# Durban



## jim barnes

Some one said whats in Durban, well its over thirty odd years now since i was there so memory a bit thin, so what is there, i remember a very wide road several lanes going down hill viewed from the back of a taxi running around to different places all day drinking rice rum i think ilegal it was from black bars also ilegal then but being british and classed as insane no one bothered, having my fortune told by fortune tellers and generally having fun, supose things are tamer now, what have you lot been upto, what can be expected these days?????
Jim


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## cynter

would that very wide road be Smith St or West St..... thay's about all there was to Durban as far as I'm concerned.... the beach wasn't bad.


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## Jeff Egan

I was in Durban in 1969 and it was great, taxi took us to the Smgglers Inn, fantastic, returned in 2002 had a town tour and passed the smugglers inn, it was in ruins, dream shattered.


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## jim barnes

cynter said:


> would that very wide road be Smith St or West St..... thay's about all there was to Durban as far as I'm concerned.... the beach wasn't bad.


 told about sharks laying in sand in shalow water, put me off a bit


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## Tony D

I liked Durban,remember sitting in the Smugglers Inn 1962 drinking ginger squares,they had a great guitar band playing all the Shadows tunes,(twer before the beatles),they also had a bouncer,biggest chap I ever saw he was about seven foot tall exe legionaire they reconed,his lady friend was a stunner very tall as well,but nobody looked at her for very long.
There was a good cafe just along the road called the Vasco De Gamma(sp?) recal eating sauge egg an chips in there as well.
Happy daz. (*))


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## Ian

remember the Del Monaco in the late 50s saw Cherry Wainer there, she was an organist, off six 5 special, on the t.v.


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## jim barnes

another memory,,, coloured girls hiding in bushes whispering for you around bar looking for buisness not allowed to mix with whites funny as everyone knew they where there (Night)


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## janbonde

Del Monica was Capetown,not too sure but seem to remember the Playhouse in Durban and a big open air bar over on the Bluff with a dance floor,had some good times there


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## Robinj

Walking along the promenade. The Officers club O.K. in shorts until 2100 then had to change to collar and tie when the ladies were allowed in. Then onto yhe Hotels with Ladiesbars, again collar and ties only.


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## John_F

janbonde said:


> Del Monica was Capetown,not too sure but seem to remember the Playhouse in Durban and a big open air bar over on the Bluff with a dance floor,had some good times there


Del Monico was definitely Capetown. Durban had the Playhouse. Had a marvellous evening there as a first trip apprentice in 1959 on the British Glory. BP were sending their supertankers round the Cape at slow speed to the Gulf & back because of a glut of oil in the UK. Initially, trips were non stop which meant an 80 day round trip without being able to set foot on land (the Gulf ports were not considered as land!). Eventually, BP agreed to a R&R break in either Durban or Capetown, ostensibly for bunkers.
Both ports were fantastic & I loved my days ashore there, despite apartheid.
Regards,
John.


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## KenLin39

Tony D said:


> I liked Durban,remember sitting in the Smugglers Inn 1962 drinking ginger squares,they had a great guitar band playing all the Shadows tunes,(twer before the beatles),they also had a bouncer,biggest chap I ever saw he was about seven foot tall exe legionaire they reconed,his lady friend was a stunner very tall as well,but nobody looked at her for very long.
> There was a good cafe just along the road called the Vasco De Gamma(sp?) recal eating sauge egg an chips in there as well.
> Happy daz. (*))


Vasco da Gamma / Anchor Inn / Yacht club / Seamans mission I feel sure all were in Point Road. Met a chap in yacht club asked where I was from (this was 1957) I said Tilbury and named a couple of old aunts, as it turned out he lodged with one of them during the war and used to take me out in a pushchair with one of his sons and he stayed in the Anchor Inn along Point road and you may know there is a Anchor Inn in Tilbury, anyway, I wrote a long letter to him in 1970 and got a letter back saying he had been knocked down and killed crossing Point Rd. The kicker being, he had left his wife and children in 1948 and nobody knew where he was, I never let on about where our chance meeting took place and saw him quite a few times when on round the Cape runs on BP and Union Castle, just because he heard my accent when buying postcards at the mission. I was at the aunts house a few years later and a woman was doing the cleaning, yes, it was his wife. Sadly I never did let on. Thanks for reminding me about the Vasco, beefburgers were the order of the day then. I'd forgotten the name over the years. Cheers. Ken.


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## trotterdotpom

Fantastic series of coincidences, Ken. Sometimes we can be too discrete.

I fell in love in Durban and still in occasional touch 30 years later! Magic place, magic girl.

John T.


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## KenLin39

*Coincidences.*



trotterdotpom said:


> Fantastic series of coincidences, Ken. Sometimes we can be too discrete.
> 
> I fell in love in Durban and still in occasional touch 30 years later! Magic place, magic girl.
> 
> John T.


 Hi John. The biggest of all John could have come just a few years later when I was on the Baron Belhaven, we were to load at Mackay, Queensland but diverted to Mourilyan then Townsville to load sugar for SJ. NB. Canada. the chaps mother was still alive and living in Mackay.


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## Doug H

Have fond memories of Durban in the mid-fifties. RobinJ's mention of the Officers Club got me looking for a photo taken there at that time.
Anybody recognise anybody? As far as I remember, from L to R: Refrig Eng, Les Cottril 3/ENG, James Fairweather 2/ENG, Jim ? 4 or 5/ENG, My lady friend Yvonne and me, the young R/O


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## DMA

_Yes Durban was or still is one great place,have many memories of the prom & beach area,not keen on going in the water though,was told there's a hole in the net! Anyone recall a roller rink on the sea front!!_ (EEK)
Photo Harrison's 'Custodian' arriving Durban.


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## trotterdotpom

KenLin39 said:


> Hi John. The biggest of all John could have come just a few years later when I was on the Baron Belhaven, we were to load at Mackay, Queensland but diverted to Mourilyan then Townsville to load sugar for SJ. NB. Canada. the chaps mother was still alive and living in Mackay.


Amazing! Did you contact her and tell her the story?

John T.


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## KenLin39

*Durban.*



trotterdotpom said:


> Amazing! Did you contact her and tell her the story?
> 
> John T.


Hi John, just another quirk of life. Could I have done or Should I have done. It will remain with me. All it took was a mention of the Vasco da Gamma cafe and I remembered it all, but jeez it was nearly half a century ago.

A T B. Ken.


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