I found that in those days they used a lot of lime in the mortar that was between the bricks thus making the cement very weak. This started a craze during recess and lunchtimes where if you found a small stick and pulled it along the join of mortar between the bricks it would release the brick from its comrades and thus be extracted.
This made an excellent hidey hole for a secret stash of lollies or the teachers chalk.
Hardly any cause for alarm as the fate of the dam was dependant on the ready cash available and the size and quantity of the "penny bangers" that would be strategically placed in the dam's wall later to be exploded preferably as a car drove past at the same time.
This is the house my father built in Queanbeyan around 195o and is also where I grew up. The house has been "tarted" up by the current owner to look "Federation" style in its colour scheme and he has added a huge panel which is a shield for the carport in front of the house. It seems weird to me now but in those days when I used to live there the house was on a double block with mainly fruit trees and a garage with carpentry workshop attached to it. They must have sold this block as there is another house now standing there instead. When the house was built the original colour of the weatherboards was bight yellow. I think that swish of the brush is what turned me into a hippie later in life.

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