So beautifully written Gordon and so interesting. My experiences were such a contrast having grown up in Vanderbijlpark. A largely Afrikaans community and taught by Irish nuns. There was never any mention of the queen. Look forward to reading your next chapter.
Thanks, Sally. So good to hear from you. I can't imagine what that must have been like, caught between the Afrikaner Calvinists and the Irish Catholics. In Vanderbijlpark nogal. Great story - you should tell it!
So evocatively remembered, Gordon. Thank you. I was in about grade two when this all happened (called Sub B then). But we lived in Cape Town where the perspective was a bit different to that of the very colonial Natal. Also, I grew up in a home where my dad was more English than the English but my mom was a reformed Afrikaner meisie. It was a deliberately apolitical household and I was totally unaware at the time. How interesting it was to read this!
So glad you're enjoying it, Judy, & thanks for your kind comments. Yes, isn't it odd how persistent the illusion of Englishness was for so many of our folks' generation. Odder still, as I discovered, it was an idea of Englishness at least half a century out of step with the Englishness of England at the time. Still is.
I hadn't given the contrast much thought until I read your story. Will cast my mind back to experiences I had growing up there.
So beautifully written Gordon and so interesting. My experiences were such a contrast having grown up in Vanderbijlpark. A largely Afrikaans community and taught by Irish nuns. There was never any mention of the queen. Look forward to reading your next chapter.
Thanks, Sally. So good to hear from you. I can't imagine what that must have been like, caught between the Afrikaner Calvinists and the Irish Catholics. In Vanderbijlpark nogal. Great story - you should tell it!
So evocatively remembered, Gordon. Thank you. I was in about grade two when this all happened (called Sub B then). But we lived in Cape Town where the perspective was a bit different to that of the very colonial Natal. Also, I grew up in a home where my dad was more English than the English but my mom was a reformed Afrikaner meisie. It was a deliberately apolitical household and I was totally unaware at the time. How interesting it was to read this!
So glad you're enjoying it, Judy, & thanks for your kind comments. Yes, isn't it odd how persistent the illusion of Englishness was for so many of our folks' generation. Odder still, as I discovered, it was an idea of Englishness at least half a century out of step with the Englishness of England at the time. Still is.