The Bombay St gang

I found this precious photo in my mother's photo collection.

I grew up in a working class suburb in western Sydney in the 1950s. This is the gang of neighbourhood kids I grew up with. That's your truly second from the left. Beside me, at the end, is my big brother. At that stage, apart from Betty who was much older than me, I was the only girl. I had to learn to stand my ground with all these young 'hoodlums'. It was pretty rough and tumble. We played cricket and tennis on the road. There weren't many cars. Many a window was broken, and often not repaired for a while because funds could be tight.

The boys built billy carts. We lived at the top of a hill so there were many billy cart races down the hill. There were also some broken limbs! My brother and I thankfully escaped those although how I don't know.

Sadly some of the gang have passed on. Some we have lost touch with but my brother, now 76, is still good mates with Mick (whose name was Robert of course!?), the boy at the right hand end.