ABOUT ME

This is the Home Page of Paul Anslow. I reside in the village of Largs in the Lower Hunter Valley, NSW Australia.

The site serves as a launch page for a number of sites documenting family history, my travels and other activities, a kind of diary, giving an idea what I get up to. Browse around and come and visit again, as the sites are updated fairly regularly. 

I was born in Lichfield, England in the West Midlands and my family emigrated to Australia in 1965.  Dad worked for Bound Brook Ltd and was offered a job at Repco Bearing Company Pty Ltd in Tasmania, Australia, so off to Australia. We travelled on the Castel Felice, a Sitmar ship with an interesting history. 

We Lived on Trevallyn Hill, Launceston, Tasmania and I attended  school at Trevallyn Primary and Riverside High. My hobby interests were in electronics and radio, so it followed that I'd chose a career in radio communications. This required a move to "The Mainland",  n my case Sydney, to train with Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Ltd (AWA) at North Ryde, first as an apprentice and then as a trainee.

I retired professionally in May 2018 from a career in Naval communications and electronics, having worked in both the government and private sectors. My roles and skills included technician, in-service support engineer, instructor, Defence logistician, contract establishment and management, compliance and change management. Later I became a lead auditor of quality management systems, occupational health and safety management systems and environmental management systems for Defence procurement.

Now  I'm retired enjoying semi rural life, my hobby interests, pets, time with my daughter Samantha, her partner, Trent and four granddaughters, Aubree, Abigail, Amber and Amelia. My plans are to do some trips around Australia and document the experience. 

Largs

The historic village of Largs is located north of Maitland and  west of Morpeth in the picturesque Hunter Valley. Newcastle, the second largest city in NSW is 30km (18.6 miles) south east from Largs and Sydney is around a 167km (104 miles) drive south.

 It was originally established by cedar getters and settled by the Lang family in 1821. The area attracted Scot, German and Irish settlers. The town was an important river port shipping produce to Sydney and a boat building area before the Hunter river changed its course due to flooding.

The Largs Public School was established in 1838 and is the oldest continuously operating school in Australia with many of its original students having descendants still attending.  150 Years of Largs School Booklet

The village has a great little General Store which also has newspapers and giftware .  UPDATE: now closed,  sold and is now dormant.

The Bushrangers Bar and Bistro provides locals and visitors with good food and service, along with a bottle shop. A Hairdresser and a School of Arts hall with hosts varying activities.

In 2022 Helen Russell published her book "My Largs" a great insight into Largs past. 

Largs is also known for hay farming, some livestock grazing , turf  growing and Hunter Valley Sunflowers, who have a charity sunflower event.