Welcome to the Kidgell Stories !¶
Background¶
This is primarily a collection of familial memories. We traveled all over the country, lived in all the provinces [except for the Free State], and got to experience much that was not granted to other children our age.
Where¶
Paddock¶
Motor bikes¶
- Riding to Murchison and back
- Deidre’s first bike ride
- Fixing bikes…a lot!
The Train Line
The Factory
- Fire extinguishers
- The Tower
House 1¶
- Playing the mouth-organ on the water tower
- Mowing the grass with Geoff
Catties
We would cut old tyre tubes up to make catties, and had much fun using the [still existing] windows on the factory exterior for target practice.
Playing squash at the Farmer’s Hall
YP at the Farmer’s Hall
Pyromania - Chris’ Kentucky Fried
Oribi Gorge
Mpame¶
What a place! Where does one begin?
Places¶
Porpoise Gully
Clark’s Point
Mncwasa
Wilson’s Gully
Shelly Beach
Mbolompo
Hole in the Wall
- The long walk
- The desert area above Mbolompo
Tafalehashe
Prospect
The Sphinx
Archeology
Shooting
Fishing
The beach buggy
Mom drifting the Kombi sideways near Manzi
The ‘skelm’ trip down to Mpame
- 5 punctures
- The taxi driver’s jack
- Mom at the border post
Flat Rocks
Boating / fishing on the Mncwasa
Chiltley¶
The cows
The cows were named Kitchen and ??? Geoff and Jonathan C tried to ride the calf.
Guavas
We used to pick guavas off the trees in the orchard - they were freely available and much appreciated!
The bogey
I found a bogey in the factory. It came from one of the cane trolleys, and I decided to take it back to Chiltley to use as a barbell. I figured it would be an easy task to roll it all the way home on the railroad track which ran from the factory in Paddock all the way past Chiltley at a gentle incline. I placed it on the rails at the road crossing and started pushing it. I had to keep stopping it from running ahead because of the incline, but this became tedious after a while, so I thought I might run ahead of it and catch it further down the track.
Going camping in Oribi Gorge with Peter Holmes in his short-wheel-base Landrover
Peter collected us at the C residence and drove us to the Gorge. We trekked into the Gorge and eventually found a cliff with a massive overhang which we decided to use as our camp. We built a fire as darkness was falling then picked out places to bed down and sat around cooking something to munch, then we chatted away until we fell asleep.
Living in the cottage with Geoff
Mrs. Simpson, Roy Whipp and Mary [??]
Geoff’s driving escapades
Deidre, Xolo and the horse
Making butter in the scullery
Murchison¶
Andrew Cameron and the taxi driver
YP at Murchison
Mrs. Cameron and the exploding ginger bottles
East London¶
Porter Street¶
Watching films at the library on Thursday nights [Friday?]
The guy who tried to steal mom’s bag
Gonubie
Nahoon mouth with uncle Edwin’s [?] red boat.
Moore Street¶
The Kennaway Hotel¶
Selborne Primary¶
The Tuck Shop
My favourite was the sausage roll. This came in two sizes, a 6c and an 11c version. Smothered in tomato sauce! Yummy…
The School Orchestra
I played trumpet in the school orchestra which was lead by Mr. Ian Sampson. On band days I had to lug my trumpet with me on the bus to school and back. One day I left it on the bus when I got off near home and never twigged until I got on the bus the next day and the bus driver gave it back to me. Whew!
Mr. Sampson thought I might go further so set up an audition for me with the East London Youth Orchestra, but we were leaving for Johannesburg so I never got to try out.
Quigney Baptist Church¶
Mark Frame’s house, his tv, his twin sister in Deidre’s class
Forgetting my trumpet on the bus
Piano lessons that turned me off learning
Kimberley¶
After-school activities¶
The Library
Whenever I could I would go up to the local library and read until it closed. I never took books out, just read them there, placing them back in the correct place afterwards.
Piano lessons at the theatre
Rugby
The Swimming Pool
13 Crossman Road¶
Schooling¶
Kimberley Preparatory School
Kimberley Boys Junior School
Tony Block’s birthday party
The funfair
Paarl¶
Muldersvlei¶
The Cows Come Home
Playing down at the dam
Braaing meat using paper only
Building rafts
The winery over the road
Pellet guns
Cheryl breaks a leg
Herding the cows
Rinkhals
Getting on the bus in the dark at mid-winter
Paarl Boys High¶
Rugby in the rain…with bricks!
Cape Town Corps
Double-feature movies with Chris Lovick
Benoni¶
The jungle-gym falling on me.
The mower-blade connecting with a bolt hidden in the grass and sending it through the one bedroom window. Some time later Geoff was running in the yard with his cowboy hat over his face and he ran slap-bang into the same window, shattering it. I don’t know how he wasn’t cut by the glass.
The maid and the shoes.
Dad driving over my scooter and thinking it was one of us kids.
Learning to ride a bicycle and falling into the cactus.
Having to catch the bus home, losing the 5c bus-fare and walking all the way home.
Dad making us wooden houses painted white with red roofs.