27 Jan 2012

Bits ‘n’ Pieces II

by | posted in: InfoRequests, Mini Memories | 25

I have a few more things for you today including the following from Derek Levy:

Claridges Hotel July 1964.

I have strong memories of attending Cookie Look hour (5.00pm-7.00pm) at Claridges Hotel over the July holidays. The reason for my being in Durban was for my late father to attend the Durban July. The winner that year was Numeral ridden by jockey Raymond Rhodes. Read More

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25 Jan 2012

Bits ‘n’ Pieces

by | posted in: Mini Memories, New Articles, Pictures | 12

I have had a number of contributions that I need to post. Chris Allen sent in some wonderful pictures, including one of a whaling vessel aground. Chris’s email says that the vessel was named Addington and is aground on the beach named after it. If anything, I think the reverse must be true, because whaling didn’t begin in Durban until 1909 which is, as far as I know, after the beach (and hospital) was named.

Read More

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22 Jan 2012

The “Little Train”

by | posted in: InfoRequests, Mini Memories, New Articles | 7

Reader Allan Banfield has written in with his memories of the miniature steam train which used to operate on the Beachfront and, in particular, throws some light on what happened to the steam engine and train. He also asks for some information:

Dear Allan
I relocated from Durban to Cape Town in 1975 and then subsequently to the UK in 1988. I have managed a number of return visits to Durban and have followed the changes with great interest.
As an architect, I think the current master plan is excellent – removing the cars and turning the immediate access into a pedestrian promenade on both The Upper and Lower Marine Parades. Once the final gap to the Umgeni Mouth and Blue Lagoon is complete, it will be a most impressive facility.
Could you help with some background information please?
What is the name of the sunken gardens / amphitheater near North Beach?
Whenever we visited with my parents up to the 70s, my Dad never failed to remind us that the gardens were built during the Great Depression years c1927/29. This was a relief work project initiated by the city council / state to provide work and income for the unemployed. He told us that white lawyers were wielding picks and shovels and pushing wheel barrows during the construction in order to put bread on the table for their families.
I have a few other stories about the beach which I will save for another e-mail.
Thanks for your site. You are performing a great nostalgia service for ex-Durbanites now living in many other parts of the world. It really is a super walk down memory lane reminding me of some great times back in the 60s and 70s.
Yours sincerely
Allan Banfield

I have always referred to them as the sunken gardens and amphitheater but would not be surprised to hear they have formal names. I have added Allan’s story to the bottom of the miniature trains page, originally started by Gerald Buttigieg.

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13 Jan 2012

What happened in Durban 50/40 years ago? 1962/ 1972

by | posted in: New Articles | 448

What happened in Durban 50 years ago?

Last year I wrote up an article covering what happened in Durban 50 years ago. I used my late father in law’s newspaper cut-outs as reference. I am doing the same this year so here goes:

 1962.

The winners of the Dusi Canoe Marathon were the doubles pair, Derek Antrobus and Peter Gladwin of Pietermaritzburg.  Read More

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31 Dec 2011

Happy, happy!!

by | posted in: Housekeeping | 1

In keeping with FAD’s [read My] noble tradition for being late with stuff, I missed wishing you for Christmas, but I hope you had a good one. In the nick of time before the clock ticks over to the new year, however, I wish you all the best for 2012. I fervently hope that it is not quite as full of change for me as 2011 was, with the big move downunder, and that I can settle down and do more on this site and on the family history I’m working on. We’ll see how that goes.

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6 Dec 2011

Mystery Hind

by | posted in: Image, Mini Memories | 0

Readers of this site, between them, know everything and even the most obscure of facts eventually surfaces. The latest example refers to the the diary entry on site dated 13 March, 2005, where I posted a picture of a mysterious helicopter photographed off Scottburgh by reader Marius Beytell. A little research revealed that it was a Russian attack helicopter but  we never found out where it cam from, and what it had been doing.

Just the other day, reader Peter Noci wrote in to cast light on the mystery. I have added his comments below the entry for 13 March, 2005, on Diary page # 18.

And talking of the diary, even though this shiny WordPress blog only dates back to the middle of 2011, I did keep a site diary from 2003. I recommend you take a look through those pages which are linked from here, to get a good idea of what’s been happening on the site, since the very beginning.

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6 Dec 2011

Umgeni mouth

by | posted in: InfoRequests | 3

Reader Brian Finch wrote in to ask a question about where the Umgeni emptied into the sea:

Allan
I would be pleased if you could settle a matter of fact for me re the Umgeni River mouth.
I have always understood that the Umgeni River originally fed into Durban Bay ( now harbour) and that it`s present mouth at Blue Lagoon is a fairly `recent` change. Am I right and if so, when and how did the river course change ?
Brian

I do know that the the Umgeni did empty into the bay on at least some occasions during floods, but I don’t know if the situation was permanent. Leave a comment on the bottom of this post, or contact me if you know.

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23 Nov 2011

Flying boat

by | posted in: InfoRequests, Pictures | 3

The picture below was sent in by my regular correspondent William Paterson. He said that it is in his family’s Zululand photo album and that it might have taken at either Lake St Lucia or Lourenco Marques. He was interested to know what the plane was and what it had been doing in that part of the world.

I was able to establish that the aircraft was a Short S28 Calcutta flying boat of Imperial Airways and that it had been wrecked at Mersah Matruh and later became a training machine. Brian Cassidy’s excellent Flying Empires (free on Google Books) records that the aircraft was used to train pilots who later flew the Empire Class flying boats on the route to Durban. My theory at the moment is that the aircraft could very well have been used for a training flight to familiarise pilots with the route. If that is so, then the picture is more likely to have been taken at LM, which was the main stopping point for the Empires.

Courtesy William Paterson.

The aircraft was broken up for spares in 1937, by which time the Empires would have been flying weekly to Durban. Anyone who can shed any light on what the aircraft was doing in the area, and when she was there, is welcome to leave a comment below, or contact me here.

I have a major section on passenger and military flying boats in Durban on this site.

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