Lorraine Claire Taylor

Lorraine Taylor was proudly sixth generation St Ives. Lorraine descended from the founding family, being a direct descendant of Amelia Matilda Bartholomew, known as the ‘Widow Batho’ who was the first white person to permanently live in St Ives.

Lorraine and Les married in 1966 initially living in Cowan Rd moving to a new home they built at 43 Athena Ave, where Les still resides today. Adjacent to their next-door neighbour and adjoining Hayle St there is a park named ‘Athena Ave Reserve’. Lorraine and Les purchased their block in late 1969 and built their house the following year. Due to the park area being the highest point in St Ives the site was dedicated to a Trig Station when the land was subdivided for development. Because of its high position, any worthwhile topsoil had washed away many years before and it was primarily clay, presenting more as a ‘brick pit’ than a ‘park’.

After they moved into their new home, Lorraine started a project to turn the ‘brick pit’ into a proper park, on which the neighbourhood children and their own children, Stephanie b1972, Sheridan b1973 and Richard b1976, could play. Lorraine enlisted the support of their neighbours and local community, with their next-door neighbour adjoining the park, John Bailey, being a willing helper. Large amounts of grass clippings in the area would be collected and sprinkled around the park, mixed with fertiliser, and watered into the clay to develop mulch aimed at rejuvenating the surface and renewing the soil. It was quite a feat securing enough garden hose extensions to reach the park from their water tap, but they achieved enough length and shared the frequent watering with their neighbour, John.

Contrary to expectations, Lorraine succeeded brilliantly. Much to everyone's surprise, after a few years it was possible to grow grass runners on the surface and, over a period, the area became quite a lovely park for local children and families to enjoy together. During this period, an officer from the Ku-ring-gai Council visited the area and complimented Lorraine on what she was doing. He was so impressed that he said he would arrange for swings and a slippery dip to be installed by the Council to round off the project.

Sadly, Lorraine passed away on 29th July 2015 and because she treasured the ‘park’ so much creating a legacy for generations to come, with consent from Ku-ring-gai Council, the family installed a memorial park bench in her honour in 2016. Considering Lorraine’s St Ives lineage dating back to the early 1800’s, and her vision and commitment to transform what was a dilapidated piece of land into the beautiful reserve for the benefit of the local community, Ku-ring-gai Council voted unanimously in 2022 to change the park currently called ‘Athena Avenue Reserve’, to the ‘Lorraine Taylor Reserve’ in her honour.

In early 2025, works commenced to upgrade the Lorraine Taylor Reserve. A new playground with an accessible carousel, swings and multi-functional play equipment compliment the relaxed landscaped gardens. The Lorraine Taylor Reserve was officially re-opened in June 2025 for the local community to enjoy.

Lorraine would have been delighted.