Traralgon and District Historical Society Inc.

    Mayfield - Memories of the May Family   
                                                                                                                                                           by Joy Lancaster
   
Mayfield, the home of Colin and Alison May, situated in May Road, Tyers, was the destination of our excursion on Sunday, 2nd April. Upon our arrival we were welcomed by Colin and Alison, Colin's sister, Jean Hill,  and their cousins, Coral Archer and Sue Hill. Coral and  Colin told us about the history of the May family and this was followed by a short walk along  May Road to Rintoul's Creek. We were shown where the bridge used to be before being washed away. The house that Colin lives in now was built on the east side of the creek and was moved in two parts on low loaders, through the ford, to its present site.

After walking back to Mayfield, afternoon tea was served in the gazebo where we enjoyed the view across the Latrobe Valley to the distant Strzelecki Ranges. Our thanks to Lois Couch for arranging this excursion and to all members of the May family for their hospitality and family history. A very pleasant Sunday afternoon was enjoyed by all.

                                                                                                                                                              by Colin May
The 80 acres of land on the west side of Rintoul's Creek  was purchased by my grandfather in 1913.  He dairy farmed there but we don't know how many cows were milked or how many pigs were kept. Cows were milked by hand and horse drawn machinery was used.  In 1920 160 acres were purchased on the east side of Rintoul's Creek and the milking was done there. A ford was used as a creek crossing. My father and uncle continued on the dairy farm after my grandfather retired, milking 80 -100 cows.

 During the '50s a new dairy was built by Arty Popjoy and Reg Hodson, and a new house was built by Bill Hallam. Cropping consisted of millet, oats and turnips. Eddy O'Mara and dad harvested together making the hay crops into sheaves. Later a stationary press was purchased along with a sweep, then used to make square bales.
The first tractor was a twin city with steel spiked wheels. Cream was taken in cans on a horse drawn cart to Burnetts Rd,  Glengarry West, where it was left on a stand to be taken to the Glengarry Butter Factory. The skim milk was fed to the pigs. When dad stopped breeding pigs he sent milk in cans to to the Traralgon factory. Then along came bulk milk vats that were water cooled, replaced by refrigerated vats in the 1970s. Town water was put on from the      Tyers-Glengarry Road at this time. The 160 acres was sold after mum passed away in 1989.