ROSCO History
he
Rosco Club was formed on April 25, 1958
when the Newcastle based "Woodlands" club
from Sydney decided at a meeting held on
Red Ochre beach (now known as Birdie beach)
to form their own Newcastle based club.
ROSCO stands for Red Ochre Swimming Club (the "O"
is added to make a word). Initially a friend allowed the
use of his property on a once a fortnight basis. The owner
had a dear old dog named Willa, so from that day on,
our club area was known as Willa Gully. Our first
day
at Willa Gully was wet but despite this, we tramped over
squelchy hills down into the gully. The slopes of the
gully were covered with thick brush and young gum trees,
providing excellent screening. A natural spring running
into a small pool assured us of an adequate supply of
water. In time we soon developed a shelter shed and a
volleyball court. An enterprising member provided us
with a battery and set up an electric light, a luxury we
all made use of.
Four
years later a rapidly growing club soon outgrew
Willa Gully and Rosco decided to buy a property.
As we had saved a considerable amount of money at
the rate of 2 shillings per week per family, the club
purchased 12 acres at Eraring for £175 and working bees
went into action to build a nudist club. The Newcastle
Sun newspaper covered the opening of Rosco with a story
and photos.
Rosco was built on
sweat and hard work.
Of course machinery can
help!
A
clubhouse was added in 1962 when the members
successfully tendered for the removal of a 3 bedroom
house at Fennell Bay for £50. After the house was
reassembled at Eraring once again the members went
to work to develop it into a clubhouse.
An in ground pool was installed in 1967, it was funded by
the issue of debentures to cover the cost of materials.. Vandalism
was a constant problem. On October 1971
disaster struck with fires ravaging Rosco.
In typical Rosco style the grounds were rebuilt to their
former beauty.
In
January 1972 electricity was connected to the property.
In 1974 a modern toilet block was constructed and 2
years later the clubhouse was extended and revamped.
Eraring site clubhouse
and swimming pool.
Aerial photo of the
Eraring site.
In 1977
rumour turned into fact when the then
Electricity Commission decided to build the Eraring
Power station on the site. Due to constant flooding
of our grounds and a compensation offer too good to
refuse, the decision was made to move to our present
location in the Watagan Mountains.
Early
in 1976 a 40 acre property was purchased and an
in ground swimming pool and clubhouse were immediately
built.
In 1980
a fire truck was purchased from Awaba
Fire Brigade to ensure the safety and well being of the
club. In August 1980 a second amenities block was
constructed on the lower area of the grounds.
The
Rosco club was incorporated on August 27, 1987.
The
year 1988 was a busy year with the construction
of both the cookhouse and a second and larger
clubhouse.
A
children's clubhouse was erected in 1993 and has
since been furnished with all the latest "mod cons"
to keep the kids entertained!
Other
amenities which have been added over the
years include tennis ,badminton, miniten and
volleyball courts. Solar heating has been added to
our swimming pools.
A
convention is a gathering of ANF affiliated
nudist clubs from throughout Australia on an annual
basis at a chosen nudist venue. Competitions are
held in many sports along with a hectic social
schedule. Over the years Rosco has been host of 5
Australian Nudist Federation (ANF) conventions in
1980/81, 1984/85, 1989/90, 1993/94 and 2000/01.
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