As a six-year-old in 1941, she had been sent there by her parents from Sydney.

They had become increasingly concerned about the ever-closer threat of war.

War, by that point, had left the main stage of Europe and entered the Pacific region. 

My mother, Eileen Jenkins (nee McManus), was sent to the Sisters of Mercy school in Binda.

Due to the distance between Binda and Sydney, her parents found it difficult to visit regularly.

Friends of theirs, the Hallams of Crookwell, took my mother and her older sister into their home for weekends.

The Hallams owned a property called ‘Rossmoyne’.

My mother often talked about the wonderful times she spent there with the Hallam family.

Expecting nothing more than a drive around Binda and Crookwell last week quickly turned into an afternoon of adventure and discovery.

We were kindly assisted by the lovely lady at the Binda General Store.

She showed mum a recently written book that contained her details as a boarder at the Sisters of Mercy school.

At her suggestion, we then headed to the Crookwell Information Centre.

At the Crookwell Information Centre, we were ably assisted by Jo, Andrew and other staff who put us in touch with the lovely Mary Willis, head of the Crookwell Historical Society. 

Mary had a direct connection with the Hallam family.

She was gracious enough to take Mum to walk the grounds of ‘Rossmoyne’.

We are very grateful for the kindness and generosity of the property’s current owners, who allowed Mum to wander freely, reliving and recounting wonderful days of long ago.

My mother and I would like to thank all the people we encountered that day.

It was a marvellous experience for us and every single person we met went out of their way to help us.

Crookwell and Binda: beautiful places and wonderful people living in them.