A Conversation with Nugget, Bronc and Lex

It’s hard to imagine just how challenging life could be for a ringer around Taroom back before the cattle depression in the 1970s, as you’ll never hear any complaints from the ex-ringers about life being tough back then.

When pressed to tell me more on the subject of their working conditions, the standard answer from those I’ve spoken to is, “that’s just how it was in those days,” or “we didn’t think we were doing it tough, we were too busy having fun!”

Taroom Tales – recording stories from days long gone

Since embarking on this journey down the historical Glenhaughton Road, I’ve heard so many remarkable stories from my dad (Lex Smith), Bronc Bradshaw, and their ringer mates – and I’ve loved them all.  After publishing my Glenhaughton Ringer videos on YouTube almost a year ago, I’ve established a webpage, printed a book, and launched a podcast – Taroom Tales, Yarns from Back in the Day. (It’s been quite a busy year!)

The latest instalment in what’s become the “Dad and Bronc Show” is a video – and now a Podcast episode – with Lex Smith, Bronc Bradshaw and Nugget Roser, from a recorded conversation at the Tin Hut Ringers Reunion last October.  The three mates shared some stories about lucky escapes out in the mustering camps while tying scrubbers, just an everyday part of the job.  They had no phones, unreliable or non-existent radio communications to the station, and if there was a “road” (sometimes no vehicle access), it could be a day’s drive to the nearest homestead. You really didn’t want to get hurt when out in a mustering camp on a far-flung outstation of Glenhaughton!

Lex Smith, Jim Booth (Head Stockman), Nugget Roser, cutting out at station yards Glenhaughton 1958

Every stockman has their own tale of at least one near miss that they were lucky to survive – Bronc has the most.

Bronc has had more lives than a cat!

Surviving a kick to the head by stockhorse Radish while letting the horses out of the yards at Belington, was one he was very lucky to live through.  It eventually cost him his eye some time later when infection set into the wound, but that never held him back.  I’m sure Bronc has had more lives than a cat, and we’ve only touched on the number of lucky escapes he’s survived so far…

Young Bronc having fun taking the sting out of a stockhorse at the Tin Hut yards, Glenhaughton Amphitheatre 1959

Noel “Nugget” Roser was an athletic young ringer and star football player from Toowoomba.

Nugget busted his knee badly in a fall on Glenhaughton in 1960, resulting in 3 months lying flat on his back in Miles hospital while he recovered.  Not an easy pill to swallow for a 21-yr-old stockman.  Knee Operations weren’t something that was heard about back then, so he didn’t have a choice.  Nugget never returned to Glenhaughton after that, instead opting to work on neighbouring properties for Bill Copeland on Currajong or for Bill Scantlebury on Mapala Station where the scrubber chasing was less life-threatening.

Lex Smith had plenty of close calls himself…

Like all the ringers who experienced mustering camp at Glenhaughton, Lex had plenty of narrow misses too.  As the station mechanic he was occasionally sent on the bore run on his own, with just his loyal dog “Gracie” for company.  Lex could be camped out for up to 3 weeks while he travelled around fixing pumps and windmills. Some windmills were broken and couldn’t be shut off, which meant he had to wait for the wind to die down before climbing the mill before the blades started turning again. If the wind got up while he was up the top, he was small enough to stand up straight, back flattened to the inside while the blades passed around him.  Should an accident have happened, it could be weeks before anyone noticed him missing.

Out mustering, like everyone else, Lex had his fair share of falls in stump holes, horses rolling on him, scrubbers charging him, and was knocked about on trees and such when galloping through the bush, but he considers himself fortunate to never come off second best in the three years he was there. Witnessing so many of his ringer mates getting accidently smashed up, Lex made the decision to quit Glenhaughton while he was ahead, opting to move to work at Broadmere station in 1960 instead, his good friend Ray Jarvis moving with him.  However, life on Broadmere proved relatively dull after the excitement of Glenhaughton and he soon moved on from there.

Lex Smith (19yo) with favourite station mare Queenie, Glenhaughton horse yards 1958

PODCAST and YOUTUBE MOVIE

For more of these entertaining stories, have a listen to Podcast – Taroom Tales, Yarns from Back in the Day, Episode 3, or watch the latest YouTube movie “Bull Dust, Scrubbers, and Lucky Escapes” – a conversation with Nugget, Bronc and Lex at the Tin Hut reunion October 2023.

Links to the Podcast, Movies, Blog, and Photos can be found on my website TAROOMTALES.COM; and also on my Facebook pages “Glenhaughton Ringers” and “Taroom Tales”.

Follow along and stay tuned for plenty more unofficial Taroom history in the stories told by the locals who lived it!