So how did the tractor mechanic from the Snowy Mountains come to be such a fixture in this town?

“You can blame my wife, Ruth.  She was teaching Sunday school back when we first got married, about 1964, and she asked me to play some songs for the kids.”

Col ended up as church organist.  He’d studied classical music from he was nine until he was 19.

“Then, I got interested in girls and motorbikes – I don’t know which came first,” he said.

When he and Ruth got married, the church had a 50-strong congregation.

Col liked playing favourites from the Australian Hymn Book like Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, All Things Bright and Beautiful and Crimond (The Lord’s My Shepherd).

He has now retired at the grand old age of 88 because of his arthritis, but music remains part of his life and his worship.  He enjoys singing with the men’s group in the church.

Music is still a huge passion for Col.

“I love boogie-woogie, and Fats Waller.  I’ve been to see Django Reinhardt in Sydney.  You could hear a pin drop,” he recalls.

And Col still plays classical piano.  His favourite piece is Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody number 12.

“Music can move me to tears.  I love that song ‘You Raise Me Up’, and every time we sing it in the choir, I end up crying.”

And despite his arthritis, Col will still play at the Bundaleer Nursing Home and hostel, to the delight of the residents.