Six months, tops, he thought, and then he’d be off to China to fulfill a bigger ambition. But the city grew on him, he fell in love with a local girl, Franki Morton, and the newspaper game sunk into his psyche.

The couple left Goulburn twice due to work circumstances. Each time it had drawn them back like a loyal friend, its tree-lined streets and stunning vistas providing solace in sometimes difficult times.

Now they’re leaving again, this time to Melbourne, to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

The former Goulburn Post journalist and editor says it’s not easy.

“The home we sold had pressed metal ceilings and floorboards, it’s a just a classic old Goulburn home built in 1908 and leaving it is a real wrench,” he said.

Heritage homes were not top of his agenda when he arrived in the city 38 years ago, fresh from a journalism stint at Leeton’s The Murrumbidgee Irrigator. The Chinese ambition faded and he stayed until 1985, when he and Franki went to Young, where he’d been appointed editor.

Eighteen months later Mr Thistleton returned to The Post as a sub-editor and journalist and in 1988 was appointed editor, following Ray Leeson’s retirement.

“Ray Leeson had a huge influence on me,” Mr Thistleton said.

“...When I first came to The Post there were six or seven journalists there. Ian Frazer was one of them and he also had a big influence on my career. The culture under Ray was just fantastic and I found it really agreeable.”

Mr Leeson’s values as a World War Two ex-serviceman and gifted cricketer also influenced the newspaper. He wanted the five-day a week publication to be a paper of record, carrying show, eisteddfod, stock sale, and cricket results and much more. It drew major advertisers, like Allens, Knowlmans and Grace Brothers department stores.

There were memorable stories too, like a court case in which a local woman was severely injured in a car accident, striking down her promising career as a dancer. Subeditor John Avery captured the sentiment with his headline – ‘The Last Dancer.’

”There was a big railway derailment somewhere between Goulburn and Sydney that Leon (Oberg) and I covered in a plane. After Ray’s era, with anything big you covered, you always felt Ray was looking over your shoulder to make sure you did it properly,” Mr Thistleton said.

“There was (also) a dreadful plane crash. Four or five skiers set off to the Snowy Mountains and they overloaded their plane. They crashed out near Tarago. It was a horrendous story.”

Others touched him deeply, like the lovely card he received from Irene Bradley in response to his story about her daughter, Elizabeth Rowland, who had died from illness, leaving two young children.  He had written the story as a letter to Elizabeth’s children. The card is something he says he still cherishes deeply.

When Clints Crazy Bargains burnt down in June, 1999, all hands were on deck, challenged by a blackout that affected production. Journalists filed from home and on the following Monday, produced a sellout edition, despite the setbacks.

In the late 1990s, he became managing editor, while Maryann Weston was appointed editor.

What is it about the craft?

“It’s just the opportunity to be a storyteller. It took me a long time,” Mr Thistleton said.

“I had to leave Goulburn and The Post to really focus on that. When I was at Goulburn, my aim was to pay off a mortgage and raise some children so it was centred on those things more than what I really liked doing. Editing a paper was fun but more about management and budgets and only occasionally did I write. I had really good journalists to do that.”

In 2004 he left Goulburn for The Canberra Times where became property and then business editor. After a short stint at the National Capital Authority as media manager, Mr Thistleton returned to The Canberra Times.

Since leaving in 2016, he has worked for Canberra-based online publication, The RiotAct, writing Goulburn stories. But the city was already tugging at the heartstrings in 2013, after Franki’s mother, Beryl, had passed away. 

“We were lost lambs and the only thing that would give us comfort was coming back to Goulburn,” Mr Thistleton said.

“When we bought our home in Verner St, we’d come back every weekend and it was a really joyous experience for both of us. We loved it. We liked coming through the fog in the morning, you’d go to sleep and hear the rattle of freight trains of a night, the Post Office clock (chiming) and these things helped us over a pretty hard time in which the kids had left home and we’d lost Franki’s parents. Goulburn was a real friend to us.”

He enjoyed re-immersing himself in the community, taking an interest in Ursula Stephens’ community foundation and the Goulburn Heritage Group. There were also regular catch ups with friends. 

Now the lure of family is proving too strong. The couple want to move closer to daughters Rebecca In Melbourne and Elyse in Perth, their partners and young boys.

Asked his thoughts on Goulburn’s direction, Mr Thistleton said the city was headed for “big things.” 

“I think it has a huge future and it will grow like crazy,” he told The Post.

The biggest challenge for Goulburn is to protect its heritage during this growth. The council has to have a heritage officer that overlays everything with heritage because there’s no question it’s this city’s greatest asset.”

Mr Thistleton did not believe the leaders had struck the balance on heritage versus development. It was hiding its history by not embracing it. Cars parked out the front of houses hid attractive facades, when they could be tucked away in garages off “wonderful little lanes.”

A fervent advocate of the performing arts centre, Mr Thistleton said his biggest fear was that it would be underfunded.

“Whatever the budget is for the performing arts in terms of capital costs, the council shouldn’t be frightened to double that to $28 million or $30m,” he said.

“If they’ve got any quibbles or queries, go and talk to people in the arts industry, and the recurrent funding, whatever the budget is there, don’t be afraid to double it. I’d much rather see that than it going under-funded and falling over.”

He fired a salvo at the State Government for “dragging its heels” on handing back Auburn Street to the council. Goulburn was bypassed 25 years ago and by now, the State should realise the status of and importance of supporting main streets, he said. Transport along the Sydney to Canberra corridor could also be enhanced with more rail staff and rolling stock.

With the fire still burning, Mr Thistleton says he’ll keep writing and will eventually return.

“I’ll miss the walks around Victoria Park, past the little duck pond, past the hospital where our children were born, past Hurst Street and Cowper Street and the workers cottages and seeing the tops of the cathedrals. Of an early morning, let me tell you, it’s grand,” he said.

“The thing is you never ever say goodbye to Goulburn.”