Lionhearts
Lionhearts
In the winter of 1956, Jack Chase, the lion hunter, invited Tim to spend a week of his school holidays to see the Central Kalahari, West of Mahalapye in Bechuanaland. Tim made a plan with Ian, a Gang member.
At end of the school term the two friends took their grids (bicycles) with them on the train to Bulawayo and cycled to Ian’s home. They spent the next week mostly at The Bulawayo Museum where a friend of Ian’s worked. Ian collected beetles and even found one unknown to science that was named after him.
Adventures with the Divisional Commissioner
Adventures with the Divisional Commissioner
Tim Hughes usually spent mid-term breaks, Easter and Rhodes & Founders long weekends with his Uncle John Millard, the Divisional Commissioner of Northern Bechuanaland. Tim travelled 60 miles south from Plumtree to Francistown by train to stay with him, his wife Corinne and daughter Philippa.
If John and Corinne were busy, their African chauffeur would collect him from the railway station. Riding in the very latest Chevrolet sedan with a chauffeur was a great thrill. John always made sure that Tim’s visits were exciting, usually camping and shooting.
Cross Country or Down Stream?
Cross Country or Down Stream?
Plumtree School held assembly at Beit Hall six days a week. The school plays were held there too. It also doubled as the town’s bioscope (cinema). Most importantly once a year girls from Evelyn and Townsend Girls High Schools in Bulawayo, sixty miles away, were bussed to Plumtree for a school dance. Thanks to Mrs Hessom’s instruction on the Connemara Mine Tim Hughes was able to join in and practice his steps. Unfortunately he didn’t have an ear for music so his steps were not in time, much to the discomfort of the girls. Tim was much more adept at cross country running.
A Sharp Eye and a Good Shot
A Sharp Eye and a Good Shot
At fifteen, home for the school holidays, Tim and his old CJR Junior School friend from Connemara Gold Mine, Malcolm Mackendrick, decided to go camping on Giraffe Farm.
Bordering on Freedom
Bordering on Freedom
Tim revelled in being a fifteen year old at Plumtree High School. Past the two years of fagging he had not reached the serious position of having a fag of his own or the pressures of final year exams. Life was great.
School hours included one subject period before breakfast and four after from Monday to Friday. On Saturday there were two periods in the morning. A three quarter hour rest after lunch was compulsory Monday to Saturday, followed by sport. Tim made the school’s third rugby team as a senior, dropped out of cricket, did reasonably well in hockey, tennis and swimming. He excelled in long distance running and was a first class shot, securing a place in Bisley teams for two years. He had plenty of practice on weekends.
‘To a Definite End’
‘To a Definite End’
One’s school motto does, I think, to a greater or lesser degree, influence one’s thinking even if sub-consciously. Que Que High School was founded to service the Globe and Phoenix Mine almost half a century before my parents arrival in 1946. They, each in their separate ways, much more so than us kids, fully embraced the school’s motto Non sibi sed omnibus, ‘Not for Ourselves but for All.’ Tim Hughes, at fourteen, applied himself to Plumtree School’s motto Ad Definitum Finem, ‘To a Definite End’ when the opportunity arose to revive his fathers abandoned 1939 Chevrolet pick-up so he could bring ‘a definite end’ to dependence on the bicycle.
One’s school motto does, I think, to a greater or lesser degree influence our thinking, even if sub-consciously. Que Que High School was founded to service the Globe and Phoenix Mine almost half a century before my parents arrival in 1946. They, each in their separate ways, fully embraced the school’s motto Non sibi sed omnibus, ‘Not for Ourselves but for All.’ Tim Hughes, at fourteen, applied himself to Plumtree School’s motto Ad Definitum Finem, ‘To a Definite End’ when the opportunity arose to revive his fathers abandoned 1939 Chevrolet pick-up so he could bring ‘a definite end’ to dependence on the bicycle.
