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Pioneer
student remembers days of the old school yard
Mike Waddy holding Whitestone Flag and Frik de Beer after
unveiling the Sun Dial in 2007 So much happens so
fast in this 21st Century world, one wonders whether anything special
will stick in the mind, to be recalled 70 years down the line. Someone who does
remember is Mike Waddy, one of the first pupils to attend Whitestone School when
it opened in 1942. Classes were held on
the verandah of the headmaster’s house, while the new school buildings were
still going up. Whitestone was then
in the middle of the bush, a good 13km from the centre of Bulawayo and while
that may not seem so great a distance today, at that time it was a long way to
go to school. When the classrooms
were built, so were dormitories … for those boys who lived at such great
distances that they could not travel to and from the school every day. Mike, who lived in
Middlesex Road, Hillside, used to catch the school bus, which in later years was
pursued up the road by Bobby Richardson’s dog, Jock, who would spend the day
waiting outside the classroom for his master to go home. You have to remember that in those days, the vehicles weren’t what they are now, so it can’t have been hard for the dog to keep up. The bus often could
not make it across the stream on Whitestone Way, because it would be flooded by
the rains and then a public holiday was declared for the day scholars. This being the middle
of World War II, there was an aerodrome in Burnside, not that far from the
school. Troop carriers, taking men
to war in North Africa and Europe, used to land there for refreshments. The Whitestone boys
would watch the planes coming in to land, whole flotillas of Dakotas often
filling the sky. One of them crashed
and all those aboard were killed one day. In the school yard,
under the ancient fig tree which still graces the grounds, the Royal Air Force
parked an out-of-service Harvard, one of the early training machines used to
teach pilots how to fly. The aircraft became
part of the boys’ world as they climbed aboard and pretended to be fighter
pilots soaring in the sky and saving the free world from the tyranny of Hitler
and his Nazis. While the war took up
much of the children’s thoughts, they were relatively safe in Bulawayo,
far from the battlegrounds of Europe and so there were plenty more to occupy
them … especially cricket and rugby. The arch-rivals of
the day were the boys from Rhodes Estate Preparatory School (REPS), but in 1946
Whitestone acquired a secret weapon. A
former sergeant major who had served in the Far East for many years became their
sports-master and he drilled the lads like platoons of soldiers. Gerald Ledebor was a
veteran, not only of the war, but of the game of cricket, having coached the
national team. He turned the
Whitestone first 11 into a first class team, which regularly whipped REPS,
Milton and the Plumtree under-13 team. Prior to that
they’d struggled a bit under the tutelage of Mr Oliver, a Canadian who joined
the school in 1944 and wasn’t overly sure of the difference between cricket
and baseball, so taught a strange but hilarious combination of the two. Their top scores were
always in the 30s, reflecting the value of the opposition bowling.
Mick Gammon was captain of the side. During one afternoon
game, Mike was fielding when there was a “huge roar” from the sky as a
meteorite passed over, falling in Riverside. Mike finished at
Whitestone in 1947 and went on to Plumtree Boys High in ’48.
Not a great fan of school he left in ’52 and went to work for Barclays
Bank where he met his wife. Later he left the
bank to join his father in the real estate business (C.A. Waddy & Co) and
then went on to buy Paint World as his children were then at university and
extra money was needed to cover the fees. His father, Cyril,
meantime, had bought land in the eastern Matopos about 1947 so Mike spent many
days roaming the area, exploring the caves and hills.
One of those caverns was to later become Big Cave Camp, a popular tourist
destination opened in 1985 and now run by Mike’s son. Since the 1960s,
the Waddy family had been sowing the Matopos with trees and aloes. Roy
Stevens was instrumental in developing Mike’s interest and the two
“dragged” their children all over the area, thus creating in them a love of
trees and wildlife. Speaking of which
reminded Mike that among the other great Whitestonians of his day was Colin
Saunders who went on to become a doctor, developed the Chiredzi Hospital and was
a leading light in the world of wildlife conservation. “There are a few of
us still left,” he said, although the original class of ’42 is thin on the
ground and scattered far and wide across the planet. The aircraft that so many Old Boys refer to has long since disappeared, we know not where, but it has left an indelible memory. Perhaps the time has come to find another old “aircraft shell” to place in the school grounds. LETTER FROM JULIAN OVER I have just found
the school's website - nice job ! I did wonder whether the school had
survived Zimbabwe's vicissitudes, especially given its rather rural location.
I am so glad that it has - I have fond memories, especially of Frank van Heijst
and the Pennington brothers. I also remember Mr Carroll, Irish, I think,
who used to clip one about the ear if one were stupid; and Miss Swan, who taught
us to swim. Was there a Miss Winters And Samson, the head
waiter, who could carry 13 plates at once. Mrs Maclean, who taught
Afrikaans and group singing. Sorry, getting sentimental. Julian
Over 1947 - 1952
IN MEMORIAM Mary Lane Mary Lane, matron at Whitestone School from 1957 to 1973, passed away on 12th November 2010 at the age of 101 years and 5 months. Mary was born on 11th June 1909 in Surbiton, Surrey, England. She trained as a children’s nurse and during the Second World War worked as an assistant matron at an evacuation center in Taunton, Somerset, where she cared for children who had been removed from London to escape from the German air raids. After the war, Mary helped Brian and Elizabeth Adams with their children Robin, born 1946, and Christopher, born 1950. She immigrated to Zimbabwe in 1950 with the Adams family and settled in Bulawayo. In 1957, she joined the staff at Whitestone, where she served as matron until her retirement in 1980. Upon her return to England, she lived in Newmarket, Suffolk and, for the past 10 years, at Hargrove House, Stansted Mountfitchet. Neither Mary, nor her brother Dan, who also lived into his late 90s, were married so she leaves no immediate family. However, Mary was an integral part of the Adams family and will be greatly missed by Robin (Whitestone 1955-1959) and Christopher (Whitestone 1958-1962). Mary will also be remembered by several generations of other Whitestone families. For many of the timid first year boarders she was a mother figure with her office functioning as a place of refuge, not to mention the source of under the counter sweets and snacks. Although Mary did not get her first driving license until she was 50, she was an inveterate traveller going all over Zimbabwe in her yellow Morris Minor as well as paying periodic visits to her bother Dan and lifelong friend Ruby Swabey in England. Later in life, a number of the old boys invited her to help out with their children during vacations and after her official retirement. Mary even travelled to the United States in 1977 to help Robin and his wife Judith immediately after the birth of their son William. Mary was a determined walker, an ingrained habit from her childhood that survived the hot African sun and helped to keep her independent and active into her 90s.
197.......?
Who was the Teacher? 1985 STAFF
We still have four members of staff at Whitestone Mrs Gail Ward (nee Cromar) Mrs Mez de Beer (nee Stuttaford) Mrs Ingrid Charsley Cosmos Mahiya "Spot the FOUR survivors!"
WHITESTONE CLUB SCOUTS TROOP 1973
My
name is Philip Calothi and I was at Whitestone from 1960 until 1964 when I lived
in Livingstone, CLASS OF 1964 LEAVERS
Here
is the 1964 school photo of the Standard 6 school leavers: Front
row: Calothi, Unknown, Peel, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Burt Middle
row: Braithwaite, Haile, Beckerleg, Anthony Cheetham, Halstead, Kaufman,
Huddleston
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Afternoon Activities 1st Term 2012 Carnivore of Carnivores by J. Edwards Lessons for our kids from Bryce Lawrence Time to educate Pushy Parents on the Futility of Abuse from Touchline |
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