Beveley Cotterell - Words of Wisdom

As told to Melise Coleman

This week I caught up with the beautiful Beveley Cotterell.

Where and when were you born? 1933, in Sydney in the Crown Street Maternity Hospital

What big world events were the most memorable while you were growing up? We had a couple of submarines firing over Sydney, my Mother and Father got up and raced around. They didn’t come near our house. Dropping the bomb on Japan during the War.

What do you miss about the good-old days? Well money was a lot cheaper in those days *laughs*

Describe yourself in three words. Old.. Grey.. *laughs* Creative, Strong-Willed and I had pride in myself.

What is your favourite childhood memory? I went in the Miss Australia contest; I was actually underage I was only 16 years old I think. We did a few RSL fashion parades and a few things like that. Once you have a fur coat around you, you can go in there and do anything. *laughs*

What life advice would you pass along to your grandchildren? I’ve got two grandkids, both girls, one was only born a couple of weeks ago. I’d say.. take notice in school, don’t fool around like Grandma did.. and marry a nice bloke.

What could you tell me that I would be surprised to learn about you? I never learnt to drive, I should’ve.

What did you want to be when you grew up? I don’t know, I don’t think anything in particular. Everyone in my family that was female worked as a Nurse, I tried it and didn’t go much further.

What was your first job? Working in a factory in Sydney, it supplied stuff to a few big shops around the place. We used to paint lamp shades. It actually burnt down, then I moved onto Dental Nursing.

What was your favourite job? Probably the factory job, because I like colour and being creative, we had a design we had to use and sometimes they would let us do our own.

What are you most proud of? My family, I have a beautiful son and a daughter and two grandkids.

What did you get up to when you were young? Well, there was no television.. I played some basketball and wasn’t very good, I was going to be a bike rider.. I grabbed my friends’ bike and went peddling through Newtown at about 5:30 in the afternoon going to the wooden track and got stuck in the tram line (the front wheel) it took a bit of skin off and slowed up a few trams. I gave up that career after that. *laughs*

Who is the person who influenced your life the most? Why? My Husband Fred, He was never cranky, he was just a great mate. We were happily married for 22 years and I really miss him.

What is your favourite thing to do for fun now? Arts and crafts, I did some painting for the Show. We went to the movies the other day and I laughed till I cried, I thought it was beautiful the way they had those oldies in there.