Margot Spalding is the co-owner and co-director of Jimmy Possum, a successful Bendigo-based furniture company. As one of Claude Critchley’s strongest supporters and a trusted friend, she talks about him in the second part of his life story. ..
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THE first time I met Claude Raymond Critchley I thought I was rescuing him at 8am from an argument in Bull Street.
I took him home to feed him a good breakfast because he looked hungry.
He said, “better not tell your husband” and I said, “he won’t mind”.
When I presented him with a beautiful cooked breakfast he said, “If I eat all that I’ll end up as fat as you!”
Claude ate with his hands and fed the leftovers to the dogs hovering at his feet. But that’s OK. That was a few years ago. Since that time Claude and my husband Alan have always been mates, and Claude and I have been good mates - and sometimes bad mates - but he always knows I am his mate.
Depends whether he is telling me I’m not the boss of the house and he’ll only do what Alan tells him to do, depends on whether he sticks to the rules, and he’s not really good at rules, so Claude and I have some heated conversations.
But you know, the great thing about Claude is that the system, the institutions, the abuse he has been subjected to throughout all his life, have not broken his spirit.
Claude is on for a chat or an argument with anybody.
He is a very misunderstood person and is his own worst enemy.
He has a great sense of humour and he knows everything going on around the streets of Bendigo.
If you want an opinion on anything, ask Claude.
Claude is often a pest, and can be a really feisty pest.
He is part of our family and he is welcome in our home.
We would prefer he knocked and entered quietly, but no, we can hear him bellowing from the roadside when he arrives via taxi or some friendly soul who gives him a lift.
We know he would never steal anything from our home.
He knows where to make a coffee, he knows where to get a soft drink. He spills a lot, but he knows he’s welcome to a drink at our place.
Claude has strong values, he knows what is right and what is wrong.
We often wonder how he maintains strong values, given the cards he has been dealt.
And when his feet are bleeding from walking so many miles a day and his shoes are worn out, he loves to choose a new pair of shoes from Alan’s wardrobe - they have the same size feet.
We have five daughters, and at some stage Claude has been in love with each of them and wanted to marry each of them, except he says he is too old for them and it wouldn’t be right.
He’s even wanted to steal me from Alan on many occasions.
Our daughters have never feared Claude.
He might annoy them sometimes when he is OTT, but they know he would never harm them.
It was beautiful when our grandson Louis was a little thing and Claude loved to hold him, with grubby hands needing a good scrub, but that’s OK, because Claude loves Louis and we know he would never hurt him.
He loved to be able to play with a baby.
And when Louis was old enough, Claude would don my sparkly glasses (because he’s over 50 and his eyesight isn’t quite as good as it was), sit on the floor and read Louis a story.
Louis has no problem with Claude, he’s just another person who visits - sometimes a very loud person, but that’s OK, it takes all kinds.
And that’s what we want Louis to understand - it takes all kinds to make the world go round.
One of our great memories of Claude was his 50th birthday. A few of us who received invitations had lunch with him at La Porcetta. He’d planned it for a year. What a great day it would be for Claude.
When he didn’t arrive, I went looking for him and he was leaving St Andrew’s in Myers Street - the folk at St Andrews are very good to Claude - and the lady minister is special in his life.
That day she gave him $10, a photo of his mum and a book about Phar Lap.
He loves betting, he loves horse racing, and he loved his mum.
Thursday was Claude’s 53rd birthday.
We were busy that day, but his birthday dinner was at our house last night, with a cake and about 25 of Claude’s mates.
Lots of people think Claude is a drinker because he staggers. We think he staggers because of his medication, and sometimes he is simply tired, tired of being on the move all day, walking miles, trying to fill each day - an active, intelligent mind with nothing to do.
Claude has lots of mates in Bendigo. Many people are very kind to him. He is at the Salvos daily. There are lots of people and places he visits, lots of people he chats with, lots of people he jokes with - kind, tolerant, understanding folk who have a chat and a joke with him. Like Ian Green and Robert Cook. Like the Bradburys, the Pawsey family, George Flack, and his solicitor Peter.
Some give him a couple of dollars. I don’t, Alan does.
And there are lots of places he’s banned from and that’s OK, because if you can’t follow rules you get banned.
I ban him from our place if he steps over the line.
And then there are those who torment him, chase him, argue with him, stir him up, and break into his unit and wreck his place.
The only framed photo of his mum is at our place, because he’s scared they’ll break it at his place.
Claude often lives a life of fear. Often he is terrified.
We know Claude is often in trouble, often does the wrong thing, is often in trouble with the police, and often in court.
He says, “I know, I know, I’m a serial pest!”
But Claude Raymond Critchley is our mate, he’s welcome at our home, he’s part of our family.
We’ve argued with him, we’ve laughed with him and he’s taught us a lot - and but for the grace of God ...
Editor’s note: Claude is scheduled to appear in Bendigo Magistrates Court this week on several matters, including allegedly breaching a previous court order.
