Percy Haslam and president of Lake Macquarie Historical Society, D R Blakemore, begin their research into Awabakal language, culture and history. They interview old residents aged 90 to 100 years in the Swansea, Martinsville and Cooranbong areas. The last pockets of tribal Awabakal people lived on here. Haslam and Blakemore speak to elderly people who as children either spoke Awabakal or heard it spoken. (Maynard, Awabakal voices, p82).