Page 6 – POST, July 14, 2018

Life was a beach for Harold (100)

Ton up … SwanCare CEO Graham Francis with long-time Cottesloe resident Harold Masel at his Bentley care home.

POST PEOPLE

Harold Masel was a stand-up pioneer.

The long-time Cottesloe resi-dent, who turned 100 last week, lived for the beach.

“As a young man, Harold built his own surfboards, the precur-sor to today’s stand-up paddle boards,” his middle daughter Peta Edwards said.

“They were made of plywood and painted canvas – he would take them out on the waves with his friends at Cottesloe.”

Harold spent almost every day at Cottesloe beach, surfi ng and bodysurfi ng, after learning to swim at Albany while on holiday aged seven.

He went to Cottesloe Primary School and was at Scotch College from 1933, where he loved other sports.

“Harold represented Scotch in Alcock Cup football, the inter-school under-15 cricket and the inter-school swimming team,” Dr Edwards said.

“He did worry if the family

could afford the £7-a-term fees at Scotch.”

In between Cottesloe primary and Scotch, Harold was at school in Kalgoorlie, where his father had a jewellery shop.

Units built for the family at the time – called Bramler House, at 46 Broome Street, near the corner of Broome and Lillian streets – still stand.

Harold’s father and extended family came from Russia, and while they did not strictly practise the Jewish faith, Harold did attend the Saturday morning Jewish school as a young boy in Kalgoorlie.

Dr Edwards said she was proud her father was the youngest pharmacist to qualify in WA at the time, in 1939.

“He worked as a pharmacist his whole life, fi rstly for Gibson’s Pharmacy in Fremantle until 1962,” she said. “Then he pur-chased his own business in Graylands.”

Some years later, Harold bought Gibson’s Fremantle, in partnership with Don Edwards, whose nephew would later marry Harold’s daughter Peta.

Harold married Audrey (Anne) Letch at Fremantle’s Wesley Church in 1943.

“Anne was Pres-byterian and Harold’s father agreed to the wedding if they were married in the church foyer,” Dr Edwards said.

“They lived in Marine Parade, Cottesloe, in the fi rst year of their marriage, then in Fremantle before a fl at became available at Bramler House.

“They had a very happy tra-ditional marriage of the time.”

Anne was in the RAAF at the time of their wedding, but had to resign when pregnant with their fi rst child, Tania.

She and Harold had two more daughters, Peta and Karen.

“The whole family played at Cottesloe Tennis Club,” Peta said.

Harold’s wonky knee forced him out of tennis eventually and he and Anne took up golf and were members at Chidley Point in Mosman Park.

In an interview with a Grove library oral historian, Harold recalled being part of gas de-tection squads in the western suburbs and gun posts on the golf course during World War II.

He also recalled the beach-front tearooms, the Lido in Marine Parade, the Pioneer Bus Services, the Van Eileen hamburger stand and caddying at the golf course.

“Golf was an old man’s game back then,” Harold said at the time. “It was rare for young people to play.”

End of the line for Leighton building

Public Transport Authority (PTA) workers are knock-ing down the old Leighton yardmaster’s offi ce building at North Fremantle’s disused marshalling yards.

“The structure is severely degraded, has little heritage signifi cance and is a target for trespass and vandalism,” PTA spokesman David Hynes said.

“The poor structural condition

of the building is also a risk to the safety of the public and any PTA staff and contractors tasked with maintaining and repairing it.”

The offi ce building was built by WA Government Railways in 1966, and is not heritage listed.

The yards have been unused since the 1990s.

“Demolition is expected to be complete by the end of July,” Mr Hynes said.

North Fremantle’s old WA Government Railways building is a target for vandals, according to the PTA.

By DAVID COHEN

‘

’

He did worry if the family could

aff ord the £7-a-term

fees at Scotch

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