Musgrave

Reader Josephine Andersen has written in with some reminiscences of the Musgrave area:

I remember the Musgrave Centre when it was only a ground level floor. I used go shopping there. There used to be a shop with antique furniture where we bought four Georgian chairs for our dining room. We still have them. Nearby was Sir Lowry’s Tea room that sold almost anything in the way of groceries. They would deliver to your home if you were not able to collect your order. I did not have my own car at the time we lived in a flat about two kilometres away and my husband called me to say he was bringing some colleagues home for supper. I called Sir Lowry’s Tearoom and they delivered a chicken to my flat for roasting.

Further up Musgrave Road there was a grocery shop called Gwilts run by the Gwilt family. At that time a tin of sardines cost about 5 pennies I think.

I used to walk our small children up to Mitchell Park which I had known since we came to South Africa as evacuees. There was an elephant called Nellie in the park and this elephant used to give children rides on a seat on her back . I was always too afraid to go for a ride.