Rosco Club History

The 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.

		Rosco was built on sweat and hard work.
		Of course machinery can help!

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.

A clubhouse was added in 1962 when the members successfully tendered for the removal of a 3 bedroomhouse at Fennell Bay for £50.  After the house wasreassembled at Eraring once again the members wentto 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.