Joe B - the Gosford Private horse
Surgical patient, Lyn, recently shared her experience of raising a family in North Gosford before and during the development of Gosford Private.
Transcript of Interview with Lynette Scales
My name is Lyn Scales, I used to live in the area before the hospital was built. The paddocks were orchards originally, then they became horse paddocks. I had a horse, which is in the photo on the wall of the hospital – his name was ‘Joe B’, he was a pony club pony and my daughter used to ride him. This area was known for its horses at the time.
When we first shifted here, Henry Parry Drive didn’t go right through. It was known as Winton Street, and there was the original Gosford Cemetery where they moved the gravestones from there out to Point Frederick, which were the pioneers of the area.
This area was known for its oranges, this area right through up to Rumbalara was all orchards. They started the housing estates in the late 50s and early 60s. The ones down the bottom at Wyoming, a lot of those were housing commission and war service homes, then they gradually opened up into normal housing in the 70s.
This was just a horse paddock, then the hospital was built in 1973. It was good to come, it added a bit of interest to the place, I must admit. We wondered why in the hell they were building it here, but in the long run it was a good thing, it opened up the area, it made the area more accessible as far as having an area where the surgeons were more accessible. Then they built a demountable school next door for Lisarow High, then it became an Aboriginal and community thing then. It seemed to do a lot for the area, the hospital being built.
When it was first built, it was only virtually surgical and medical, then it had a maternity ward put in and a children’s ward.
[When one of the nurses asked if I had seen the photo down in the foyer] I said it could be one of two horses, Old Sonny, he was a little white pony – he was 40 when he died. But as soon as she showed it to me, I knew it was ‘Joe B’, his whole name was Joe Brown, because the lady that bred him was Lorraine Brown, because he was the only boy in the family.
I have ridden him, but my daughter used to. She did pony club with him, took him to the State Show Jumping Championships when she was 10, so he was a good little all round pony. He went a long way in the area, he was quite known in the horsey circles around here.
And so, the mystery of the 'white horse' has been solved. It was great to hear Lyn's reflections on the history of the area and the close ties with her family. She also mentioned that some of the staff at the hospital today, were and still are close friends that she grew up with in North Gosford, even before Gosford Private Hospital was built.
