Woy Woy - 8 October 2009

Conditions that were more like Winter than Spring didn't dampen the team's enjoyment at one of our favourite places - Woy Woy.
It was good to see that Col Lye & Nev Bayliss could make it.

Remember the Corporate Lunches?

Three of The1925 Club’s more enthusiastic supporters (Bob Clarke, Nev Hine & George de Jong) are pictured on Fort Denison for Coopers & Lybrand’s 1993 Christmas lunch.

They are joined by Ken Le Quesne (next to Bob) and Coopers & Lybrand’s representative, Ian England (who Bob thinks was a blow-in from the UK).

Nearly sixteen years later, and they haven’t aged a bit. (Stop laughing!)

Any thoughts on what’s going through Bob’s mind? And, does anyone hear from Ken these days?

Mister Smooth

Bob Clarke recalls, "I believe the occasion was the HO Christmas Party '90 (hosted by GM Ray Morley).

"Alma Raza (with whom Bob is sharing a chair) was Nev Bayliss's secretary, and the location would have been the 9th floor of 130 Phillip Street. The hats were part and parcel of the affair, as was the gift in my hand; we all bought something for our allocated person.

"I certainly wouldn't have plonked myself on Alma's lap uninvited - but that's another story.

"Luckily, Uncle Bernie was watching over me."

A fit & healthy AGC

Who remembers the AGC Exersites?

AGC arranged and funded the installation of more than 200 of them as part of its contribution towards Australia’s Bicentennial Year (1988). Many still survive. The one pictured, at The Rocks, was still there until quite recently.

Managing the entire project was AGC’s very personable Group Promotions Co-ordinator, Jill Woods (pictured here as Editor of the 1985 Report to Staff). Jill is now CEO of the Penrith Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Watsons Bay – 13 August 2009

By train, bus and ferry they came to enjoy the food, booze, million-dollar view, and excellent company at The Watson Bay Hotel. Some even undertook a pre-lunch walk to South Head.

Between them, these photos show all but one of the sixteen 1925ers and one visitor (John Salamonsen) who were able to attend. It was good to welcome back Brian and George who are recovering well from their hip & knee operations; and to welcome first-timer, Vic Olenych (who managed to avoid the camera).

Just after asking, “What’s a press gang?”, Roy volunteered to organise a lunch at Woy Woy on October 8th. Details to come, but please mark your diary.

For the record, those in the photo below are (from left to right): Bob Clarke, Doug Craighead, Ian Nay, John Leplaw, John Barker, Terry Colley, Barry Smith, George de Jong, Brian Camps, Nev Hine, Roy Whittaker, John McCullough, Peter Crumlin & John Salamonsen. In the photo above, but not in the other, are Ron O’Neil (seated 4th from left) and Athol Jenner (2nd from right). As mentioned, Vic Olenych appears in neither photo.

Aah, committees…

There were many committees formed during the days of AGC. This one produced an award-winning Report to Staff in 1981.






The committee members are pictured here interviewing the then Group General Manager, Keith Jack.


From left to right: Charles Davies-Scourfield (HO Advertising), Ian Nay (NSW Consumer), Dawne Zotz (NSW Insurances), Keith Jack, Kerry Benson (Data Processing) and Peter Hunt (HO Property Finance).

Tragically, Keith passed away in 1982 at the far too early age of 55.

Le Chifley

With all the demolition & reconstruction going on in the city, it’s good to see that one great institution survives: Le Chifley. Or as it was better known to us: Fred’s.

The café (or bistrot a vin, to be exact) was referred to as Fred’s because that was the name of the very congenial owner of the place. A Frenchman with the unlikely name of Fred Robinson, he sold the business but is said to be a fairly regular visitor.

Fridays just weren’t the same if we didn’t have a longish lunch at Fred’s. The food was always good, and the house wine at least plentiful. And there was always the mad ring-around on Friday mornings to find out how many were going so as to be able to grab a table large enough to accommodate us all.

Then there was Wally, the newspaper vendor in Elizabeth Street. He was quite a character; and as we passed he’d announce to the world, “Read all about it…AGC executives going back to work pissed…again!” Quite amusing until one day, as Athol recalls, AGC’s chairman was walking behind us when he said it.

Good days.

Leura Conference

Considerable discussion among a few of the guys featured in this photo has failed to reach consensus on exactly when and why the conference was held.

Based on everyone’s best recollection, the date was most likely sometime in 1980. The exact reason for bringing such a mix of senior HR and Admin executives together could not be recalled.

However, there were some great memories of golf, squash and table tennis games; saunas and swimming pools; the Sydney participants being allocated interstate staff to pick up and return the interstaters to Mascot; farewell champagnes at the airport; and much more.

Venue was certainly the York Leura Gardens Resort in the Blue Mountains (although it was then called the Everglades Motor Inn). The course convenor was Peter Campbell who was National HR Manager at the time.

Left to Right: Ken House, Bob Bennett, David Beros, Dennis Fenton, John Leplaw, Bevan Harris, Col Lye, Peter Campbell, Frank Broadfoot, Les Mainwaring, Jim O’Brien, David Blowfield, John Bell – and Nev Hine in front.

It’s sad to note that John Bell passed away last year.

Talking about golf…

This photo was taken after a round at Moss Vale in 1975. It shows some of the group then called the Chatswood Hackers - and three of them featured in last week’s Manly photo. Can you spot them?

The Chatswood Hackers were current & past members of the AGC Chatswood District Office. They played most Saturday mornings at various courses around Sydney, but more regularly at Lane Cove and, later, at Castle Cove.

The really scary thing is that the little boy paying attention to his father’s putter is now much taller than his dad, and is a senior executive with Macquarie Bank.

Golf (?) at Manly

With many thanks to Peter Crumlin, a number of 1925ers had the pleasure of trying to play golf at Manly on 23 July 2009.

The Manly Golf Club course is about to undergo an extensive renovation that, it is said, will result in it being a totally different course. So this was an opportunity to play on the old format for the last time. And a great day it was!

A Stableford event was played, and it could be fairly said that the team of Crum, Roy & TC thrashed Nev, Clarkie & Lep. Scores could be revealed, but then you would have to be killed.

The Old Head Office Building

Just a bit of a change!

The old "AGC House", 124 Phillip Street, Sydney is show at right as it looked in 1967 - it was completed in 1963 - and the other shows how its replacement, Deutche Bank Place, looks today.

In the older photo, the white building (Vanguard Insurance) to the right of 124 was demolished to make way for 130 Phillip Street which subsequently became "AGC House".

More from the North

You may care to check-out the 3R Club's website shown below.

On it, you will find photos from their various functions; like this one from their recent weekend away at Ballina.

Pictured (from L to R) are: Ron Findlater, Bevan Harris, Ken House, Allan Case, Ron Forte, John Wheatley & Ray Morley. Paul Hauritz was unable to attend.

The website address is:

www.someroads.com/bevanharris/3RClub

The Queensland Affiliate

Like us, some of the Queensland boys get together on a regular basis for a meal, a few drinks, and a chat about old times. They call themselves The 3R Club (Retired, Redundant and/or Retrenched).

Bevan Harris tells that they number about 14, and they even have an annual weekend away. He has promised a photo or two from that event (being held next month), and has provided this one for starters. It was taken at a function to celebrate Ken House’s 80th birthday in November last year.

Just in case you haven’t seen these guys for a while, they are (from left to right): Bevan, Ron Forte, John Wheatley, Ray Morley, Paul Hauritz, Ron Findlater and Ken House (sitting).

It would appear that they haven’t found the Fountain of Youth either.

The Unknown Borrower

It’s hard to believe that it has been over ten years since Head Office moved from the 124 & 130 Phillip Street buildings to Carrington Street. So maybe it’s timely to remember the Tom Bass sculpture that was affixed to the front of the 124 Phillip Street building since its opening in 1963, and was commonly referred to as The Unknown Borrower.

The good news is that this important piece of artwork has survived the demolition of the building, and is now displayed in a courtyard off the foyer of the building Deutsche Bank Place (which now stands on the site).

In case you’ve ever wondered, Tom Bass has said that “the AGC Sculpture is an emblem of the hire purchase system represented by a mechanical corporate tree. The branches of the tree represented the various activities of the AGC group of companies, as it existed then. The two top branches represent the dominant lending arm and the supporting arm is insurance, which is an important feature of every hire purchase transaction.
“These two arms support an automobile wheel – the automobile industry had always been supported by AGC. At the base of the tree there are two powerful protective arms, which could also be seen as roots. They represent the importance of security and stability, which are of vital significance in the hire purchase industry. This emblem represents the hire purchase industry as an essential feature of our industrial commercial society, which would collapse if the hire purchase process did not exist.”

Yesteryear Photo

Unfortunately, the date and venue for this gathering have been lost in the mists of time.

It looks likes it's part of a District Managers' Conference with all the (then) State Office heavies in attendance.

There are bound to be a few faces there that will bring back memories (good and otherwise). And we still see some of those faces (looking a bit different) on a regular basis.

Epping Hotel 07 May 09

Not one of our better group shots - taken by Lep after Athol, Owen & Rob Mc had left.

Woy Woy 19 Feb 09

Celebrating Barry Smith's 75th Birthday.

Rugby Club 20 Nov 08

And these guys had a lot more to smile about a few weeks later.

P J O'Brien's City 30 Sep 08

P J Gallaghers Parramatta 31 Jul 08

Epping Club 15 May 08

Everyone's looking dazed after Lep nearly sent them blind trying to get the camera's timer to work.

Paying us a visit, that's John Salamonsen (ex Westpac) on the right.

Woy Woy 21 Feb 08

Celebrating John Mc and Roy's 70th Birthdays with Robyn & Lyn from the old AGC switchboard days.

Rugby Club 06 Dec 07

That's Shep between John Mc and Smalley.

The Friend In Hand 11 Oct 07

Yes, that's a cockatoo in front of Rob Mc.

Sydney Boat Show 03 Aug 07

Col McPherson showed the guys some very big (and expensive) toys for boys.

Mosman Rowers 19 Jul 07

Rugby Club 29 Mar 07

Celebrating Rollo's 75th Birthday.

Rugby Club 28 Nov 06

Sydney Boat Show 08 Aug 06

Yes, that's Col McPherson on the left.

Rugby Club 28 Mar 06

Celebrating Athol's 75th Birthday with

special guest, Jon Masters (sitting next to Baz)

Woy Woy 16 Feb 06

Woy Woy 24 Feb 05

Although the lunches started in 2002, this was the first at which a photo was taken.

The arm is thought to belong to Crum.