Betty Heycox is Nelligen's self-appointed local historian who has collected an amazing amount of memorabilia ever since she first arrived here as a newly-wed in 1948.
Ships were still berthing at Nelligen wharf to take on timber cargoes at that time but that trade, too, had stopped by 1952. She still remembers buying kerosene tins full of fresh bream and flathead for two shillings (20 cents) from Clyde River fisherman Arthur Tieman, who fished the river until well into his eighties.
At the end of each morning's walk through the village, we pop in at Betty's for a cuppa and a piece of toast. This morning there was no toast, no cuppa, and no Betty! After some nail-biting moments we discovered that she was having hers done at a neighbour's house.
