Ena’s life on the land
• Ena Hall in her beloved garden at North Scottsdale.
By Daisy Baker
February 10, 2021
A life on the land is what North Scottsdale’s Ena Hall has always known.
She was raised at Pleasant Banks at Ringarooma where her family ran a dairy farm.
Her father made cheese and Mrs Hall and her five siblings shared a love of the land.
She has fond memories of her time at Ringarooma area school and said she kept in touch with the other members of the class of 1943 throughout her life.
At 91 years of age, Mrs Hall is the last surviving member of the class group.
“I used to ride a bike to school from Pleasant Banks to the area school, 2.5 miles every day and then ride down to get the mail on Saturday and ride down to Sunday school on Sunday,” she said.
“I used to take calves to the area school show. I’d lead the calves 2.5 miles from Pleasant Banks down to the show and usually someone would come and help if I took more than one.”
When her family moved to Carisbrook at Legerwood, she continued to show their cows and calves, leading them to Ringarooma and meeting other entrants along the way.
One year she took out the title of Champion Calf at the show.
Mrs Hall said she met her late husband Lance at a dance at the Lyric Theatre one night and ‘that was that’.
They were married at the Methodist church at Legerwood in 1950 and then spent three and a half years farming near Wynyard.
On a trip to the area they found a farm that fitted the bill, which they renovated significantly.
“We saw a farm and quite liked it except the house wasn’t too good – we moved in with rats,” she laughed.
“We did a lot of work and I did the house up, painted and everything.
“We liked it down there but we doubled our money on that farm within that time and as Lance was a Scottsdale Hall and I came from Ringarooma, we both felt drawn to this area so we came back here.”
After a six-month stint looking after Blackwood Park for Trevor Burrows, the couple started looking for a farm of their own in the North-East when they came across what is today known as Quarterway Angus.
In 1954 they bought 170 acres which included a small three-bedroom home.
With an Angus stud and dairy cows, the Halls gradually purchased more parcels of neighbouring land to expand the farm.
Here they raised their four children Vicki, Peter, Christopher and Trevor, who all took a keen interest in farm life.
“We sold the whole milk to Cyril, Lance’s brother, then Bill his brother took that on and we sold whole milk into Scottsdale for quite a few years.
“We had the milking machine ticking over every morning at 4.30.
“At our most here, we milked 140 cows and I didn’t mind milking the cows – I quite liked the cow shed and feeding them.”
Quarterway Angus is now run by Trevor but Mrs Hall continues to live in the farm house.
Mrs Hall said she has witnessed significant changes in farming technology over her lifetime, but they’ve been changes for the better.
“I think now farming, you can’t compare it with where we started because it was totally different – in our day if you had say 25 cows and a few calves and perhaps half a dozen pigs and maybe a little crop of potatoes, you could live on that for 12 months.
Now it would hardly buy your grocery bill,” she said.
“Farming has altered but it’s definitely better. It was such hard work and the men worked long hours.
“On farm I’m all for modern technology. I remember when we started here, it was hard work and it was really hard work for the men at harvest time.”
Mrs Hall vividly recalls one harvest in particular when they were growing peas for the factory.
“I’d always feed the gangs of men. The biggest day was one Sunday and I think I had 26 for lunch and about 15 for tea.
“My daughter Vicki and I also milked the cows – it was a big day,” she laughed.
Mrs Hall said both she and Lance were quite involved in the community.
Mr Hall was an active member of the Lions Club and president of the Show society for around seven years, meanwhile Mrs Hall was head steward of home crafts for many years, winning plenty of prizes for her cooking entries.
“At the show I think I did about everything from selling tickets and cleaning out the sheds and getting everything ready through to entertaining governors and the Prime Minister,” she said.
“One year we had a visit from Gough Whitlam and his wife. They were just lovely people. I felt like a little kid.”
The Halls pressed pause on their busy farm life every now and then, taking it in turns to enjoy some time at Ansons Bay.
“My sister and I used to load up all the family – she had five boys and I had the four children – and away we’d go to Ansons Bay and have a holiday with the children and when we came home we would milk the cows and everything and let our husbands go to the Bay and have a break,” Mrs Hall remembered.
“I loved fishing at Ansons Bay. The children all learned to swim and ski. We had wonderful times out there.”
Mrs Hall said she has enjoyed living a busy life and is struggling to slow down and embrace a slower pace these days.
Over the years she has developed a beautiful garden around the farm house, which she still enjoys tending to when she is able.
“The thing I love more than anything is gardening. I always say the two things I couldn’t live without are music and flowers,” she said fondly.
Looking out of her North Scottsdale farmhouse Mrs Hall said she is pleased to have spent the majority of her 91 years in the North-East.
“We loved this area. It’s a beautiful spot to live,” she said.
“I have no regrets with my life, I’ve had a good life. I’ve had a lot of fun too along the way too.”