A shoe factory in Woy Woy

I started school at Woy Woy Public School in 1936.

Then, the old Bay View Hotel was still standing where Deepwater Plaza stands today.

This site was to become Nielson Slippers and Joyce Shoes factory.

The veranda was taken away and extensions were added on the front of the building.

The ground floor was to be the clicking (cutting) room and store room.

The cellar was to hold inflammable solutions.

Upstairs was the machine room where the shoes were sewn.

Across the road in Charlton St, a new building was built for the making of the shoes and dispatch outlet.

Christmas parties were held every year at the Masonic Hall.

The total staff reached 140. Some were transferred from the main factory in Smail St, Broadway.

The rest was all local labour.

I started my apprenticeship as soon as the buildings were completed.

In May 1948, a tragedy took place when seven of the men from the making room arranged a fishing trip.

They left Ettalong on the Saturday morning and never returned.

A foot and air search took place for several weeks until the 40th day when they were assumed deceased.

On the same day, three men left Pearl Beach and were never seen again.

The story made the headlines in all the city newspapers for weeks and a memorial was erected on Railway St donated by the employees and management.

It remained there until the closure of the factory which was moved to Melbourne.

The memorial was then taken to the waterfront at Koolewong where it was vandalised.

It now stands at the main gates of Point Clare Cemetery.

Bruce Richards, Woy Woy