Ronald Beswick Blogspot

  My grandfather was a Freemason but my father never joined. Dad was an Atheist and a lot of his mates were in the lodge but he turned down the invitation whenever he was asked. A lot of people I've admired have been Freemasons. They include Poets, Musicians, Sportsmen, and Human rights activists. I guess a lot of people I don't admire would also be members. In my early 20's I met a Butcher who joined and he had nothing good to say about them. He claims to have resigned but I have since learned that you cannot quit the lodge. I could be wrong! My first memory of Freemasons goes back to a hospital visit where they donated beds. I read somewhere that a lot of them played Rugby Union and less likely Rugby League. Was this a myth? The catholic church I believe changed the rules which allowed Catholics to become Freemasons. This might explain why they are alleged to hate each other. It's nothing more than a rivalry! In Sydney the Catholic club and Masonic club were i...

  I may have been in my late teens when Dad had a mild stroke in Adelaide. He paid off on compo and after he got better he returned to work as Chief Cook on the Macedon. From that moment I observed his health deteriorate over a period of nearly 20 years until he died. This is when Doctor Cohen at Swansea offered to write him a letter to get a TPI war pension. Dad declined because because he believed he was on too good a wage. I believe Dad also liked the company of the crew who were like family and he wasn't ready for retirement at that time. Before he died he was worried about Mum who he thought was not keeping up with the times. She was only 71 but was drinking too much and had issues in my opinion with depression. He had the Army veteran's health card and this is when he clashed with local RSL and wrote to veteran's affairs. When he died they approved his entitlement that he went without for more than 12 years and that resulted in mum getting a War Widows pension. His d...

  It was probably 1947 when Dad first joined the Maritime industry and the earliest ship I could trace was the MV Morialta. It sailed from Port Adelaide and went to Wallaroo, Whyalla, Cowell, Port Neil, Arno Bay and Port Lincoln in the Spencer Gulf South Australia. He paid off on the 2nd of February 1948 in Adelaide and he stayed at the Seaman’s Mission. On the 6th of February 1948 he joined the SS Stanley Park in Adelaide where he sailed to Glasgow. On the way he called into Freemantle and after 21 days at sea arrived at Durbin in South Africa where he ended up with a pet monkey. He had to take it to a zoo because it kept pissing on everybody. They called in to Saint Vincent in Cape Verde on the West African coast before sailing to Scotland. He spent about 7 weeks in the UK after arriving at Glasgow on the 26 th of April before staying at Newcastle and London. He got a days work on an American ship and got a flat at Paddington. At Tilbury on the 17 of June 1948 he embarked a...

  As I was growing up my father Ronald Beswick was also known as Popeye. I was told by one of his mates that he got the name when they were constructing the Wangi power station where there was always a fight. He'd been a Stable Hand, Soldier, Painter and Docker, Dogman, Ship's Cook, a Queensland cattle station hand, and after he died I learned he was once a Waiter in a Restaurant. This was before I came into the world in 1960 where my birth certificate states he was a Rigger. I presume he worked his way up from being a Dogman to a Rigger! He was a character and often told stories, read the paper, and he'd study the form guide. He had run a SP Book back in the days when all profit went on the bar. The one who lost, drank the most and would have a hang over the next day for his misery. I guess wasn't really a Capitalist! I don't recall him ever using the word hate. I do recall he'd describe someone as a queer bastard and telling a Mormon promoting religion to...

27/05/2021 Last night I dreamed and woke up in pain! The dream was like a nightmare and I was blanching frozen chips in water and I had no vegetables organized and it was frustrating! Why does this happen? I had eaten an avocado in the evening and had a little bit of oat milk before bed. I ate some pork and the usual yoghurt etc. For lunch I had Mexican and an afternoon nap! The CPAP wasn’t used much last night and it leaked badly. I’m wondering if it was because I didn’t wash my face before bed. Who knows! Margaret goes to the Doctors today! Joe Biden continues to impress me. Ordering a review of the “Covid Lab Theory” in a diplomatic way is what needs to be done. Good excuse for friendly talks with China. But he is a politician! The theory that AIDS came from a laboratory always had weight behind it. I’m not sure what Vincent Price would say!  

Elizabeth Reynolds Catherine and Andrew Burnside Hilda Matheson Jonathan Beswick and Lorraine Jonathan Beswick and Marilyn Jonathan Beswick Max, Maria and Betty Reynolds Ron Beswick and grandmother Yvonne and Sharon Reynolds Ronald Beswick Elizabeth Beswick Ron Beswick (senior) John Reynolds Sharon and Yvonne Wedding of Maria and Theo Ron Beswick (senior) Betty and Ron Yvonne Ron and Betty wedding  

 Another bad sleep last night! I have a CPAP machine and lately it's annoying me. I have sleep with it and I believe it does a great job when I tolerate it. My sleeping problems do go back to when I was a school kid. The westerly winds would bring to pollens to town and it affected my sleep. I was first prescribed Ventolin when I worked at Bradmill Kotara when I was in my late teens. Everyone was being diagnosed with Asthma at this place and I believe Cotton has a connection.  I had an injury in 1989 which put me on life support for 10 days. I had blood transfusions, a flail chest, a collapse lung, a broken fema, pneumonia, cerebral hypoxia and other unhealthy conditions. It took me 8 months to walk without a stick and I took lots of medications. Panadeine Forte was included! Do you think I may have depression or PTSD? I had a sleep study done nearly 20 years ago in Newcastle Hospital. It shows that I don't sleep at all on that night. They connected me with wires, masks and ca...

Yesterday Karl Marx would have been 203 years old if he was still alive. Over the years many people I rubbed shoulders with were admirers of he and Engels. I have no complaints!  I'm no communist and was once a member of the Seamens Union of Australia. I worked in the Maritime industry from 1980 for 19 years and some of my friends admitted they were communist! My father was a party member up until he resigned after the Hungarian revolution in the 50's. It split the Communist party in Australia.  The word socialism became more acceptable when I was at sea. Although I sailed with crew that were as anti socialist as well as anti communist. The KGB was a label that was given to me at one stage. I believe Ken McClelland may have had something to do with this. Although he was a union official in Melbourne I was told he was anti communist! Stalinism is another word that got thrown about! With all the information we have about Stalin today I have trouble admiring him. I still however ...