Now anyone who lived in Bulawayo in the fifties, sixties and seventies will know exactly
what I mean.....
Bulawayo had the most awesome storm drains, deep wide dips that appeared at every
intersection, and Grey Street and Borrow Street had the very best there could be .....
One could start a the Eskimo Hut near the Trade Fair, rev up the old Morry and fly like the
wind down Grey Street, ramping majestically at every intersection.
A good couple of kilometres of hair raising delight until one sped past Hartsfield rugby
grounds where one could disappear into the North End warren of Roads just in case the
cops thought to chase you !!
It was even more fun in the rainy season when one could gush through the fifteen raging
torrential rivers which ran down stream into the Matsheumhlope from first Avenue to
Fifteenth Avenue...... If you could get up a good speed in that Old Austin Cambridge or VW
Beetle, you could get the spray to rise up as high as the top of the windows !!
To totally drench an unsuspecting passer by was an added bonus, and when they
introduced a fine which made it illegal to splash people, it took on an even more delightful
and delicious temptation.. ..
Somehow the novelty wore off when the levelled out the storm drains, and it definitely lost
its wicked gloss, when they changed the names of the roads !!
The Name "Robert Mugabe Street" Cowboy somehow did not have quite the same
tantalising ring !!
The race down Grey Street from South to North, passed so many landmarks. Norvic Court
on the right, Royal Cinema on the left where we used to attend the Saturday morning
movies and swop all those weekly comics like Richie Rich, Lil Annie,Casper the Friendly
Ghost, Tarzan and the Beanos .....
Directly opposite The Royal was the Bon Journee which still today sells a good cup of
coffee and a decent meal, still features those check table cloths and those milk bar
seats......
Opposite the Royal Cinema was the Model Dairy where you could buy sweet little bottles of
milk and tubs of cream as well as fabulous ice creams ... Further down on the left were the
Fritz Pie carts where Fritz Pickard sold an amazing array of tempting delights like
hamburgers and hot dogs. One could sit outside in the open, on a metal stool which
swung completely around and drink a milkshake while you watched the Grey Street
Cowboys in action.
Past Selborne Avenue where Downing Bakery stood proud on the corner...oh those meat
pies, Cornish Pasties, doughnuts and Downing's Bread....mmmmmmm
On the right again, Knights Auctioneers where Aiden Knight presided over a tantalising
display of objects d'art and antique furniture, Past the Greys Inn where the Muirhead
family ran the very popular and infamous pub, past the Grey Street Prison where Aiden
Diggenden ran his flourishing business and from where he made it his business to escape
so many times !!
Bulawayo City Roads were made wide enough to turn a full span of oxen, Grey Street was
slightly more narrow however, there are still the skid marks in place where the more
daring Cowboys took it upon themselves to try a hand brake "ewey "(U turn !!
Things have changed somewhat, the City Fathers took it upon themselves to run a centre
island the entire length of Grey Street, partly to prevent the Cowboys from doing those
incredible hand brake u turns in the middle of the road, and partly to give the pedestrians
a little island of safety I would imagine !!
The cinemas have all been converted into Churches, The Pie Carts made way for the Jairos
Jiri Shop. C. Gauche is still there though where they sell coal, bird seed and an eclectic
collection of farming equipment.
Next door the Model Dairy has been sold to a Chinese consortium where you can buy
pretty paper lanterns, chopsticks and colourful Chinese slippers, all of which arrived with
the construction folk who came to help us build the much needed Gwayi Shangani
Dam.......
Some of our elderly citizens however, no names mentioned, still retain those beautifully
maintained old Morrys and Austins which to this day bear the dents in the oil sumps,
where the ramped the storm drains on an idyllic Saturday afternoon in Bulawayo....
TO JO AND MARK DEKKER A BABY SON, BROTHER FOR RACHAEL.
LOVE AND CONGRATULATIONS FROM THE THIRD GRANNY
AUSTEN/HARDY
Graham and Lyn (now living in Carlisle, Cumbria UK)
are absolutely delighted to announce the engagement in
London on 22/3/07 of their daughter SYKE to ROLAND son
of Alan and Jane Austen of Kwekwe.
Congratulations
Congrats to Danni and Stu - hitched at last! With love and best wishes for your future
happiness, Ro & Pete
ENGAGEMENT
Dave & V are thrilled to announce the engagement of their daughter, Tabitha, in Dubai, to
Ramy, son of Antoine & Marguerite Haykal of Lebanon.
Welcome to the crazy Edwards family Ramy. We are so happy for you both.
I wish to say how sorry I was to hear of the passing of Tommy 'Eddie' 'Two-Point' Tomkins.
I have known him since 1956 and always held him in high regard, especially for his
diligence to ensure that English was always spoken correctly and even more so, to ensure
it was printed correctly. A Bulawayo character who will be sadly missed. Peter Botwright
Tom Cavanagh much loved Dad of Tommy and Sue, Father-in-law to Judy and Neil
and Grandpops and GGP(great great grandpops) to all his family died
peacefully in Peterborough aged 90 years on 23 March.
Book Title: Thanks to You. Published in 19
44
By: Cpl. Robert Smalley (R.A.F)
BULAWAYO
Indeed you are a friendly town,
A gleaming jewel 'mid the brown
Of burning sand, refreshing green
Your Park has never lovelier been,
Air sparkling in the morning sun,
Wide streets glistening, work begun.
A greeting, smiling faces everywhere
That cheer of heart, to banish care.
Lakeside, mirror on the earth,
Reflects the trees, flowers, and the turf.
Roundhouse makes a picture neat,
A rendezvous where old friend meet.
Khami Dam, within whose breast
The precious water lies at rest.
From World's View, that granite peak,
The voice of Rhodes is heard to speak:
"This my town shall blessed be,
Beloved of men 'til eternity."
Sent in by Steph
7 TIDBITS
A man who causes fear cannot be free from fear.
- Epicurus -
"The seed of revolution is repression"
Woodrow Wilson, US president
Sharpening a pencil with a knife makes you feel really manly.
Earth Hour is a fabulous opportunity for you and your family to do
something about climate change. On one night, in one hour, more will be
done, more will be demonstrated, and more will be learned than through a
hundred 'talk-fests' . And you can help make it happen.
What is Earth Hour?
It sounds simple, but it is very, very dramatic. At 7.30pm on March
31st 2007, we will be encouraging companies, government departments,
individuals and families to turn off their lights for just one hour.
If we meet our objectives during the first Earth Hour, the savings in
Green house gas emissions will be the equivalent of taking 75,000 medium
Sized cars off the road for one whole year! Now that's something worth
doing.
Why?
The facts are alarmingly clear:
* The climate is changing! The 10 hottest years on record have
occurred since 1990. In fact 2005 was the hottest year since record
keeping began.
* More than 95% of the Great Barrier Reef will have been destroyed
by 2050 if carbon dioxide emissions aren't reduced.
(WWF-International)
* One million species worldwide are facing extinction due to
climate change.
But not everybody listens to the facts. Earth Hour is your opportunity
to demonstrate how a simple change in our way of life could change,
and help save, our planet.
The goals of Earth Hour:
Households : Most of us use unnecessary electricity. Appliances on
standby, old style light bulbs, lights left on when we're not using
them. Earth Hour will help us all to realise just how simply we can
make a dramatic impact upon global warming (and our own power bills). We
will see it in action.
Companies : We want companies to be involved. If every company turned
off its lights when the buildings weren't in use, and combined it with
energy saving technology, we would save between 2 and 4 million tonnes
of
greenhouse gasses every year. Earth Hour will show companies just how
easy
that is.
To make it an annual event : Out of the 8,766 hours in a year, let's
give one back to the earth.
What you can do:
Sign up to Earth Hour and Pledge to turn off your lights on March 31st
from 7.30pm to 8.30pm by logging onto www.earthhour. org
You will receive all the information you need to make Earth Hour a
Great success (and to cut your own energy bills in the long term).
Pledging
Is free.
Get off standby : Turn off all the electronic equipment and appliances
in your home that are not being used or are on standby. Computers,
televisions, stereo equipment, phone chargers, DVD or video equipment.
Tell a friend : Spread the word about earth Hour by involving your
friends, family and workmates. Get them to pledge at earthhour.org and
most importantly, turn off the lights at 7.30pm Saturday 31 March
2007.
Spread the word - Once you have signed up for Earth Hour tell a
friend; spread the word at work; tell your boss; mention it at school,
at
your
local sports club or society group, you can even run it past your
neighbours!
Make it an event. Get your family and friends to switch off their
lights as well;
Take some binoculars and look at the stars; sit and talk by
candlelight;
Explore your backyard by torch-light;
Have fun with sparklers; or just do something non-electric as a
family;
Have a picnic-at-dusk; pretend you are camping; or have a candlelight
dinner.
For more info on Earth Hour, check out www.earthhour. org
EARTH HOUR. MAKE IT HAPPEN.
SAD SERIES
My Sad Series this week is about this woman who sells phone charge
cards, they are on every corner. She sits on a plinth below a robot,
she sits on an area about two foot by three foot. And .... she has
her baby with her.... In the middle of a very busy intersection, cars
and trucks thundering around. She has been there since she was
pregnant, and now the baby is a toddler, can you imagine trying to
keep a toddler there, on this three foot by two foot little island,
all day every day eight hours a day. yesterday I went to photograph
her and there was a little bundle of her goods by the pole but she
was no where to be seen. I am terrified the baby was run over, I will
go and have a look today.......
"Freedom is never voluntarily given
by the oppressor;
it must be demanded
by the oppressed."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MIRROR CAN ONLY DEAL WITH E MAIL QUERIES, PLEASE DO NOT PHONE IN YOUR ADVERTS AND QUERIES... ONLY E-MAILS WILL BE CONSIDERED
