THE Bronwynne Richardson murder, toxic incinerator protests, the Uncle Toby’s fire, Ovens and Murray premierships and Leica Falcon’s charge into the Melbourne Cup have been some of the standout news stories in Corowa in the last 50 years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And the one constant where residents have gone to keep abreast of those and other major events has been Gyles Newsagency which celebrated its 126th birthday yesterday.
A newsagency already existed in the town when the Gyles family had its first link to the business in 1892 and continues today with WH Gyles’ great grand-children and twins Peter Tait and Sandra Dunn in charge.
Their uncle, Gordon Gyles, took over the newsagency in 1963 until his death in 2011, but he first started working in the business located in Sanger Street in the 1940s.
Gwen Tait, Betty Lamb and Barb Lewis worked alongside Gordon and returned to the shop on Tuesday for the celebrations.
“It was very unexpected when we took over,” Sandra Dunn said.
“But we never thought twice about it, we wanted to help the family.
“Over the years, lots of our family members have worked at the store .
“It’s a bit of a tradition.
“We always have family members come in and they reminiscence over the memories they spent working here and it is so lovely.”
Sandra and Peter both worked for the National Australia Bank before making the switch to the family-operated business with Sandra first in 1986 followed by Peter four years later.
Peter’s entry into the newsagency coincided with the height of the toxic incinerator debate in 1990.
He vividly recalls his return from a court case in Deniliquin with his car lights on the blink and encountering a large stream of cars heading in the other direction after one of the many protest meetings held in Corowa.
In the early days, Melbourne newspapers used to arrive in Wahgunyah by train at 3pm and Jim Kearney would bring the papers over to Corowa initially by horse and wagon.
At one stage Gordon Gyles employed eight paper boys to deliver papers around town with the same job now done by two adults in cars.
Early starts are the order of the day with papers arriving at 3.30am.
- Enjoy our daily newsletter straight to your inbox each morning from The Border Mail. Sign up here