please add me to your mailing list so I too can enjoy your reminicing
Rochelle

I lived at 18 Burma road, just down from the Slomans, The Bradt [?] family lived near the shul. The Rick families also lived on Burma rd,as did the Teperson’s.
My maiden name was Schattil.

Loved your Dad like a father. Together with messrs Browne, Addlington, Dewe et al they formed the best of the best. Shared a rail compartment with your brother probably mid 60’s. A memorable experience with life long memories of him being a particularly great guy. Paul Savory was a neighbour in his first year of life.

Ozzie Ashton was a great inspiration. It would be good to hear from Paul Savory and please remember me to your brother with my very kindest regards.

I had a novel published in 2003 – Rhodesian Dawn, Zimbabwe Darkness … necessity! 2nd edition re-published by Sable Publishing House in my efforts to establish a new life in UK…a very different environment to Zim farming.

Best wishes with your publishing venture. As a Q resident from birth in ’49 till early 70’s I look forward to travelling the journey of your memories. When is it likely to hit the press?

Hello Diana,

I lived in KweKwe, (or Que Que is I knew it), from 1960 – 1966. aged from two to seven. From memory I think my parents and I lived at 11A Greenham Ave.

Seeing the blog thread mentioning Dr Dewe triggered a few memories as I believe he was our next door neighbour. I’m not sure how many children he had, (I’ll ask my dad later), but I remember playing with Douglas.

My parents are Eileen and Alan Hall who were from England originally, emigrated to Rhodesia so my father, who was an Electrical Engineer, could further/pursue his career. (We first lived in Sinoia.)

Rhodesia has been on my mind a bit lately as my wife Kiri has been doing a few papers on Rhodesia as part of her Anthropology studies.

We now live in Auckland New Zealand, as do my parents, after leaving Rhodesia when Ian Smith declared independence. My father thought we should move to a country that was safer to bring up a family. My mother was hoping to move back to the UK. Suprisingly they are still together and have just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Regards,

Nic Hall

Diana – thank you for this marvellous memoir! Christopher Bunnett found your site first and sent it around the world to his brothers and sisters. I am the eldest and I remember your parents well, especially your Mum. We came to QQ in 1964 – Dad was with the ESC, later moving to CAPCO – and I attended QQ Junior for two years before going off to boarding school. During that time I was a Girl Guide and I remember a fabulous camp at Victoria Falls with your mum in charge! And how my mum manufactured a sleeping bag for me with blankets and safety pins! There’s lots more we all remember (Hi Tony Wood from across the road!) but the loveliest thing for me was to hear that you had married Jan Polisensky – Polly and Joan were very good friends of Mum and Dad and we kids adored Aunty Joan and her loving heart! The ‘twins’ in “Babes in the Wood” were Nick and Claire – not twins but 18 months apart and both blonde. In the panto at the end of 1965 (I think) I was going to be the fairy, and then threw the panto and the family and the MO into a tizz by contracting typhoid and putting everyone into quarantine for 6 weeks!

Diana, I have only just gone on to this part of the blog. Julia has reminded me of the innovative sleeping bags and the camp over in Bulawayo when the water froze in the enamel basin that was left outside the tent.

I was Michael in Peter Pan and helped to sew the costumes for some pantos in later years.

I think teachers were much more respected than they are today and I too have fond memories of many but especially Pheobe Pratt who taught me Latin.

Auntie Pru, Julia’s mother was a dear friend and a great support when Mum was in hospital for 5 months while I was preparing for M levels

Diana I have unearthed the official photo of the teachers at QQJunior, 1967 or 68 I think.
I can idetnify most of them…

I wondered if you would like me to send it to you>

Hie,is there anyone who knows anyone who used to live at Camberwell Farm in the 1960’s about 25km along Gokwe road from Que Que.Realy need to get intouch with them please help.

THE PRIMROSE GOLD MINE, QUE QUE
The life of a trammer- a wheelbarrow boy!
The mention of the Wiggins family reminds me of a visit I made to the Primrose Mine -circa 1975 – it was owned & run by Hal Wiggins. His manager at the time was a Mr Annandale – as I recall, also a well-known mining family from the Que Que area?
The entrance to the mine was via an inclined shaft – you descended by riding in a skip (gollivan or cocopan) with 4 wheels running on rail tracks – the gradient hadn’t been too well designed or worked out so it was a bit like riding a hurdy-gurdy switchback – equivalent to the Big Dipper at a fun park but not as comfortable! Because one person sat in the bottom (myself) & the owner (Hal W.) stood above me by balancing his feet on the bridle of the skip & holding onto the steel rope.
The trip was made more memorable simply because Hal Wiggins had named certain parts of the mine after places he was familiar with – for example, in one place where he had lost the reef he then probed almost in every direction to try & locate it again – he virtually went round in a circle – he aptly called this section of the mine – “Piccadilly Circus”! Unusual to say the least!
The other recollection I have is that the underground workings were poorly lit up ; no electric lights – visitors like myself were very privileged to be given a proper miner’s lamp which you attached to your hard hat – with a good, strong, beam to see the different geological features & obstacles as you walked in a crouched position along the twisting tunnels. Hal W. ran a tight ship – so there were no frills – like straight tunnels where you could walk upright!
The size of the tunnel was basically determined by the jackhammer operators who drilled the holes which were later charged with explosives to blast open & break up the rock & advance the ‘face’. As bonuses were paid on the number of feet the ‘face’ was advanced each month – the smaller the opening, the greater was the advance, the higher the bonus! The smaller size meant that the cost of development per foot advanced was also low – Hal approved of that – remember he ran a tight ship!
Walking along these tunnels even with a good light still required careful negotiation as draw points or ore boxes would loom up out of nowhere.
But spare a thought for the African workers, like the jackhammer operators, lashers & trammers – they only had the use of carbide lamps – a small flickering flame reflected by a shiny back plate.
The ore, once blasted, was moved from the working face along the winding tunnel to the shaft – to be hoisted out of the mine – by men pushing heavily laden wheel barrows – the trammer (wheelbarrow man) used his carbide lamp by perching it on top of the pile of ore in his wheelbarrow – this was the equivalent of the headlights of his car as he pushed & negotiated the obstacle course, hunched over to prevent banging his head against the roof, or hitting his face against a plank hanging down from a draw point plank & so made his way through the narrow, twisting tunnel to get to the shaft & deliver his load!! This was some feat with a lot of instinctive feel!
But he had to do this probably 30 times during his shift – this was his task or ‘gwaza’ for the day – but done with amazing skills & levels of endurance.
At the end of each trip, as he reached the shaft station, he would place a small stone in a shallow hole – these were his counters and NOBODY, but NOBODY touched those counters – it was hallowed ground & reserved only for the trammer!
Once he had completed his task for the day – say 30 wheelbarrow loads, he could exit the mine. Normally he would not have the luxury of getting a ride in the skip to surface as it was busy hoisting ore out or letting down materials so he would have to ‘walk out’ – that is, climb the ladders installed at the side of the rail track in the inclined shaft – a journey which could take at least 30 minutes – the end to an exhausting day- but the joy of seeing the sun & daylight again!

Frank Tennick
Hermanus, S.Africa

I was born in Que Que in 1953 & attended the Que Que Junior School from 1959 until 1965. We left mid 1965, moving to South Africa. A couple of class mates that I remember are Hugh Drummond, Ivor Prior, David Maritz, Roger Curle and Larry Jenkinson. We lived at 7 Burma Road, next to the Catholic Church. My dad, Alf Page initially did his apprentiship at the Globe & Phoenix mine and later worked at Risco. (Redcliff)

Diana
Greetings from Boston MassUSA. I lived on Clare Park farm outside QueQue from 1944 to 1953, went to school at REPS and Plumtree, parents divorced went to Kenya, Brasil, Scotland and the moment I qualified as a CA went to work in Boston ma where i still live with family now,10 strong .lots of memories of QueQue- Ackerman and old mans corner, Dr Dewe his eldest son and I are still great mates,I was a director of his co in London, we meet up in London and Venice.Incidentally the original ClarePark was the Birch family home in Hampshire.
If any of this is useful I would love to be in touch and will be interested in your book
yours aye, Robert

My father is Mr. Martin Martin and he was born in 1939 and had a son in 1969 his name christopher martin, thus myself. Can i know his whereabouts as i parted him the same year, i was born(1969)

A fascinating discussion. Does anyone have any information about SHERWOOD STARR a Gold Mining company?

Thank you Bernadette Parfitt (nee Fynn)with such information concerning my father Martin Martin of Kwekwe Zimbabwe in 1969 and him born in 1939. If possible want his last known physical address so that i can try and trace him as hi is my father. We last meet soon after my birth in 1969 only up to today. please help.

Dear Skatie,
got your message & will contact you by phone as well.
Kind regards

Frank Tennick