Cheryl Bishop says she’s been a part of Gisborne for longer than there have been supermarkets in the town. The grandmother talks with Serena Seyfort about the changes she’s seen over the years.
What’s your connection to the Macedon Ranges?
I’ve been here for 43 years. I came here in 1973, so I’ve seen lots and lots of changes.
My three sons were all born at the Gisborne Bush Nursing Hospital, and they were educated at the local primary school and the secondary school. My husband and I had our own business locally – a garage Museum Motors. But that land was bought to put in the Calder freeway – we’ve been retired for about 16 years now.
How have you been involved in the community?
I’ve been a volunteer at Macedon Ranges Health for the last eight years teaching broadband for seniors. It’s for anyone over 50 years of age. We connect them up to email and Facebook so that they can get in touch with family.
I’m an admin on the Facebook group Macedon Ranges Community. If I see anything that I think is community-worthy I post it to the page. It’s a great way to share information.
I was on the original ambulance committee to get an ambulance in Gisborne. That came about because there was an accident that we attended down on the old highway and it took an hour and a half for an ambulance to come to Gisborne. My name is on a brass plaque in the ambulance station.
And I did the usual things as a young mum, for example I was on the kinder committees, and I played local sport – badminton and tennis. But now with grandchildren and volunteer work I don’t have much time!
What change have you seen in your 43 years?
When we first came to Gisborne there wasn’t even a supermarket – there wasn’t even a supermarket in Sunbury. There was a tiny little corner store in Sunbury. I don’t like that it’s getting bigger so fast, I can see it rapidly becoming more suburbia – but never mind, you can’t stop progress.
We’re going to be a suburb of Melbourne in the next 20 years. It was a beautiful place to bring up children. They weren’t city kids but they weren’t country kids. I think it’s country-atmosphere still, which I like. And it’s a fairly safe area.
The saddest thing is when I go down the street now I don’t know anybody. And years ago, you knew everybody.
My husband keeps saying that when he sees the first set of traffic lights, we’re leaving. But whether we will or not I don’t know.
Do you have a favourite place to visit in the area?
There’s just so many beautiful areas around. I really love it up the mount. I even like going up there in winter and rugging up.
