Former 4 Pines House or Cameron’s House. Destroyed in 2013 fire
This dwelling started out as a winding house for the mine.
“D” Pit only worked for around 12 months as there were problems with water seeping into the mine.
Mr McDougal moved in and as his family increased he kept adding rooms. He sired 17 children. After this family left the Lawson family moved in. They had 12 children.
Mr Cameron and Mr Young both clerks at the mine were the next remembered inhabitants. Miss Turnbull, schoolteacher married Mr Young and Miss McDonald also a schoolteacher at The Bay School married Mr Cameron. Mrs Cameron was a teacher at Catherine Hill Bay School for 32 years. This was believed to be a record. Honora Maude Macdonald was transferred from the Kindergarten Room at Hurstville PS to the Bay School in 1927.
She married Mr Cameron, the Wallarah Company Railway Clerk and moved into “The Pines”. Mrs Cameron was never seen out of doors without her black umbrella. As she walked to school, often accompanied by her small black dog “Skipper”, her umbrella would be seen bobbing along the bush track behind the school. There was a jostling to see which pupil would get to carry her bag the rest of the way to the school. Mr Cameron would often drive down and collect her after school, waiting at the front gate. Skipper no doubt got to ride home as well.
A report by the Head Master on his Assistant teacher, Mrs Cameron, in 1937 states “The teacher is musically inclined. Cooperates by taking her place at the school piano in connection with singing, marching and school celebrations”.
Her discipline is “kindly but firm”. “Pupils are trained to be well mannered; a sense of higher values is cultivated”.
The Leach family lived here after the Camerons left.
The house was renovated by Coal & Allied around 2000 and used as a long term rental.
Disaster struck in October 2013 when a bushfire completely destroyed the house.
The land was bought at auction in 2015 for $1.6 million. The block is still vacant. It has been resold since.
Over the bridge Smokey Joe Young had a shack (spent a great deal of time at Sharmans)