Ladies’ travel case returns to town

A LADIES’ travel case given to a young lady working at her family’s boarding house at Lyall’s Mill in 1911 has found its way back to Collie.

The travel case was presented to Olive Alexander on the eve of her departure for Melbourne.

A plaque on the front of the travel case indicates that the case was presented to Miss Alexander on April 12, 1911, by “the gentlemen of Lyall’s Mill”.

It was back in Collie in 1926 when Olive returned to marry George Richard Youd. The couple resided in Collie for eight years before leaving for Perth in 1934. closed, putting pressure on businesses that are open on long weekends.

Leslie Youd, of Mt Claremont, last week returned the travel case to Collie, donating it to the Coalfields Museum, together with a photo of its former owner.

Museum co-ordinator Tom Reardon said the donation was special because of its local provenance.

Mr Reardon said people regularly make donations to the museum.

“These donations are very important to us as they provide an important link to Collie’s past,” he added.

She believes pop up food vans could provide an option during busy long weekends and meet the increase tourist demand.

“Long weekends are when we have a shortage,” she said.

“It would definitely be more beneficial during long weekends rather than during the normal working week. The pop-up businesses would get more benefit and wouldn't be competing with local businesses.”

Local hotels were flat out over the recent long weekend, with Vic Hotel licensee Tracey Denholm experiencing a “busier than normal weekend”.

“We were flat out and had a lot of visitors,” she said.