off (I soon learnt to toughen up.)

The teachers were male and quite often from the city.  One teacher couldn’t drive a car, so he had to learn to ride a horse.  We thought it was hilarious watching him get on the horse without being bitten on the rump!

The teachers had to teach from first class to sixth class, sport and drama and singing, including putting on a concert at the end of the year for prize giving and the Christmas Tree. The school was used as a classroom, a church, a community centre and a tennis clubhouse.  I learnt to play tennis on the two courts next to the school.

In Year five, I changed schools and went to the Macintyre School because Gulf Creek was closing.  So, we rode three miles instead of four but still went across a creek.  We never   thought we went without because we went to a little school, fact, we made some wonderful friends which I’ve kept to this day.