From Shanks's Pony to Airy Heights

Some Vehicles of Yesteryear

“he has ridden in a bullock dray, spring cart, the old Mass shandrydan, and the motor car; and daily witnessed the flight of men through the air as birds on the wing” (1)
Written in 1933 the passage above reflected the changes in modes of travel during the preceding 90 years of David O'Leary's life.

No doubt many of us through the years asked the question of our parents - "How will I get there?" to which their answer may have been "by Shanks's pony" implying that we had two good legs to walk the distance. We are lucky to have seen the developments in modes of travel that provide us with many easy options for reaching desired destinations.

In my Father's times

Looking through our family photos reveals the changes in modes of travel since my father was a boy. When he died in 1992 he had certainly seen and experienced many changes. He courted my mother travelling from Alma into Hamley Bridge via horse sulky. He was the proud owner of an early buckboard followed by a Buick and several generations of Holden cars. Farm vehicles changed from horses and carts to trucks, utes, tractors and motorised implements. 

Below are some photos of the vehicles my father travelled in or worked with throughout his lifetime from 1908 - 1992. 

Travelling to Church on Sundays

"The old Mass shandrydan"

Later in his life my father, pictured here as a boy in about 1918, adapted wagon wheels for use as children's play equipment.

Travelling to School

Edward John Horgan is listed on the Alma South school register as having attended there for 8 years from the beginning of 1914 until the end of 1921. The ride to school was about three miles.

Moving around the farm

Andrew Horgan with sons Eddie and Joe atop a cart used to move the hay stooks from paddock to  haystack, about 1937 on the Alma farm.

Owning a motorised vehicle

When my parents moved to Snowtown after the birth of their first child, a vehicle of their own was needed. Here is Dad looking very proud of his buckboard.

After the death of his uncles, Jack and Tom Horgan, the young family now with two children, moved back to the Horgan family farm at Linwood.

Here are some of his vehicles with my father pictured in each one.

Notice this cart now has tyres rather than wagon wheels.

My mother wrote on the back "First load of bales and Eddie, Linwood"

Taking goods to market on trucks

Eddie Horgan c 1954

Above: The Oldsmobile truck is loaded with bales of wool ready for the long slow drive to Adelaide. The trip down, unloading the bales and the trip back home took all day. 

A later photo with sheep on board

Eddie Horgan c1959
photo taken from paddock across
the road from the newly built farmhouse

My parents depended on the income from the wool, sheep and grain as well as selling the cream from the cows and eggs from the fowls. It was a hard, busy life with seven children to be fed, dressed and educated. I do not have a photo of Dad with bags of wheat on the back of a truck, but that too was a common sight at the end of harvest in late December or early January.

Dad with his Buick or is it a Chevrolet, the car we had before a range of Holdens

In later years my parents travelled for pleasure by train, boat and aeroplane. One of my favourite travel stories was of their visit to St Peter's in Rome in 1979. My father a very devout Catholic always removed his hat at the back of whichever church they entered and placed it on a nearby table or chair to be retrieved at the end of Mass. This was always fine in the small country churches where nobody would take a farmer's hat. Yes, he removed his hat on entering St Peter's and must have deposited it carefully somewhere at the rear of the cathedral. He was surprised when his hat was no longer there on exiting.

Creative use of old vehicle parts

Here's some old wagon wheels Dad adapted to make a see-saw for his children.

My six siblings bumping up and down or perhaps posing for the photo

The stones at either side of the wheels were placed to prevent it from rolling away. I wonder if any of my siblings remember any "accidents" on this seesaw.

Another use of a wagon wheel, what we knew as our hurdy-gurdy.

My siblings and self, the youngest, on the old wagon wheel

The iron frame surrounding the wooden wheel was hot on sunny days and one quickly learned to lift one's feet and hang on carefully to a wooden spoke before being spun around. Behind us is the maroon coloured fence with gates on three sides in the backyard of the old house. It kept us safe from the dangers of the farmyard and the nearby creek.

My father's creative talent of putting old parts to new uses was handed down to his son and grandson who continue to work on the farm each day.

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1. 1933 'A NONAGENARIAN COLONIST.', Bunyip (Gawler, SA : 1863 - 1954), 29 September, p. 7. , viewed 08 Aug 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9664921

This post first appeared on earlieryears.blogspot.com by CRGalvin