60 years shared south of the Barwon

SIXTY years ago on April 7, 1962, Judy and Ian Goddard were married at the Belmont Methodist Church.
The two met at the Belmont Tennis Club.

Judy, born and raised in Belmont, was just 20 years old, and Ian, who moved to the area from the central Victorian town of Wycheproof three years earlier, was 23.

Now 60 years on the couple have spent most of their married life living south of the Barwon and are still happily settled in amongst the gums, veggies and a big oak tree on their 50-acre farm in Freshwater Creek.

“We’ve lived in Freshwater Creek for 42 years now, and then Bellbrae before that, about 11 years. Very much locals. Always been south of the Barwon,” Judy said.

“There was nothing when we came but we’ve planted gums, we’ve got an oak tree and a few natives in the front.

“It’s pretty flat, and a bit stony, but we’ve go Thompson Creek running through the back of us which is
nice. There’s nothing that would stand out I don’t think, It’s small for around here.

“But we love it. We don’t want to ever leave, we walk around and the garden is an acre, it’s a bit unkept, but we just potter around.”

In their youth the couple were keen tennis players and very involved in the community.

 

Ian and Judy have always actively participated in the community, being committee members of the Bellbrae and Freshwater Creek tennis clubs, Bellbrae and Freshwater Creek primary schools and the Bellbrae Uniting Church.

Judy volunteered at both primary schools delivering Religious Education, and as a Sunday School teacher at Bellbrae Uniting Church.

Ian was a school counsellor, and Judy was on the Chaplaincy.

“We did a lot of what most parents did in those days,” Judy said.

During their 60 years married the couple has raised four children, Robyn, Caroline, David and Jeff, and now have eight grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

“The kids had a good life, especially in Bellbrae, they climbed trees and explored, they were very healthy kids.

“I’m thankful we’ve got such a good family, we all still communicate and we all still get on well the whole lot of us and I think that’s something.”

The couple are still very social.

 

 

They tend to their family, Judy still volunteers at the Grovedale Uniting Church Op Shop, and they swap veggies with their neighbours and go to church.

“We like the rural lifestyle, the self-sufficiency … so we still grow our own veggies and eat what we produce, we just live a very simple lifestyle.” Judy said.

Nowadays Judy and Ian said they are grateful to be able to relax on their Freshwater Creek farm and enjoy a life’s worth of hard work.

“We’re very fortunate that we can do what we want. Now it’s just time to sit back and smell the roses.

“I mean, we’ve still worked hard, but we used to go to bed in our clothes and off to meetings and then you’ve be up at five o’clock getting the stove on and milking the cows and then Ian would go to work and I’d get the kids ready for school.

It was pretty tough but we enjoyed life.

“We’ve worked hard in life and now we’re just having a bit of a relax.”