Joan Mayo Reminiscences 2002

Reminiscences of Joan Mayo, nee Hodges, 2002

Joan’s father was Fred Hodges who was gardener for William Nelson from 1928 to 1936 or 1937

He mowed all the lawns with a push mower and grew all the seedlings.  

There was a huge vegetable garden and glass frames where mushrooms were grown.

After working for the Nelsons, Fred Hodges Senior worked at Cornwall Park and died in 1956. Alice Hodges died in 1963.

There was an old-fashioned, climbing cluster-yellow “Banksia Rose” with no thorns beside a garden seat.

The Waikoko grounds were open to the public on Show days.

Wisteria grew along the length of the house and weather details and dates were written on the end of the house.

Baby trout were in the fountain until they were big enough to put into the lake. The Hodges family dog used to sit by the fountain and keep swans away while they were being fed. The trout were fed each morning and waited to be fed.

William Nelson had a cat which would run up his back on to his shoulder when out walking.

There were three houses on property [apart from the homestead] occupied by:
1   Mr and Mrs Horn, their son and daughter
2   Mrs Frizzell and her two daughters, Molly and Nora, plus two sons, George and Dick
Mrs Frizzell did the washing and ironing using a gas iron, wooden tubs and a copper.
3   The Hodges family – Fred Hodges, Alice Hodges, sons Fred and Jack and daughter Joan [Kathleen Joan]

They used to meet the Show people who camped at the end of Kenilworth Road by the railway line until they were allowed to go to their sites on the showgrounds.