Born in Bankstown in the late 1940s, it never occurred to this kid that there was anywhere else outside of "Banky". In the days before television, the only invasion by foreign forces, as we kids regarded it at the time, was the Queen on her tour of NSW. Bankstown North, the public school which put up with me for seven years, hasn't changed much in the intervening 50-plus years. Liverpool Road (Hume Highway on most maps) still runs past the old 2-story brick school plus assorted outbuildings. We students if I remember rightly were assembled on the central median strip. Assorted adults, teachers, parents and local shopkeepers took up the prime position almost on the city-bound lanes as the motorcade paraded by. There was no worry in those days about barriers, tapes or any form of Health and Safety regulations! In reality Her Majesty raced by due most likely to being held up by people more important to Those Running Things than us Westies. For years later, hundreds of locals told how beautiful the Queen looked, how she waved specially at them; all I remembered at the time was the beautiful black limo. Someone must have spent hours with sweat, cloth and polish, ensuring it would look the part.
The shopkeepers, by the way, made a killing that day, feeding the audience who were all feeling cheerful after seeing our reigning monarch. The jars of lollies in Frank Smythe's corner store were soon emptying into paper bags, or directly down eager throats.
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