90 years on, Leongatha's still proud of Lennie

LEN Gwyther’s sense of adventure, his pioneering spirit, ingenuity, and inquiring mind did not stop turning over after he arrived back in Leongatha, in June 1932, to a hero’s welcome led by the Shire President, Cr Bob McIndoe, in front of 800 people at the Memorial Hall.

His niece Julie Campbell, who still lives in the local area, was a horse rider too, with her sister Sharon, and as a young girl, she always marvelled at the family stories of Uncle Len’s great adventure.

“As a rider myself, I was always in awe of the fact that someone so young could ride a horse that far,” said Julie this week, on the eve of the 90th anniversary of Lennie Gwyther’s great ride.

“I remember one time my sister Sharon and I set out from the farm at Koonwarra, to ride to Inverloch and back. We got down there OK, but I had such a sore backside on the way home that I got off and went back in the Land Rover with dad.

“Sharon was more determined, more in Uncle Len’s mould, and was determined to ride all the way there and back.”

The girls were not much older than Lennie at the time, however while they found the 54km, out-and-back ride to Inverloch a test, Julie was left to marvel all the more at Uncle Len’s astonishing 2000km there-and-back ride to Sydney for the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Saturday, March 19, 1932.

“I used to tell people about Uncle Len, you know, when I was at school, that he rode to Sydney and back for the opening of the bridge and I don’t think they really got it.

“And it always amazed me that no one knew much about it around Leongatha.

“Although I probably shouldn’t have been surprised as Uncle Len didn’t say much about it either.

“As an example of that, some years ago, a former friend of Uncle Len’s came to live in Leongatha while he was building a house in Officer, I think.

“He said he worked with Uncle Len at General Motors at Fishermen’s Bend. He was a real mate of his and they went fishing together and that sort of thing, but he never knew the story of his ride to Sydney.

“That was Uncle Len.

“Uncle Len lived down in Hampton in Melbourne and I remember one time he came up to a funeral in Leongatha, it would have been in the 1970s I guess, and he was driving a car powered by gas that he’d rigged up himself. He was pulled over by the police on his way home and told to get the car off the road,

“I’m not exactly sure what he did at GMH, but I think he was the sort of guy who could fix anything.

“Because we were milking cows, we didn’t go to Melbourne that often, except for the Melbourne Show and the occasional trip but I remember stopping off at Uncle Len’s place on the way home one day but only dad went in.

“He came back to the car after a while and said Uncle Len was building a yacht in the back yard and he had engine parts, machinery and bits and pieces all down the hallway for other things he was doing and a great big engine in the kitchen.

“He had a big pile of aluminium cans he’d collected as well, melting them down to make windows for the yacht.”

Julie said Len’s first marriage didn’t last long, probably no wonder.

“We always had a framed photo of Uncle Len in the loungeroom, being met by Bob McIndoe back in Leongatha after the ride. The whole family is in the photo, and we used to laugh that dad (Keith Gwyther), who would have been five at the time, wasn’t looking up in the picture. He was too busy looking down at a bag of lollies they had given him to keep him busy while the celebrations were on.

“As I said, it always amazed me that no one around here really knew much about Uncle Len and all that but it’s great to see it now, with the statue and the books, it’s great.”

Mrs Campbell said Uncle Len was always a great source of pride for the family and she’s pleased now that the whole community can share in that as well.

Thanks to the likes of people like Glenn Wright, Peter Watchorn, Bob Newton and a determined group of local people, a fitting memorial to Lennie Gwyther’s ride, a bronze statue of Lennie and his horse Ginger Mick, designed and manufactured at Arrow Bronze of Dandenong, was unveiled to much fanfare in October 2017.

Len’s sister, Beryl Ferrier, who presided over the unveiling at the age of 92, was tragically killed crossing the road, in March 2020, on her way to teach French at the U3A University in Tugan. She was to have joined author Corinne Fenton for the launch of her new book ‘To the bridge – The journey of Lennie and Ginger Mick’ the next day, just shy of her 95th birthday.

Lennie Gwyther’s life

Lennie Gwyther was born in Leongatha on April 18, 1922 to parents Captain Leo Tennyson Gwyther and Clara Amelia Gwyther. On his second birthday, Lennie's grandfather gave him a chestnut pony named Ginger Mick who shared his birthday. Ginger Mick was named after Lenny's father's favourite character from C.J Dennis' book ‘The Moods of Ginger Mick’.

When Lennie was nine, his father broke his leg while working on the farm. While his father was in hospital, Lennie took over the responsibilities on the farm.

Offered a reward for this work, Lennie asked to attend the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. That was largely because of his interest with the engineering and construction of the bridge. His mother was unsure of this arrangement but, due to the fulfilment of his duties, communication with those in Sydney, and the map Lennie and Captain Leo Tennyson Gwyther created, she allowed Lennie to go.

On February 3, 1932, Lennie and Ginger Mick left Leongatha on the expedition to Sydney.

His journey was widely publicised in the media with frequent updates about his whereabouts so much so that it became central to the build up ahead of the opening of the bridge, with Lennie meeting Prime Minister Joseph Lyons on the steps of Parliament House in Canberra and being feted by the Lord Mayor of Sydney Sir Samuel Walder on his arrival, granted the run of the city, including a visit to Taronga Zoo where he rode and elephant and being part of the first official party over the bridge. On his arrival in Martin Place he was greeted by 10,000 cheering supporters.

On his homeward journey, he was again celebrated as a national hero, ultimately resuming duties on the farm when he returned to Koonwarra.

At the age of 19, Lennnie enlisted in the army for World War II where he served in the Morotai Islands in the Pacific.

He worked as an engineer with General Motors' Holden at Fishermans Bend, and lived in the Melbourne suburb of to Hampton.

In later life, Lennie's passion for fishing and sailing was reflected in the fact that he built a yacht, with the intention of sailing to Tasmania and then to New Zealand.

Lennie Gwyther died of cancer in 1992, at the age of 70.

Channel 7 visited Leongatha last week to prepare a documentary for the 90^th anniversary of Lennie’s ride and the opening of the bridge.