"Kevin had driven across from New Lampton in his car. A Vauxhall,I think,"recalls Helen,who was 16 at the time. Kevin,then 18,nods in agreement.
Preserve or not to preserve ... Kevin Williamson with Helen outside the Nissen hut home she grew up in.Peter Rae
This week Helen and Kevin were reunited over the bonnet of a car when they paid a nostalgic return visit to the hut,one of 50 erected on a hillside above North Belmont,near Newcastle,to provide cheap housing for postwar British migrants.
Seventeen of the mass-produced homes have been demolished,others have been extended,and the so-called Commonwealth cottages are now interspersed with California-style bungalows. Otherwise,surprisingly little has changed.
The view is the same. Helen's next-door neighbour and"second mum",Isabel Richardson,93,is still there. And,her home is still instantly recognisable.
"We were very happy here. They may not look like much from the outside,but on the inside I thought the huts were beautiful,really comfortable."
Kevin disagrees."I was only a visitor,but,sorry,I thought they were rubbish. Still do."
The opposing views of the pair - who married,were later amicably divorced and remain friends - are reflected in a long-running dispute over the future of the surviving two and three-bedroom,corrugated-iron huts.
On Monday Lake Macquarie City Council will consider listing the cluster of huts,which were originally designed in 1916 by Peter Nissen,a British Army engineer,as pre-fab,portable military buildings,as a conservation area.
The listing would require owners to seek council approval for demolition or alterations to the modest buildings. It is supported by the Historic Houses Trust,whose Endangered Houses Fund recently paid an estimated $180,000 for a run-down hut.
"It's a wonderful opportunity to showcase an innovative future for these buildings,"said Richard Silink,the houses fund manager,who inaugurated a $5000 competition to invite design ideas from Newcastle University architecture students.
"Some of the ideas are extraordinary. Real eye-openers. But the idea is to turn a humble Nissen hut into a contemporary family home,"Mr Silink said. He hopes the ideas will help inform the council's decision.
Once renovated,later this year,the demonstration hut will be sold and the proceeds applied to other projects.
Vicki-anne Williamson,Kevin's present wife and secretary of the local historical society,believes it is time to move on and let the area develop along normal lines.
"The huts have served their purpose,way past their use-by date,so preserve one for heritage reasons and let the others go,"she said,adding that for many people it was a simple,real estate issue.
Among them is Charlie Leggat,84,a Scottish migrant who twice swapped rented huts before buying his present home in Arlington Road for $2800 in 1967. It is now worth between $250,000 and $300,000. Mr Leggat recently wrote to the council warning that conservation plans could"turn Pommy Town into a shantytown",littered with crumbling Nissen huts with reduced resale value.
"It was very uncomfortable at the start. Hot in summer,freezing cold in winter. Leaked like a sieve,"he said,indicating rain-warped walls.
"It's been a good place to live,but only because I made it good. Left alone it would fall apart."