Men's Shed a great place for mates to hang out

Touch of Toowoomba brings you a scene from the lives of four Toowoomba people each week.Who are they? and what do they love about our great city?

Col Walpole, Don Moore, Lionel Noll, and Des Shore at the Toowoomba City Men's Shed. 100718. Picture: Matthew Newton

Touch of Toowoomba brings you a scene from the lives of four Toowoomba people each week.

Who are they? and what do they love about our great city?

Col Walpole

I'M A retired teacher. I came here from Killarney in 1992. I kept teaching in Toowoomba - but I retired in 1996 because I was sick around that time.

And then I was a quarantine inspector after that. I'm retired from working now.

When did I join the men's shed? About three years ago.

What do I like about it? The fact there's an awful lot of bull***t flying around and we're always sussing out who the biggest liar is.

Also, the fact that I'm with blokes who are pretty good and we look after each other. Despite all the c**p you hear around here, we do look out for each other, which is important.

The point is, it's all about men's health and we do work and it's the difference I think between spending your retirement in despair or getting out and doing something.

What do I like about Toowoomba? I've got a bloody good doctor. Thanks to him, and his team of hardworking nurses at his practice. And also the receptionists there, they couldn't be kinder people. They work very hard for their dough.

Don Moore

I'VE spent a lot of time in Toowoomba. Most of my existence has been in Toowoomba.

I spent 56 years in heavy transport. And then I got injured and I retired when I was 66. So that was nine years ago.

Two and a half years ago I started coming to the men's shed.

It's something to do. The way I look at it I could be at home now just vegetating. Well, this is of some interest.

I've never worked with wood before. Now I'm building this (table). It's something to do, something interesting. And I've found I like it. I should have done this as a career instead of bloody pushing trucks down the road.

This is going to be a coffee table, eventually. I've been making tiles as well.

What do I like about Toowoomba? I think just the community. It's friendly.

Lionel Noll

I'M born and bred here and worked at all the major places - The Foundry, Walsh's Engineering, KR, the flour mill, all them sort of places.

I'm on a pension now, my body's a bit too far destroyed, so basically Centrelink have told me I'm unemployable. I need to do something, so I come down here and potter around.

I started coming here the week after they started it... so four years? Four and a half years?

What do I like about it? It just gets me out of home and I can just poke around here if someone wants a hand and that.

I've lived all my life in Toowoomba. I've been in quite a few clubs and I'm still in vintage and veteran car club.

What do I like about Toowoomba? Oh, it's kind of still a little, reasonable-sized country town and that. It won't be in another 10 years I'd say.

Des Shore

I'M self-taught to do everything I do. I've taught myself how to do oxy welding, stick welding, wood turning, and I taught myself how to play guitar.

How long have I been coming here? My car's five years old so nearly five years.

What keeps me coming back? Just the blokes - I used to play croquet before I came here.

Then I found the men's shed and I thought, this is good. And the membership fee is something like $60.

I still go along (to croquet) once a year and still knock the socks off them.

I grew up around Chinchilla, and was born in Goondiwindi. I come back here (to Toowoomba) about 25 years ago to get married.

What do I like about Toowoomba? It's got everything here. All the doctors and surgeons. The climate is a nice climate but I hate the cold. I like Toowoomba in the summer. Not in the winter.

Originally published as Men's Shed a great place for mates to hang out