Eagle Hawk Girl: A Free-Range Child

In the 1950s, Eaglehawk boys had fun. Liz Low wanted to get out of the house and play with them as if she were another boy. This meant taking risks: playing on the old mine poppet heads, climbing rooftops and roaming around on her bike. She was aware of the danger of `men'. As the doctor's daughter she was observed, but that didn't bother her. Nor did she let attendance at a private girls' school and the local church rein her in. Her imagination was fired by reading about adventures by competent children. The hot, dry Eaglehawk summers made her long for the pool, and she swam wherever she could. Her `free range' experiences involved a precarious balance between freedom and security.