Diary – Page 19 – Facts About Durban

7 Jan 2014

Motor Assemblies

by Gerald Buttigieg | posted in: Links, Mini Memories | 3

My informant Tim Gallwey wrote in with the following:

Hi Allan,

Most of your material concerns the central business district and industry is hardly ever mentioned. I realise that this is a reflection of the material sent in to you so I am submitting something about motor car manufacture i.e. at Motor Assemblies. I was there for six and half years, mostly at Jacobs but for a couple of years at Prospecton. Our Managing Director was John Sully who was well known for his sailing exploits in the Flying Dutchman class. Read More

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1 Jan 2014

50 years driving!

by Gerald Buttigieg | posted in: Uncategorized | 2

It is 50 years since I got my driver’s licence and I went through the same ritual as so many of my time. At that time driver’s licences were issued to those who had turned 18. A learner’s licence had to be obtained first and this included getting clued up on the rules of the road. The Durban Corporation Licensing Dept. were the “agents” for the Natal Provincial Administration and all driver’s tests were carried out at the City Licensing Testing Grounds which were at the back of new Municipal Centre in Old Fort Road.

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1 Jan 2014

What happened in Durban 50 / 40 years ago 1964 / 1974.

by Gerald Buttigieg | posted in: Uncategorized | 20

As usual my late father-in-law kept a newspaper record of some of the events of the years 1964 and 1974 so here goes.

1964

Harry Fisher and Gordon Rowe of Johannesburg won the Dusi Canoe Marathon. With the Umgeni in flood, they smashed the record and finished in 11 hours 10 minutes and 5 seconds. The second pair of singles were Jimmy Potgieter and Chris Cairns of Pietermaritzburg who came in, in 1 hour 15 minutes later. The doubles was won by Peter Gladwin and Derek Antrobus with A. Oshry and N. Dyer second.

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29 Dec 2013

Grey Street Casbah

by Gerald Buttigieg | posted in: Links | 116

I have always been conscious that FAD’s coverage is incomplete and that we do not reflect the experience of all Durbanites. There has never been any intention to exclude anyone but the limited time I have had available has meant that, apart from several months of intense research before the site and book first launched, I have tended to focus on material that came to me rather than the reverse.

Anyhow, there is a coverage gap and I was reminded of this by Buddy Govender who left a comment on one of our posts earlier this month. One of the things he had to say was that he and his friend Ishaan Blunden run a Facebook page celebrating Durban in general and the Grey Street Casbah and surrounds in particular. There is much of interest on the page and it is definitely worth keeping tabs on it.

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25 Dec 2013

Happy Christmas

by Gerald Buttigieg | posted in: Housekeeping, Image | 3

FAD wishes all its readers a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2014.

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27 Nov 2013

What date?

by Gerald Buttigieg | posted in: InfoRequests, Pictures | 6

Can anyone help the pictures in the following gallery which were sent in by my informant Ian Calder Potts (whose family, we soon discovered, were very friendly with my mum’s family in East Griqualand). The scans came from a book of postcards and Ian is interested in getting a date for when the pictures were taken.

One item of particular interest is the view of West Street which shows the Electric Theatre near Payne Brothers. There is a mystery about this because the Electric, Durban’s first cinema, was always believed to have been on the site of the present Medwood Gardens and there are pictures of it there. Cinema history expert Mikhail Pappas says that he has seen a contemporary advert which refers to the West Street address so the cinema must have moved there quite early in its life. He is busy chasing down leads and will let us know when any more information comes to light.

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18 Nov 2013

Durban’s St Joseph’s Churches

by Gerald Buttigieg | posted in: Mini Memories | 95

Click for new material added to the page in October 2018

Between 1960 and 1970, I was a parishioner of St Joseph’s Catholic Church which is located in Stamford Hill Road and the property included the corner, Argyle Road and Stamford Hill Road. It was then a thriving parish. It, at one time, also had a small church at the back of the property called St. Paul’s which was a separate entity and served mainly the Black community.

In the early 60s, the church bought a property in Argyle Road directly opposite the church and built there on a magnificent church hall facility which included a fully functional stage, a large hall, a projection room and a fully fitted kitchen . Adjacent to the church in Stamford Hill Road was St Agnes School which was a junior school for both girls and boys. The school was run by the Holy Family Sisters. From a Convent school magazine, I have ascertained that St Agnes School dates back to 1905. Read More

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9 Nov 2013

Medwood statue

by Gerald Buttigieg | posted in: Replies | 0

A couple of years ago (2011 to be precise) we had a request from Arthur Gammage for a picture of a statue that went missing from Medwood Gardens. My informant Myles Bodill was in touch a little while ago with just such a picture. He wrote:

I was going through some old papers of my late father who died about 13 years ago. He had sent me a page torn out of a publication titled City of Durban / Stad Durban Communique dated July 1991. It was an article about a photography competition but featured a photo of some kids playing in Medwood Gardens. And the photo had a small pool and kneeling statue in it. It said “this small pool and it’s kneeling figure which commemorates Al Bevis, the man who founded the gardens in 1923.”

A.L Bevis was my dad’s granddad……….so my great granddad. Seeing the article again and in these current times of Google I went online but read that the gardens were actually founded by someone else………….. but in that search I saw your post stating that the statue had been stolen and asking if anyone had a photo of it.

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9 Nov 2013

Memories from Scotland

by Gerald Buttigieg | posted in: Mini Memories | 2

Iain Wilson wrote in with the following memories.

I was born, like a lot of people in Addington hospital and lived a part of my early life in Bathurst Road, Woodlands, Durban, (from 1956 until 1966). I attended the Infant and Primary schools in Woodlands. I was supposed to attend New Forest High but we moved to Umbilo and I ended up at Glenwood high.

We then moved to the Scilla Court, Kenneth Gardens in Selbourne Road, Umbilo from 1966 to 1971. The flats were a great area to play. There were 2 lots of flats each of which surrounded a large park. Also inside the circle were wash rooms for doing laundry. Read More

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9 Nov 2013

A few requests

by Gerald Buttigieg | posted in: InfoRequests, Mini Memories | 9

Sheila McFarlane wrote in to ask:

Hello Allan
As an ex Durbanite, having being entertained at the Riviera, Cookie Look and even by John Drake’s band on the Berea, I was wondering if you have anything on the syncronised swimming show I was involved in at the Beach baths. It was all about the Robert E Lee/MiMississippi and we even swam to Yellow Polka Dot bikini, with costumes to match. What fun. I would love to revisit that part of my life. So hoping you can help me out

Thank you and regards
Sheila McFarlane (nee Paton)

Donald Davies wrote in to ask if anyone has info on the history of the Playhouse/ Loft Theatre.
Steven Wakeling wrote in with some a question or two

I have been reading up all the memorable places of entertainment in your Facts About Durban during the 60’s,and boy, did they bring back memories! Read More

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