On our annual ‘trek’
to the Cape this year for husband to ride the Argus for the tenth time I
decided that we would have to do a detour en route. A step back in time for me!
I had been dreaming
about the house and town I used to live in whilst a small child and had not
visited in 50 years. After my mother
passed away I had found many photos of the town and civil society functions
that both her and my father had participated in. They are very important pieces of history
and I felt compelled to deliver them into the hands of the people who would
preserve them. So a stopover in the
city of WELKOM was planned.
At first my husband
dismissed my request as ludicrous. Who
would want to visit such a backwater?
However he soon realized that I was serious and he capitulated and even
entered into the fun of things mainly by teasing me a lot!
A bed and breakfast
was found on the great Travelgound search engine and a very old friend of the
family contacted to meet for dinner. We
set off from the heat of Maritzburg in March and arrived at midday in a very
different heat zone.
In my mind’s eye
Welkom was a dustbowl with very few large trees and shrubs and lots of wide
roads and many circles. I always
remember the many dust storms we experienced when the ploughed mealie fields
surrounding the town surrendered their top soil to the unrelenting wind and it
swirled savagely through the centre. I
tried to explain to husband that he was not to worry about road names etc I would
just lead him in the right direction as I expected the town to be exactly as I
l had left it. In fact I expected it to
be a GHOST TOWN. We had heard how mines
were closing left, right and centre and how it was affecting small mining
communities.
What a surprise we
got! The town had burgeoned to such an
extent that the outlying ‘Koppie Alleen’, a small hill which was miles outside
of the town and a real landmark, was now incorporated into the suburbs. The streets were all still the same as the
town planner had done an amazing job of laying out the town in the early 50’s
and in no time at all I had guided husband to our old house.
The house had been
bought by an estate agent and was run as a business. I went in to ask permission to take photographs
and was welcomed with open arms. They
took us on a tour around the whole house and it was wonderful. The house had been especially built for my
parents by the company they had worked for in the 1950’s and a lot of the
original features were still there. The
garden, originally designed by my mother had huge trees and many shrubs but
what really caught my eye were the beautiful cannas and roses that bloomed
everywhere. They were my mother’s
absolute delight.
From there I found my
way to the school and the church my parents had been instrumental in starting
and when I left were fledgling communities.
They were now green oases in the middle of the bustling city. People from all walks of life sat on benches
under the huge trees dotted all over the place. Eating their lunches or just sitting contemplating. We joined them and spent a wonderful few
hours going down memory lane. I was
able to give the parish office photos of the church when it was just built and
photos of the first service with the Bishop of the Free State of that time. They were very excited to receive them as
they had only recently started their archives.
I also found the
sports club my parents played bowls at and gave them the many photographs and
speeches of which my mother had kept copious copies of. She had started the
Northern Free State Bowling Association from there. As a child I grew up on the banks of the
bowling green and it was a huge endless world to me. As an adult I looked at the area with
different eyes but the memories it evoked were all happy loving ones.
The city of Welkom
has become a thriving metropolis with malls and hotels, casinos and a huge
Racing circuit for cars and motor cycles.
We were lucky to find a bed as the weekenders were arriving en masse for
some big racing competition.
I have to say that we
had a fun time exploring this backwater and would never have experienced this
unusual city had I not been brought up there.
It was certainly a step back in time for me but an eye opener of how the
new South Africa can work if we set our minds to it.
