A Good Shepherd from Mercy to The Long Paddock

A Good Shepherd from Mercy to The Long Paddock

Michael Holding

Episodes 14
Avg. Duration 23m
Activity Sporadic
Since Nov 2025
Latest Episode Nov 2025

Publishing Details

Schedule
Hourly
Format
Episodic
Hosting
anchor.fm

Contact & Outreach

About This Podcast

From the oppressive "small, silent despair" of a Sydney orphanage, Ross Cooper forged a life defined by defiance and transformation. He rose to become an ordained priest only to trade his vestments for the bar, becoming the celebrated piano-playing publican of the Royal Hotel, Captains Flat. Driven by the compelling romance of A. B. Paterson's (Banjo) verses, Ross risked everything on the brutal Long Paddock, surviving immense hardship and near-fatal botulism. He ultimately returned "full circle" to the classroom, using the raw lessons the outback taught him to inspire a new generation. Discov

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Recent Episodes

S1E14 Final Chapter -The School Principal

Nov 28, 2025 11m

Ross had been teaching at Drummoyne Primary School for two years when the inevitable, though unspoken, announcement finally arrived: Ms Crisp was retiring. The news itself caused only the slightest…

S1E13 Chapter Thirteen -A lesson and learning - Teaching and taught

Nov 28, 2025 22m

Ross had taken to teaching like a duck to a country dam,  full of noise, splash, and a sense of destiny disguised as play. The classroom, to him, wasn’t a box for rote and regulation. It was a…

S1E12 Chapter Twelve -But I doubt he’d suit the office

Nov 28, 2025 24m

Of all places in the wide, bustling world of classrooms and chalk dust, Ross was to commence his “in-school practical training” at none other than Drummoyne Primary School. The irony was not lost on…

S1E11 Chapter Eleven -In come the pennies’ out go the pounds

Nov 28, 2025 15m

All to the tune of ‘Click go the shears’  1966 was the year Australia woke up and found its pockets lighter and its world tilting slightly off-centre. Decimal currency arrived with a bureaucrat’s…

S1E10 Chapter Ten -He was shearing when I knew him

Nov 28, 2025 22m

Finally,  Monday morning. The town yawned itself awake, and Ross was already standing at the brass-handled doors of Goldsborough Mort & Co., looking as if he’d been waiting there since…

S1E9 Chapter Nine -A Vision Splendid

Nov 28, 2025 24m

Indeed, it was a vision, scary and surreal, as Ross slowly opened his eyes. The room swam into focus, whitewashed walls glaring, faint scent of antiseptic pricking at his senses, and the persistent…

S1E8 Chapter Eight -The Drover McInnes

Nov 28, 2025 26m

The first man Ross met who knew sheep the way a gambler knows odds was named Arthur “Blue” McInnes,  though his hair hadn’t been blue for thirty years. It was the washed-out silver of an old coin and…

S1E7 Chapter Seven -We don’t know where he are

Nov 28, 2025 10m

We don’t know where he areUnlike Clancy, who had apparently “gone to Queensland droving” and vanished into the dust and legend, Ross Cooper was charting his own curious version of a bush ballad. The…

S1E6 Chapter Six - Clancy of The Overflow

Nov 28, 2025 31m

1963 Australia hummed along with its peculiar blend of promise and outlandish. Sir Robert Menzies, unflappable, eternal, and utterly convinced of his own indispensability, remained at the helm as…

S1E5 Chapter Five - The Royal Hotel

Nov 28, 2025 10m

That night, Ross sat at the kitchen table of his rented cottage with the cigar box open in front of him like a treasure chest from a parable gone wrong. The money was spread out in loose piles, …

S1E4 Chapter Four -Father Ross Cooper

Nov 28, 2025 49m

By 1957, the world seemed to have been set on a frantic spin, and Australia was hurtling along with it. Prime Minister Robert Menzies (Liberal Party) was leading a stable government that had been in…

S1E3 Chapter Three -Saint Patricks Seminary - Manly, NSW

Nov 28, 2025 12m

Ross arrived at St Patrick’s on a Tuesday morning, the sky over Manly pale and uncertain, like an unpolished pew. The seminary loomed before him,  sandstone walls rising in sharp, unwavering lines,…

S1E2 Chapter Two -‘Christian Brothers’ Brothers of Our Lady Mother of Mercy,

Nov 28, 2025 39m

Brother Lewis found Ross halfway through his porridge the next morning. The porridge was the usual kind, grey, adhesive, more punishment than meal, but Ross had learned to shovel it down before it…

S1E1 Chapter One - House of Mercy

Nov 28, 2025 59m

The building looked like it had been built to last longer than God. Thick sandstone walls, blackened by coal smoke and years of small, silent despair, loomed over the street like a fortress…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does A Good Shepherd from Mercy to The Long Paddock have?

A Good Shepherd from Mercy to The Long Paddock has published 14 episodes since November 2025, covering topics in Fiction.

Is A Good Shepherd from Mercy to The Long Paddock still active?

A Good Shepherd from Mercy to The Long Paddock is currently sporadic with new episodes hourly. Average episode length is 23m.

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