Modra Lloyd
| Type of person | Individual |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | 1923 |
| Place of birth | Sister Greenslade’s hospital King st |
| Date of death | 2009 |
Lloyd Modra 10/01/1923 –19/08/2009
Lloyd Modra contributed a lifetime's work to the culture and progress of the town.
Lloyd was born in Gawler, at Sister Greens, on January 10, 1923 and passed away last Wednesday, August 19. He was 86, years-old. His strength of character, intelligence and sense of humour will be sadly missed. . The following tribute is an extract from local author Martin Johnson’s book… City of Now — from 'Chatting with Lloyd Modra’
“ONE hundred and ten shovel-fulls equalled one ton of sand using a number three cyclone shovel," Lloyd said, adding, "I wore out a shovel every 12 months."
'It was either hard work or weak steel his son Tom laughed. His wife Dawn, laughing also, laughter is the order of the afternoon. This was the antidote for the worries and woes of life. You could see it in their eyes the smiles that came readily to their mouths
I'm sitting with them in the kitchen of the family home. Our thoughts being carried away on the back of a flat tray K.M. Bedford truck doing deliveries through the Gawler streets.
ALL TYPES of carrying carefully and promptly attended to, L.G. Modra Overway Bridge Road – so the ad ran in The Bunyip from more than 50 years ago.
This included broken eggshells from Browns Egg Factory_located where the Shell service station is today in Murray street-- to chaff for Scotts Chaff mill (Roseworthy)
“Four of us would start at seven in the morning” Lloyd explained , “one filled the bags with chaff while another sewed them up. My off-sider operated the cutting machine leaving me to handle every sheaf . By eight minutes to one in the afternoon we had cut 21 ton. I would have filled Evanston Racecourse with all the things I have carried over the years.”
This included gravel from the Goldfields, bran and pollard , sand for Cement Linings- where Foodland is today”. Lloyd also delivered five-ton loads of sand that he would shovel from the railway trucks that carried 40 tons of the fine material. “Took a day and a half to finish the job “he smiled
After the morning deliveries of whatever-was-going , Lloyd would collect the parcels from the goods shed at the Gawler Railway Station and deliver them to the various traders of the town, the day finished off by shifting people’s furniture or a dozen other things (Talk has it the units opposite the tennis courts were built on top of a Dodge sedan that Lloyd dumped there when it was a hole dug out for the clay used at the Hallet brickworks in Paxton st)
“I carted 30-odd thousand bricks for the company, all loaded and unloaded by hand, at six bricks at a time , I could unload 2500 of them in an hour” Lloyd declared.
Lloyd can also be credited with the carrying of the last parcels from the Parcel Office at the Gawler Railway station after 31 years as a carrier , this was in the mid 1980’s “I bought that truck brand new “ Lloyd reminisced, “from Quarton Wher & Starling General Motors nearly opposite the town clock,cost me 1,218 pound, this was in 1953, seven years after starting his truck driving career with Henry Bennet when “I carted grog from West End Brewery to all the Pubs in Gawler”.
“Like all those times now lost to the passing of the years, it was time for me to go”
And as I stood to shake his gentle hand , I could feel that part of Gawler life still running through his veins, a life we can only imagine Like Lloyd , who carted “Gawler” through its streets on the back of his Bedford flat bed tray truck, his hands happy about the steering wheel, and a song in his heart,
..A chat with Lloyd Modra by Robert Laidlaw, 2005
LLOYD Modra did not start playing sport until his mid-20s, but remembers it as an enjoyable experience by 'which people entertained themselves in the period before and after World War IL.
Born in a house at King street in Gawer, Lloyd was raised at Roseworthy on the family farm, and attended the local primary school until he was 13 years old, then left to begin work.
"I remember the school was about a mile and a half away from home, and we walked across paddocks and along the railway line each day," Lloyd said "We played a bit of cricket at school, and a little football, but our spare time was usually taken up with work, so sport was always secondary.
"When I left school it was to work on the farm, and it was common to cart around 170 pound bags and plough the paddocks with our own horses
“It wasn’t until after I moved into Gawler that I actually started playing sport , there just wasn’t time for sport while on the farm”
In 1948 Lloyd married Dawn Blunt, whose father was a ticket Collector at Terrowie and had been transferred to Gawler. Every Saturday night Lloyd rode his bike to the Gawler Blocks dance, where the couple met. They have one son, Tom, and no grandchildren. With sporting opportunities abounding in the town, Lloyd started playing cricket for Riverside on arrival, and after a couple of years joined Gawler. But then he picked up a tennis racquet, and continued in the sport for the Gawler Railway Club until retiring in his late 30s. "Every Saturday afternoon for many years it was tennis," Lloyd said. "Wherever you went to play, you just did your best, and if you lost, nobody cared, it was just about enjoying yourself and some good relaxation. The home team always put on a supper.
"The tennis people were a fantastic mob. There was Len and Clarice Clarke, who are both gone now, Alwyn and Garth Busbridge, Daphne Busbridge, Phylis Hayles, Dawn Zemer, Colin and Betty Smoker, Robert Edmonds, and Jack and Clarice Hibbard, they were all great friends. "Not too many years we weren't in the grand final, and we won more than we lost, 11 in a row. I remember one game when I was 5-0 up and leading 40-0 with serve; but lost! I couldn't take a trick, but afterwards we shook hands and had fun. "We enjoyed what we did, and the biggest highlight from my time in sport was the friendships and the good company. "I remember one grand final against Williamstown when the temperature was about 34. We won by two games and then went straight to the pub. I suppose we were lucky no-one died that day!”
Despite retiring from tennis, Lloyd continued his involvement with sport, operating gates at Evanston Race course for 32 years. He never missed a meeting, finishing in Christmas 2005. He also assisted at the trotting track, which was around Gawler Oval.
But although working closely with punters, Lloyd wasn’t much of a betting man, and it is said would take two bob pocket and put it in the other! He had no interest in gambling, and rarely bet on a horse too, money was too hard to come by to let it go so easily.
When Lloyd originally left the farm, he worked first at ICI at Dry Creek in the pick and shovel days, then started driving a truck. After three years he transferred to Gawler, working with HT Bennett, carrying everything from Adelaide to Gawler. Eventually he, started his own carrying business in 1953, near the Gawler Railway Station, and purchased a three tonne Bedford truck from Quarton Wher & Starling, which cost £1218. Although retired from full time work, he still did some light duties and always loved the job. "It's the people you meet," said Lloyd. "You get talking and make good friends, especially here in Gawler.
While playing tennis may not have left Lloyd scarred, he has had plenty of scraps in other ways. One day his brother was hammering and the end came off and broke his nose! Another time he picked up a cricket bat, and got whacked, resulting in eight stitches from Dr. Dawes. A bloke took him home in the back of his horse and cart:
Then there was the time a cart upended and he lost most of his teeth. He thought he broke his jaw after having them cleaned out, and lived on icecream for weeks. Among other claims to fame, he says the Crows former glamour full forward Tony Modra is a distant relative; he also had the distinction of making all the bricks for his house; and carted one local man's rubbish — John Duncan — for 49 years, 11 months and two days! Lloyd said despite having a hard life, it had been enjoyable, adding "You take the good with bad, I can not complain, I've met so many good people."
THE BUNYIP GAWLER, Wednesday March2, 2005 story by Robert Laidlaw
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