Cottage by the Sea

1 July

This is the sweet story of 3 River Street in Yamba, an unassuming cottage that still stands today. While it may look like a simple fibro shack from the outside, the original hand sawn timber walls and panelled ceilings house generations of memories.

Through the eyes of Lynette Weir, the granddaughter of the cottage’s original owners, Marie and George, we get an insight into what life was like in Yamba was known as the Seaside Resort’ where people went to “improve their health”.

So why tell the story of a little cottage in a little town by the sea? It is not a house of a large farming dynasty, or an important large significant historic building in Sydney, nor even Grafton. It is a small, originally four roomed, cottage on a narrow block of land in Yamba, a once isolated quiet haven that is now a bustling seaside holiday and retirement town. In many ways the little cottage tells the town’s story.

It is important to tell the story of this little cottage because it is part of our family history. It is especially important to my Dad who spent a lot of time maintaining and improving it for his parents while they were alive.

As kids all our family remembers lying in bed at night under mosquito nets hung from hooks on the ceiling, and still the mosquitos buzzed. We watched the winking light shine through the gaps in the wall boards and listened to the surf from the surrounding beaches as each wave struck the sand and swept out to sea again. For me, the best nights were the stormy ones when the sea was pounding and the steady crashing waves sent me off to sleep.

Memories of family crowding in, sleeping on bunk beds, extra beds and lounges so we could spend time with Marie and George, our grandparents. Days of fishing, swimming, reading and eating the home made meals, corned meat and pickles sandwiches and cakes made by our grandma, Marie. Of family meals, yearly family fishing festivals, sand, beaches and fishing, always fishing.

Read more about 3 River Street here.