Gray Terry Marilyn. Gray Terry Marilyn
1965- Current
Written by Terry Gray
I grew up in Kukerin. On leaving school I worked for my Dad on the family farm. After a few years I did share farming on my Dad’s farm, and also on a neighbours property.
Late in 1965, the year I turned 21, I was allocated a new land C.P. Block, Williams location #15478, 25 kms North East of Nyabing. I grew my first crop in 1967 and for the first few years, still lived with my parents and helped on the family farm when not working on ‘the block’.
Terry Gray speaking at the 50th Anniversary of the Nyabing All Saints Church – October, 2017
Marilyn, a girl from Bunbury, and I were married in April 1972. We decided to make Nyabing our home town. I had played football for Kukerin for many years and decided to retire as I had an injured knee. But the first time Jack Gannaway delivered mail to our farm, he talked me into playing for the Kent Football Club which was coached by Jack’s son, Ray. This was a good move as Marilyn and I soon got to know many people in the Nyabing area. So we quickly felt part of the district. Also I was privileged in being able to play in the Kent Football team that won the 1973 Grand Final.
I kept clearing our ‘block’, as we called it then, until all the arable land was cleared in 1977. The ‘block’ then became our farm ‘Graceland’. It consisted of all good light land – loam, sand and gravel over clay – a duplex soil type.
I concentrated on having good sub-clover pastures, putting on plenty of superphosphate, which was still cheap to purchase at that time. For the 41 years we farmed on Graceland, it produced very good crops and pastures for most of those years, with the exception of some very dry years when both the land and income suffered. Over all, the farm was very good to us, and for this we are very grateful.
When we were first married we had no phone and no mains power. When we needed to make a phone call, we went to our neighbours, four km’s away. To go onto both the phone and power some years later was a great blessing to us.
Our three children, Ruth, Darren and Brad went to Nyabing Primary School and then Katanning Senior High School. Ruth worked in childcare in Mandurah, where she met and married Cameron McGill. They lived in Mandurah for a couple of years, and then came to live in Nyabing. We are blessed to have them and our three grandsons living in the same town as us.
Nyabing General Store
Darren worked in Perth for several years, but is now managing the Nyabing General Store which we took over as a family business in 2007. Brad went to University and is now a Civil Engineer and he has done very well in his career. He lives in Perth with his wife Jodie, and their two young daughters.
With our two boys not wanting to be farmers, we leased and then sold our farm in 2009. We decided to retire into the Nyabing town so we can help Darren in the store. Because we have the Post Office in the store, we now know all the people in the town and also those living on the farms in the Nyabing District.
Over the years we have enjoyed participating in a number of community activities – various sports; School, P&C, Church, Nyabing News, Fire Brigade, Farmers Federation, Shire, Landcare and Historical Society.
We are happy to still be living in Nyabing and find the town a really good place to live.