No doubt wherever you lived in Durban, I would say the majority of you experienced going to school by bus unless you lived across the road from School. My memories of bussing to school date from 1954 through to 1961. Read More
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Arthur Gammage has asked if anyone knows where the Tongaat Locomotive that used to stand in Bulwer Park is now or if you have a picture of it. Arthur tells me that Eric Lupke obtained permission from the Parks Department to remove the loco in order to restore it to running condition. Eric died not long after after his retirement from City Electricity Department and Arthur doesn’t know if the project was completed or what happened to the engine.
I’d also be very interested to hear what happened to the locomotive seeing that I spent countless hours playing on it on walks around Bulwer Park in my youth.
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I’ve just added a lot of information sent in by my informant Zak Coombs about the Great Smith Street Fire of 1884 and about William Milne whose NGR volunteer fire brigade was instrumental in fighting the fire.
The new stories are linked from the Fire contents page
For many years we’ve had a page on the wreck of the Ovington Court which occurred off Addington on 26 November 1940. We’ve been keeping it updated as new information comes to hand and the latest is a submission from Alan Young in which he talks of the aftermath of the wreck and which I’ve added to the bottom that page. Click the link above and scroll down to the bottom of the page.
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I have just received this photo from a friend of mine that grew up in Woodlands. Apparently during the 1950s, this man would walk the streets of Woodlands beating his drum asking for donations. When given a donation he would beat his drum and do a bit of a soft shoe shuffle before moving on. Just recently on FB someone was asking if anyone remembered him. Part of the passing parade.
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We have had a request from Robert Timmerman to put out the word about a reunion next year of a platoon from the Durban Light Infantry who were involved in a contact 35 years ago. He wrote:
Hi, this is a very different request for assistance on the site. Please bear with me as the widespread diaspora of Durbanites has left us with a dilemma.
Us being Durban Light Infantry, with a need to locate members of Platoon 1 who were on Beacon 25 North of Eenhana on 25 may 1984 with Lt. Deon van den Bergh and Sergeant Mark Whitson (later Lt. Col and Officer Commanding D/L/I.) when we were in contact with a band of SWAPO operatives for a period of about an hour.
Next year is the 35th anniversary of the event and we are attempting to trace as many members of the platoon as possible to attend the gathering at the Drill Hall in Greyville Racecourse.
If you could post this – the contact email is beacon25reunion@gmail.com.
The DLI’s story is a fascinating one and I’m the proud possessor of a two-volume history of the regiment containing what is believed to be one of the most accurate accounts of the surrender at Tobruk and detail about the regiment’s most illustrious part-time soldier, Brigadier-General James Scott Wylie. I’d be very happy to hear details of the regiment’s more recent history including this incident. Perhaps we could work towards having a DLI page on this site and contributions will be most welcome.
Share this: Lawrence Somasundram has written to ask if anyone knows of a Point School which would have been in operation around 1903 and would have either been solely for Indian pupils or had them in its numbers. The school was mentioned in a letter written by his grandfather who was apparently employed there as a teacher. He is keen to know where the school could have been located.
Share this: Now here’s a real treat for all you Durban fans. Angela Romain saw our post on the Aimee Lykes which ran aground on the Aliwal Shoal in 1964 and had some movie footage and stills of the vessel shot by her parents John and Meradel Romain during a visit to Durban. She quickly put the images together in a movie for our pleasure and I was the second person to view it. Who’ll be next?
I remember those days very well when you could walk right up to edge of the dry dock to see what was on going on and I can still get a bit of a cold shiver just thinking about it. Driving round the docks was our favourite Sunday afternoon pastime and I wouldn’t be surprised if we went to to see the Aimee Lykes in dock too.
Share this: Reader Belinda dropped a comment on the very popular Arcades of Durban post and it raised so many memories I thought it should have its own post. She wrote:
Share this:Reading all these posts have brought a flood of memories … I can’t remember whether it was Murchies Passage or Salisbury Arcade, but in the early 70s there was a shop that sold hippie paraphernalia, adjacent to the flagship Wimpy. On Saturdays, the Dbn hippie community (and part-time hippies) would hang out there, flowing onto the pavement surrounding the shop – much to the horror of the older generation. Watching Steve Fataar play at the YMCA one afternoon before the police declared the gathering illegal … the gig moved to a commune in Ritson Road, they could not stop the music no matter how hard they tried …
Later the shop Bilbo opened on the cnr of an arcade (Murchies or Salisbury … the memory is rusty) and Smith street, their clothes were the rage around 1976/7 offering alternatives for matric dances to the hideous trilobal dresses that flooded the market then … Bilbo’s harem pants and tunic were considered super hot in during 1977. In the early 80s I was based at the Little Abbey Theatre in Commercial road and we would get our eye kajal and sandalwood soaps from a little shop in Ajmeri Arcade.
Also remember with many fond memories the Oriental Bazaar that was situated on Commercial road, nearer the beach side, great place to buy puzzle rings. Back in the 60s had ballet lessons on the second floor of an old building in the lane that led from the top of Russell Street to the Emmanuel Cathedral. Will never forget climbing the rickety old wooden staircase to the strains of castanets and Spanish dancing at Pat Farman’s ballet school. Seminal memories… also visits to Carnival and Backstage in Payne’s Building to buy ballet shoes… the smell of grease paint that hit one on entering … evocative smells that no longer exist in the entertainment industry. Read More
Susan Woodville wrote in to ask if anyone knew her father during his time in Durban. She wrote:
Share this:My father (Stephen Woodville) was an evacuee in Durban during WW2 – he came from the UK about aged 10 to live with his uncle Bob Woodville (and his cousin Bert Woodville). He sang as a chorister in St Thomas’ church, joined their scout group and became asst. scout master. He LOVED his 10 years in durban. After leaving school there, he joined BOAC as a radio engineer on the flying boats in Durban Harbour, before returning to the UK. He is now 91 years and in good health and will be visiting Durban 30 October 2018 to 6 November. Does anyone remember him?