The book has been written from the perspective of one who lived at Castlereagh from 1954 until 1964, and experienced the increase in quarrying of an area which from the 1790s was settled and farmed mostly by former convicts and military men. This is the first time that all the essential aspects of Castlereagh have been so heavily researched by one person, and have come together in a single volume. The book commences by firstly explaining how and why Castlereagh was formed and the very great influence of the Nepean River on its formation. I have covered the prehistoric formation of the district, followed by the first land grants, and how those early settlers survived the extremely difficult life, battling many adversities, floods and droughts being only two. From here the book deals extensively with quarrying operations at Castlereagh, churches, schools and floods which ravaged the district, before a fact-filled description of Castlereagh during the 20th century and after. Finally, I tell my own story of my life as a child in this historic place, describing its many attributes and colourful identities that made this place so memorable to me and to others. Added to this is a large section on my early formal education at the local one-teacher school. This really is the definitive book on Castlereagh, and has been prepared to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Five Macquarie Towns in 1810.