Our family grew up buying and trusting Spring Gully pickled onions and pickles, and my best mate, Brett, swears by their Worcestershire Sauce. So when I got to meet and work with Russell Webb many years ago, it was a double joy.
Russ is one of my kind of people. He’s smart, curious, caring, and he “gives a damn”. Working with him and the Spring Gully team will always remain in my memory as an honour.
Having been part of our state’s effort to save Spring Gully in the 2010s (like most South Australians), it has come as a double shock, at the time of writing, to hear the company has entered into administration, just as it was forging a new path.
For some time now, I’ve been wanting to capture the four-generation story of Spring Gully in song, due to knowing the Webbs, having deep affection and respect for the brand they crafted and nurtured, and living around the corned from that “Spring Gully Road”.
The company was founded by Edward “Ted” McKee, a returned World War II soldier, who began pickling his own home-grown onions at his property on Spring Gully Road in Rostrevor, in Adelaide’s foothills. Before the war, he had been chief briner at another food company, so he had the technical skills.
To scale up production to meet demand, enlisted the help of his son-in-law, Allan McMillan, his stepson, Eric Webb, and his friend, Malcolm Clyma. Over time, these three joined the business as partners, before Allan and Eric took over management, representing the second generation of leadership.
By the 1980s, Kevin Webb had become a central figure in the business, joining as a seasonal worker before rising through administrative and managerial positions. He became Managing Director in 1995, modernising the company’s production systems and broadening its product portfolio.
Kevin’s leadership, alongside his brother Ross Webb, saw Spring Gully remain proudly family-owned even amid major financial challenges.
By the 2010s, the company had reached its fourth generation, with Kevin’s children, Russell and Tegan Webb, joining the enterprise, with Russell eventually became Managing Director in the 2020s.
This song tries to shine a light on the four generations while also reminding us that at its heart, there is an important principle of nurturing nature to grow our food while the elements are kind to us, and preserving any bounty to get us through lean or barren years. In this way, Spring Gully has played an important role of stewardship of our community’s food security, until a flood of cheap imports muddied the water. The fear I have is that we become reliant on cheap good from overseas and then with the next disruption like Covid, those supplies dry up while we scramble to find the food specialists and farmers who once maintained our supply.
So, it is with a heart that is both heavy and respectful, that I present my take on the story that took root in Spring Gully Road four generations ago.
Spring Gully Road Raw Notes
Spring Gully Road Lyrics
[Verse 1]
When Edward McKee
Returned from the war
He grew small brown onions
Outside his back door
Soon his pickled onions flowed
All along his, Spring Gully Road
[Chorus]
Turn the earth, turn the earth
And when it’s harvest time
Pick the bounty and preserve it
In your sweetly seasoned brine
There were good years, there were hard years
But when the sun was kind
We’d pick the bounty and preserve it
In our sweetly seasoned brine
[Verse 2]
When Allan and Eric
Stepped up to the plate
Demand had expanded
And good became great
Soon some grander plans were sewed
Deep within their, Spring Gully Road
[Chorus]
Turn the earth, turn the earth
And when it’s harvest time
Pick the bounty and preserve it
In your sweetly seasoned brine
There were good years, there were hard years
But when the sun was kind
We’d pick the bounty and preserve it
In our sweetly seasoned brine
[Verse 3]
When Ross and Kevin
Took over the wheel
The storm clouds were heavy
The firm had to yield
Roots got stronger with the load
Hope returned to, Spring Gully Road
[Chorus]
Turn the earth, turn the earth
And when it’s harvest time
Pick the bounty and preserve it
In your sweetly seasoned brine
There were good years, there were hard years
But when the sun was kind
We’d pick the bounty and preserve it
In our sweetly seasoned brine
[Bridge]
Taste can be a fickle thing
People only want what’s in
And this appetite for fast
Overlooks things made to last
Then we forget to fear
The hunger of a barren year
You cannot pickle onions
In a marinade of tears
[Verse 4]
When Russ and Tegan
Had their time to lead
Cheap imports stacked the cards
Made it harder to succeed
Deals were struck and almost closed
When shadows fell on, Spring Gully Road
[Chorus]
Turn the earth, turn the earth
And when it’s harvest time
Pick the bounty and preserve it
In your sweetly seasoned brine
There were good years, there were hard years
But when the sun was kind
We’d pick the bounty and preserve it
In our sweetly seasoned brine
There were good years, there were hard years
But when the sun was kind
We’d pick the bounty and preserve it
In our sweetly seasoned brine