The Hunter River Times

BY ALEX TIGANI

There is no place like home for Sue Moore.

Singleton’s long serving mayoris proud to admit that her family has called the Elderslie area just that for more than four generations.

Last week she invited us to the padio of her iconic home ‘Lochmore’ (named after the site’s original Lochnagar homestead).

“My father’s middle name was Elderslie and my grandfather’s middle name was Elderslie so they have been here for quite a while,” she laughed.

Lochmore, situated along the Hunter River, has breath-taking views of the Valley and is in close proximity to Branxton and Singleton.

Both Sue, daughter of Edward and Gwen (nee Shearer) Thrift, and her husband Allan, son of Walter and Hazel (nee Cruikshanks) Moore, have created memories at the home for almost five decades.

“You can’t go very far in Singleton without coming across one of those four surnames,” she playfully added.

Lochmore was renovated and redesigned in the late 1990s while Sue and Alan raised their four children Christopher, Lee-anne, Angela and Amanda.

The 100-year-old house, which originally faced towards Singleton, now faces north towards the driveway after months of hard work by the late Ken Ward (local builder).

“Pulling down of the house turned out to be a bigger exercise than we thought,” she recalled.

“We took the whole roof off and all was still going good and then we had some massive storms, three in fact.”

Unlike most farmers in the region, Sue has also balanced her rural duties with a long tenure on Council including nine years as Singleton’s mayor across two stints (2008-12 and 2016-now).

Few in her position have had to lead their community through a global pandemic, bushfires, floods and drought in the same term.

She also described Singleton as the epicentre of the world in the lead up to the recent Upper Hunter by-election.

Nevertheless, Lochmore served as her outlet throughout each major event.

“As a kid I had heaps of favourite spots where I would take off with the horse on daybreak and my parents would be lucky if I came back for lunch,” she concluded.

“There were lots of different spots where a Mulberry tree was growing or a peach tree was growing and you would know which time of year to go exploring.

“Even now I still feel the river is one of the most peaceful spots.”

Both Sue and Allan, who are now proud grandparents, look forward to having all four of their children move back to the Elderslie area prior to the year’s end.