2014 has arrived and I have to put pen to paper, or finger to keyboard, and begin the writing towards which the past five years of research has been leading.

My book is on the construction of the locks and weirs by the South Australian Engineering and Water Supply Department between 1915 and 1935.  My focus is the lives of the men who built the locks and weirs along the Murray River and their wives and children as they forged not only huge permanent structures in the course of the river, but vibrant, if temporary communities.

For many, the connections made during those tough times, remained strong throughout their lives.