On driving through the gates of Tudor House in early November 2023 I was overwhelmed by a wonderful feeling of childhood nostalgia. It took me back to the late 1970s a period during which I spent six formative years of my childhood at Tudor.
Vivid memories came flooding back of boys running, climbing trees, falling over, building cubbies, racing bikes, tinkering
in the workshop, trapping rabbits, sailing yachts, getting wet, cold and grubby in the sometimes bleak and damp Southern Highlands climate. We made mischief and while the list could go on, we were above all simply having fun outdoors just being boys.
My wife and I had taken her parents Henry and Trish Harrison back to Tudor for a long-overdue visit. Like me, Henry had been the ‘oldest inhabitant’ when he left Tudor House in 1949 a little earlier than when I left in 1978 although our childhood memories of Tudor are so similar they might have been shared across the same generation.
It was a wonderful visit back to Tudor with family giving us all the chance to indulge our wives in memories of the past. What has always amazed me is how closely Henry’s and my experiences at Tudor align, despite being separated by nearly 30 years. While the outside world had advanced significantly during that time the essence of Tudor had remained much the same. Those experiences were undoubtedly foundational for both of us and in my case have shaped how I have approached life and its many opportunities ever since.
Tudor fostered in me a collegiate yet independent and inquisitive spirit that took root as I grew up in this wonderful setting far from home and family with the comfort of escaping back to a country upbringing on the North Coast of New South Wales during term breaks.
While my son and daughter may not have been able to share those same experiences I hope I have passed on to them some
of the character traits that Tudor and its community nurtured in me. I know Henry in his relationship with my family has done just that and for that I’ll always be grateful.
Just as we did for Henry and Trish I’m sure that one day when I am a little older and hopefully a little wiser Harry and Sammy will bring me back for a nostalgic visit to Tudor. I’ll look forward to that day.
