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Voices of the Hunter

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Jack Delaney

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Cessnock, NSW

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David Murdoch (1900-) - electrical engineer. Recorded 5 April 1982. Part 2/2.

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SummaryTAPE 189B DAVID MURDOCH.
Recorded 5 April 1982.
Part 2 of 2.

0:09
Depth of lift bucket at Aberdare was about 1500ft before they struck the coal. The bucket held 5 or 6 men.

0:36
Specifications of lift bucket walls - 4 to 5 ft in diameter. After they'd sunk it 50 ft they had to brick it - 2" round steel bars in the walls and then a wooden surround and brick over the top of these, up the 50ft. This was at 50 ft intervals.

1:50
Baker's brickyard, Aberdare South supplied the bricks.

2:15
"Monkey" Isedale, brick maker down the colliery yard

3:15
The clay was dug from near the pit. This became a dam. O'Hara was the man in charge at Baker's.

4:18
Recalls riding bicycle every day from Abernethy to Aberdare Extended till 1922.

4:45
David's dad had a brawl with Matt Clark and was put off.

4:49
Father pit top boss, Abermain No.2 and bought a 5 bedroom house at Cessnock on Wollombi Road down from the Australia Hotel.

5:18
Bill Murdoch (brother)

5:25
Jean Lynch (sister-in-law) married Bill

5:32
"Bun" Murdoch

5:43
Kempe's store, Abernethy

6:05
Toby Kempe

6:12
Mrs Richley's boarding house

6:54
Aberdare Hotel was where they drank. There was no township. People just knocked the scrub down and put up a humpy.

7:27
Fred Foster had the biggest place there - it had a billiard room.

7:37
McDonald's butcher shop, Aberdare and Quorrobolong

7:42
Jim McDonald (went to live in East Greta and drowned in his own dam), Don McDonald (was the butcher) - there were 3 brothers and one supplied timber. His mother used to make bread and scones every day.

9:23
Spec. of winding motor, Aberdare South - it was the widest shaft in Australia and was the reason why the power came from Cockle Creek to drive this big motor. It was driven by steam while David was there. Later David remembers a motor that was installed but which never turned a wheel. It may have been shifted to Kalingo.

10:54
Ted Hayler, Kalingo manager. Ted was manager at Little Cessnock before he went to Kalingo and under manager at Neath before that.

11:35
Clem Jones, Neath manager and Superintendent. Recollection of Ted's sisters working in the office.

12:49
Wilson Barrett followed Ted as manager at Little Cessnock

14:42
Recollection of orig. Cessnock golf course. 15:00 Recollection of tennis in Cessnock - George Ryder was involved in running the club.

15:36
Jock Sneddon, George Ryder, Rab Lewis all involved in tennis.

16:52 Arthur Donn suggested David go to Abermain No2 where there was all hand mining going on. In 3 months it became mechanised. 1956.

18:19
Eric Freeman (under manager) offered him a job just as he retired from Abermain No2

18:30
Worked at Sugarloaf Colliery, 1960-65 - it was a big pit with shuttle cars and mining loaders

18:50
Jack Freeman - father of Eric and Raymond

18:58
Raymond Freeman - storeman - David was the electrician and engineer.

20:24
Recollection of Sugarloaf Colliery

20:45
Keith Fraser - driver

20:52
Joe McHarg - teacher in electrical engineering

21:31
Reason Abermain Extended dam smaller

22:37
Size of condenser, Abermain Extended - 40 - 50 ft high

23:27
Aberdare supplied town lighting and then Cessnock

23:49
Bill Hannell

25:20
Electrical generators, Cockle Creek - 2 big ones and a small one (3Mw)

26:45
Abermain No.1 generated own power

26:56
Connection of power to Abermain No.2 and No.3. There used to be a rail line called the Old South Line which has now been pulled up.

28:25
Recalls riding bicycle to school -leaving home at 6am to go to Maitland High School to catch the 6.45am train at Caledonia station - returning at 6.20pm getting home at 7pm.

29:04
Attended Cessnock Primary School and still living at Aberdare when he went to high school. He rode his bike on the sleepers because there was no road. He did this for 2 and a half years.

29:50
Milton Mathieson followed his father Jim

30:05
Jim Mathieson, first Bellbird manager

30:36
Athol Lightfoot had a brawl with Jim Comerford (big Athol and little Jimmy)

30:50
Jim Comerford

31:21
Recollection of near elec. accident - the line from Millfield was a separate line at Extended. The fuses blew one day. David pulled the switch out because he knew something was wrong.

31:51
Bill Clark insisted on him putting another fuse in. David refused but someone else did and it blew straight away.

32:35
Bellbird line, Millfield line - the line fell across the rail line. The oncoming train driver saw the line hanging down and stopped the engine. The fireman (Cousins) jumped down and picked up the wire and threw it off the line. The line was alive.

34:30
Voltage of electrical power lines - 33,000 volts

35:06
Recalls constructing "broken" line - it was a straight through line from Cockle Creek to Extended - but sometimes they needed the line to be dead half way along. The hospital was on an ordinary circuit, not a special line.

39:15
Bruce McKensey - Stan McKensey

40:22
Cec Scorer - at Aberdare all his life. He was the top electrician at Aberdare. He looked after cables - never the winding.

41:17
Rewinding of transformers to low tension, Cockle Creek. Seven single phase transformers. The steam starts it away - it drives the rotor in the stater which are the stationary coils. 42:52 Description of electrical generation -

45:57
Recalls flooding of a weir at Cockle Creek which burned out a motor 1930s

46:56
End of tape Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

SubjectMurdoch, David, 1900- Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Cessnock (N.S.W.) Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

West Wallsend Coal Company Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Cockle Creek Power Station (N.S.W.) Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Cessnock (N.S.W.) Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Electric power systems Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

West Wallsend (N.S.W.) Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Coal mines and mining Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Lighting -- New South Wales Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Abernethy (N.S.W.) Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

PersonJack Delaney Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Depicts or Relates ToGeorge Ryder Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Cec Scorer Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Bruce McKensey Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Joe McHarg Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Ted Hayler Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Wilson Barrett Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Rab Lewis

Hugh "Bun" Murdoch Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

CreatorMurdoch, David, 1900- Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Delaney, Jack, 1919-2010 Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

CollectionVoices of the HunterPlaceCessnock, NSW Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Date Created5th April 1982 Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Location^[1]Cessnock, NSW Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

^[2]Aberdare South Colliery, NSW Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

^[3]West Wallsend, NSW Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Identifier189B Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

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