Fellow (EX) Oranjemunders, I receive so many emails of late, that I do not always have time to reply. The emails are from interesting people from all around the world. I have decided to post certain emails that I receive, in the hope that they jog a memory chord or two with you. In some cases , it,s just plain interesting to see where our fellow Oranjemunders went to. If I've posted a letter that you sent me and you do not wish to have it displayed, I apologise and once you let me know, I will be more than happy to remove it.
Enjoy!
;D
From the Macks!.
"Hi Michael,
We, John and Jean Mack with the children Georgina and Nolan, are ex-residents from 1970 to 1981. We left for Australia after being headhunted by what was then the Ashton Joint Venture in Australia and is now Argyle Diamond Mines in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
I originally joined CDM as a youngish Metallurgist based at No 4 Plant R&D section. Previously we had spent various periods at Kimberley and Finch Mines and a two year spell of the very beginning of the Orapa Mine. When we moved up there it was just a prospecting plant and Jean and I took the total staff complement up to six people all living in tents with food cooked over an open fire.
I rose through the ranks to Assistant plant Superintendent then Plant Superintendent at No I Plant, I commissioned and ran No 3 Plant and was then promoted to Divisional Plant Superintendent looking after No3 and No 4 Plant, the Recovery Plant, the 50G sampling plant and the prospecting sites up the river. One of my success stories was to lead the team that researched, developed and commissioned the Boulder Bounce Plant attached to No 4 Plant – it nearly got me fired – but we won through in the end.
As Chairman of the Angling Club and the Photographic Club we have many happy memories of the place. Great golf and parties at the Golf Club, cray fishing trips and the fabled Meob Bay trips to our fishing camp up the coast. (I have just written an article for publication about the latter but have lost my photos – so if anyone has any photos at all of any Meob Bay trip I would be most appreciative) We put life into the Camera Club and together with Dieter Heiser we took the little shop from a mere R500 a month revenue to over R10,000. Plus we had all our costs paid by the Recreation Club – as a very wealthy Club we could afford to bring top professional photographers up to the mine for weekend workshops. Some fantastic club trips were made to the Richertersveld, Bakers Bay, Chamois and Elizabeth bay.
In Australia – I continued to work for the Argyle Mine as a senior manager until 1977 when I took 'early retirement'. We had bought a 65Ha rundown property 20 kilometres out of town and developed it to a fully developed commercial farm growing bananas, citrus and sugar cane...... what was that I said about 'retirement'!! We built a beautiful house on the property overlooking a gorge and would probably still be there but for a fall from the top of the double storey roof in late 99' I spent three month in hospitable trying to get al the bits functioning again – with some success - these days I just think it is just "Knackered Old Shits Syndrome" that slows me down!
We finally sold the farm and really retired in 2005 – set off to follow all the back tracks, outback and remote beaches in our Bushtracker Caravan. That is the life we still enjoy though we still have not managed to get out of Western Australia yet. We paused in our travels late last year to manage 1.35 million acres of ex-pastoral (cattle) country. It is now owned by the Dept of Environment and Conservation as is planned to be a future conservation reserve. We are pretty remote – often just the two of us and the nearest neighbour is 75km away. Having worked to eradicate all the feral cats and other non native nasties they are planning on releasing some endangered native species in the next couple of weeks. We plan on continuing our travels in November and will head to the coast for a fishing fix and after lolling around in the wine regions for a while we will catch up with our daughter Georgina
She also worked for many years at Argyle Mine and is now in Perth working for Newmont Mining in the IT field. Not married (too busy) but she has a beautiful rammed earth house up in the Perth hills and hope to retire to being a full time investor in the next couple of years.
Nolan, who was born in Oranjemund, still lives in the Kimberley region of WA and works for the mine. He was a shift Boss in the pit and now works in Mine Planning. He also hopes to become a full time property investor. Neither is married though Nolan has a partner who has three children which he now supports.
To all of ex-residents and current residents still at the mine – "Hi" from Australia. We hope to come over a visit you sometime in the not overly distant future.
Regards
John and Jean"
I quote:
"
Hello Michael
The Mc Bride family lived in Oranjemund for many years and after my parents retired in 1993, none of us returned there.
Sadly, my brother Leigh passed away in July 2006 of a heart attack in his sleep in Southampton UK, where my parents currently live. Their email is daberas@aol.com
My sister Vanessa and me both currently live in Johannesburg.
Leigh was friends with the Epsteins and Kevin Laubscher.
All the very best and thanks for providing a great website.
Stirling McBride"
:-\
I quote, (this is interesting,well for me at least)
"I joined CDM beginning of 1958 and was one of the 4 blockmen in the butchery. All the meat was slaughtered and distributed at the abatoir ot only to the butchery but also to all the compunds and kitchen at Affenrucken,Ubvlei etc. Pigs and paultry came from Beauvalon,cattle first sheppered from Kolmans,later by a special truck. Only boerewors and small quantities of pork sausage was made in a little room at the abatoir. Since I was a fully qualified Sausage Maker, it did not take me long to seed the idea of suply the Oranjemunders with every thing required.The management finaly decided to spend a lot of money for the ´factory´ according to my ideas and plans.When I resigned from the company in 65 the public had a choice between 25 to 30 different kind of sausages and cold meats,plus vacum packed home made bacon and smoked ham.On demand special sausages were sometimes made for the different nations by me together with about 10 Ovambos who always returned to their specialized work. Only for the Mule Derby I produced the famous mule-derby-sausages grilled on the site,i.e.only available for this occasion. My products were also sent to Kleinzee.Quite a lot of fish,caught at the river mouth, was smoked at my place."
From Sylvis Naturladen ;D
Very interesting.
I had the "pleasure" numerous times, of driving the Chamies road to Aus/Luderitz. What I thought was a "wee-wee" stop, was the old cattle watering stations.
This one came from Bob and Laura Jones, if anyone can help their email address is jonestoby6@aol.com.uk
I quote their email:
"HI To whoever remembers us,
We have three daughters, ages at the time Sarah 10yrs Rachel 9yrs and Lee-ann 3yrs. Bob worked on 4 plant field service.Laura (for a very short time work in the mine stores, in transport area). We were both members of the bowls team and had many good nights & mornings in the club, as well as enjoying playing the game.We were in oranjmund from 1984-86 when we had to return to the UK. Would love to hear from anyone who remembers us and/or the girls, as they would love to hear from any of their old school friends.
We now live in South Wales Nr Cardiff. If Linda Wiseman (as she was when we met) reads this, Laura would love to get in touch. Linda was very much involved with the riding club and was there during the floods. Linda was married to Bobby Wiseman and the last I heard she had a baby, but we lost touch when she seemed to move from East London to PE. We have visited South Africa twice since but still had no luck in finding her or Bobby
hoping to hear from anyone
all the best Bob & Laura."
Nice to see John and Jean Macks message.
Hope they will tell us an Email Adress, i found none in the board....
John, if you read that here, i am George from 3 Plant Electr. and the Camera Club
Send me a message please
Another nice email received from Jean Donaldson( nee Shepherd )
I include her comments
"Hi Mike
Jean Donaldson nee Shepherd ... I think you have done a fantabulicious job and this is to say thanks!!! I was born in Oranjemund;schooled in Oranjemund and boarding schooled from Oranjemund... 18 years plus..after I started work my late parents stayed on for a while. We first stayed in 2nd avenue over the road from the Greenways then moved to fifth avenue next door to the magistrate.
My sisters are Alice and Brenda (she told me about the site) then my brother is Brian.I still have contact wih Mike the fisherman Dippenaar
I would love to hear from anyone who remembers us.
Keep up the excellant job you have made many memories resurface in many peoples minds.
Jean.. "
her email is jean(put the sign at in here)primelandmark.com
callme
Hi Jean.
I remember the name shepard, but I can't picture who you are.
Maybe Shepard is just a name I heard once in a while in om in the 70's.
Maybe you can give me a hand.
Georg Ruf jr.
Here's a hand Georg emot112_2 hope it helps, do you remember now??!! laughpoint
Sheesh Paula! You're everywhere. Especialy where you're not expected...
Go enjoy yourself with the ... poledancing
Hi Jean
Brian was in my class and Brenda a year ahead of me -last saw them when I went to boarding school.
Regards
Cheryl
goodmorning Georg!
Hi honey! swink
Has Mark recovered hitting the tabs. He's not in to good condition. Gave up real soon. laughpoint
Maybe you could tell him, there's a lot more to catch on...
Georg
Mark leaves "Planet Mark" for very short intervals. I think it has something to do with having to to talk - him being the silent type. No, jokes aside - he had just come off a long shift at work, had worked like a dog and was really pooped. After a plate of food and a couple of beers, his bed was beckoning big time.
Okay! I'll except the excuse.
You realy seem to take care of your kid brother. swink
You know the song "He aint heavy, he's my brother" Well something like that.
The "Monkeys"? It's better than Neil Diamond cover version...
Georg
I thought that it was The Hollies
It was the Hollies, Neil Diamond did a cover version.... KENNY! Help!
bravo
Hollies..... iknow
Another surprise email.... from CHile...
"Dear Michael,
I stumbled across this website by chance. We lived in Oranjemund from 1957 until 1973. My dad, Paul Mouton, worked for "Security". I was quite surprised to see my face on the 1968 prefects photo as well as the 1969 rugby photo. In the prefects photo I'm standing behind Hyman Kotze, next to Edith Coetzee. Karin de Wet is sitting next to Doc Venter and Anelma Maritz is standing behind Trevor Hobbs. The father of the girl next to Mark was a medical doctor. In the rugby photo I'm sitting next to Mr. Zandhuis. If I'm not mistaken the surname of the boy behind me is Pienaar. That was a great team and the Eyre brothers were excellent players.
Best regards,
Willem Mouton
Admin Manager
Minera Eton Chile
Santiago, Chile"
A short note from Anneli Visser (nee Kotze)
"Mike,
this brings back the very, VERY best memories of my life! (1960-something till 1973)
My late father, Awie Kotze, worked at Barclays Bank and then at Security - our family left Oranjemund in 1973 for the "Republiek" and my heart still aches for Oranjemund!
Anneli Visser (nee Kotze)"
Another nice message:
"Good day fellow Oranjemunder,
I would appreciate it if you could ad my name to your list. I looked at all the photographs and, boy did it bring back some good old memories. I arrived at Oranjemund with my parents during 1966 and left Oranjemund to join Anglo American's Head Office in Johannesburg in August 1996, a total of 30 fantastic years in the desert. I will look for some photographs and forward it to you.
Thanks for setting up this site as this will surely re-connect lost friends again.
Cheers
Willem C. Heusdens"
Another email that makes it all worthwhile:
"Hello Michael,
I came across your site today while browsing for images of the Orange
River. I'm not an ex-Oranjemunder(not even Namibian, but South African),
but such photographic histories fascinate me and I was really able to
get a feel of the town based on the old photographs and your comments.
Thank you for that experience.
Kind regards,
Martin Tobler"
Boy Oh Boy!, Here is one email I never expected, from the best Geography Teacher I ever had.... it made my day!
"Dear Michael,
This may come as a surprise to receive an email from me. My daughters, Carin and Lindsay, put me onto your website.
What a brilliant thought ! Surfing through Oranjemundonline.com has brought back so many wonderful memories of Oranjemund. My wife and I spent 25 years in Oranjemund and all of them at the Oranjemund Private School. I found it most interesting to find out where all the ex O.P.S pupils were and what they were doing. I have vivid memories of 90 % of your contacts and they have turned my clock back to those wonderful times at the school.
We have been retired for close on 15 years now and living in Hermanus where there are approx. 22 ex Oranjemunders living. We bump into most of them every now and then and have chats about the good old times.
Thanks for the memories and keep up the excellent job !! I, for one, will keep on logging in, to keep in touch.
Pity about the school being taken over by the state. It is a fantastic institution and may it continue to keep up the high standards of the past.
My very best wishes to all those who may remember us.
" Zandy " Zandhuis ( 1968 - 1993 )"
As I stated previously, it makes it all worthwhile.....
Wow, who's next. I also had Mr Zandhuis for geography. If I remember well, he was the first person I knew who wore a digital watch. One of those with the black screen and red digits. Very advanced back then!
Yes, the best!
Is he online with an account?
Nope, not yet, I'll mention it to him when I reply to his email....
A few nice words from Ex Teacher Piet Muller, Piet pops into Oranjemund 2 or 3 times a year, here is his email...
"Hi, Michael!
Thanks for the opportunity to relive sound memories of the town where I, without any doubt, spent some of the most sublime times of my life. With eyes filled with joyfull tears, I see that some of my old pupils at OPS answer from all over the world. I still remember the Fields twins, the naughty but good Lineker brothers, the pretty Linda Smolders, just to mention a few.
After a teaching spree in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and finally England, the desert sands ordered the owl to call my name and instruct me to return to the land that God made in anger ( Wilbur Smith ). I am now working as a Training Officer at Skorpion Zinc in Rosh Pinah.
I would like to obtain information about former colleagues of mine at OPS, namely Andre and Thea van Rensburg and Piet Cloete. Any information about them? I also would like to hear from any of my ex-pupils who still remember me ( where-ever they are ). My contact numbers are: 00264632712325 ( office ); 00264-813495423 ( mobile ).
Keep up your devine dedication!
Oranjemund greetings.
Piet Muller."
Another one from Marius Venter:
"Good morning Michael
I only became aware of the Oranjemund online yesterday,my father used to
be Docter Venter headmaster of OPS for years.
I immediately contacted my brother Gerrit Venter and sure he also
registerd by now.
Kind regards
Marius"
I remember Mr Muller - He used to live in 1st Ave and would give me a lift home from school some times. I also remeber that he forgot I was in the back of the car untill we stopped out side his house, gave him a bit of a fright when I opened the door to get out.
he also taught us in std3.
it was the end of the year and the whole class were cleaning out the class room, and he foolishly left us all alone in the class room. We decided that it would be a good idea to move all the desks to one side and hose down the class room inside.. This didn't go down to well.
Another intersting Old timer, Walden Davis writes:
"Hi there Michael
Walden here son of the late Squadron Leader R.W.Davis (Dave) and Joyce
Oranjemund 1947 - 1967 of No.2, 5th Avenue Oranjemund Telephone No. 261
My dad's designation in the early days was in charge of transport and
aircraft engineer
First plane a single engine Navion and the pilot was Errol Battle
I spent many hours of my childhood down at the hanger and fishing the banks
of the Oranje and at the mouth
Anyway
This is fantastic- and to read up and see some familiar faces brings back
many fond memories.
of OM
I am most certainly going to sit down and write you all a long email of us
growing up as kids there , those days and the wonderfull people , close
friends and amazing times we had during our stay. Also have tons of photo's
I attended the local school - was in Oppenheimer House -Jimmy Levey was the
principal ,Miss Revington was my Sub A teacher and Cathryn Marks the
daughter of Hugie Marks was my childhood sweetheart
Kind Regards
Walden Davis Now 58
5A Arundel Road Rondebosch 7700
"
Telephone number available on request.
great stuff!
No, no, no ... we don't want any Oppenheimer people on the site ... we already have to put up with the green fellas :emot19:
Do you mean the Irish or Barnato?
The green Oranjemunder fellas ... not the Irish iknow
"kyk die groen huis daar op die baan, hulle slaan vir alaml bang... Groen huis is die beste span.. Bo Ja Bo !"
U guys are just jealous coz our songs were way more cool....
You're just lucky I don't remember any Rhodes songs ...
You see, thats old age creeping in, when you start to forget things.....more than likely you've had to much arab sunshine and coffee and now your minds going... this is the beginning.... laughpoint
Arab coffee maybe not but shisha yes ...
Hey, how much leave do the Arabs give you? How often do you get to go back 2 France? Outta curiosity?
idontknow
We actually don't get much leave. I'm on the basis of 22 working days and go to France 3 or 4 times a year. My company pays for one return ticket each year, so makes it easier.
5 day week?
Quote from: Patricia Lotte on March 18, 2008, 09:36:26 AM
You're just lucky I don't remember any Rhodes songs ...
Supercalefragelisticespialedotious
Even though the blues and greens are something quite atrotious???
Just trying Patricia.
You never cease to surprise me Georg Jr.
Mike, yes, it's 5 days a week (though I did 5 and a half for 4 years ...)
Kinda like the old CDM days, having an off saturday once a month.... the shops and bars were always packed on that weekend...
Yeah! Saturday off is great. Got every Saturday off... :emot19:
for us kids, that was the one day a month where dad would take us to the toy department in the shopping centre and we got to chose a toy each.... then he would give us a few cents each and left us to go to the matinee in the afternoon, whilst my mom and him would meet up with friends in the sportsmans..... this would lead to them having a big braai by 16h00 at somebody's house......
That was the one day in the month us girls would go to the shopping centre to eye out the talent. I think every single guy in O'mund went shopping then. Eyecandy.
@ Mike:- I remember picking up something nice on those days - once Paul begged for a Kermit the frog hand puppet and as it was close to his birthday, he made a deal with your dad that he would have the puppet as a birthday gift as well.........
I remember that hand puppet, I think he also had a Mickey mouse one and would often put on puppet shows behind the bed....
OK bugger the eye candy.
I was too little for eye candy; the only candy I was interested in came in a wrapper and was loaded with sugar....
hehehe.... and you still are.... cl1
iknow iknow So true Mike; unfortunately I have an awfull sweet tooth
This is a really interesting email I received, a story that I had not heard before, anyone know something?
"Dear Mike (if I may),
I hope you won't mind receiving an email from somebody who isn't an old Oranjemunder, but who has been very much enjoying your website and has an entirely different interest in Oranjemund.
I am on the faculty at the University of Sydney and am currently writing a book which tells the story of British government attempts to found a settlement for convicts in Africa. This was directly after the loss of its American colonies and before it colonised Australia (1781-7). As you probably know (sorry if I'm stating the obvious, I have no idea how well known this story is in the region), the mouth of the Orange River was the very last place they planned on placing the penal settlement before giving up and deciding upon New South Wales instead.
In actual fact the ship they sent out to survey the region and decide on a place for settlement didn't really find the right place and as well as Oranjemund, also looked at where Luderitz and Walvis Bay now are.
Anyway, the reason I'm contacting you is because my new project looks at the counterfactual question of what might have been...what could have happened had the British government sent its convicts to Africa instead of NSW in the 1780s. Which of course is where Oranjemund comes in.
I went to Luderitz last year and have visited Walvis Bay before, but so far have not been to Oranjemund or Alexander Bay. This is why I found your website so fascinating, as I had so little idea of what the place was like, and how very, very different it is from the other places which could have been the site of the penal colony (eg Lemane Island in the Gambia River or the Banana Islands off Sierra Leone). Its history has been so different and so, of course, is its current quality of life.
So I was wondering if you know of any old Oranjemunders living in Australia who might be willing to share their memories of the place with me?
I hope to visit at some time -- I have to be at Wits later this year and in Cape Town next year -- but I haven't yet figured out how hard, or impossible, it would be to get a permit. Certainly I plan to go to Alexander Bay and talk to people there about their town.
In the meantime, I hope I haven't intruded by emailing out of the blue, and thanks again for your website, which is great.
Thanks in advance for any information or help you could offer,
Emma
Dr. Emma Christopher
SOPHI
University of Sydney"
Wow Mike, you're a star on the other side of the Indian ocean ... good to see that we are making non-Oranjemunders envious of the life style we were fortunate enough to experience ... we are such a lucky bunch :yeah3:
Interesting letter.
Now somebody dare to complain about to much cr*p on the site.
Interesting letter.
Now somebody dare to complain about to much cr*p on the site. I'm sure he'll be mentioning the bitch-slapping in his book.... laughpoint
... and another one...
"Hi Mike – Please add me to the name of Oranjemunders or do you have to be dead to be on it? I am now Pat Kuhn but I was Pat Jackman until I married Gerry Kuhn 40 years ago! If they kept school records, I was officially Gloria Patricia Jackman, but always known as Pat or Patti.
History in Oranjemund – I was born in England 04/01/1949; arrived in Oranjemund 23/12/1952 aged nearly 4; went to Oranjemund Private School 1955 to December 1961 after which I flew down to High school In Cape Town on those wonderful charter flights. That means that I lived in Oranjemund form 1952 to 1967. My parents were Cyril and Betty Jackman; my brother Phillip is buried in the cemetery in Oranjemund and my other brother is Tony Jackman born in 1955. Cyril, my dad, started out as a fitter and turner and then was eventually mechanical superintendent; my mom Betty worked at the retail shop (the store!) for many years. They left town in 1969; both now deceased.
Thanks & regards, Pat Kuhn – now happily living in Piketberg where we run our own company. "
The reason why I place some of these emails in here, is that somebody out there might remember the author of the email and some of the content of the email, might bring back a memory or two to a few of you....
Sorry, I thought that I had already posted this one, better late than never....
"Hello Michael
My parents emigrated from London to the then CDM in November 1953, where we, 4 children grew up. What a wonderful, even if not a realistic, way of life.
Anyway, there was a wonderful family living there at that stage - by the name of Poingdestre. Auntie Sue, Uncle Clarence, Philip and Andrew.
If my memory serves me correctly, I think one of the names Clive is looking for might by Pointy, or Uncle Clarenence. He was always finding himself in difficult situations after his nights at Casey's and before that was built, just the "club".
He used to play the clarinet in a band they had in those early days, and a good player he was too.
I remember one story -
Uncle Pointy had had a few too many at a dance once evening and Auntie Sue took him home, but he still wanted to party and prepared to go out again. Well, not being derogertry in any way, Auntie Sue was a rather tall woman whilst Uncle Pointy was roughly just over 5 feet tall. So, no trouble to Auntie Sue, she made him lay on the lounge floor, and in those days we has loose carpets in the rooms, so she rolled him up in the carpet so that he could not move. That put paid to any further adventures that he had in mind for that night.
They were wonderful people, Auntie Sue had a heart of gold. She worked and was manageress of the very old veggie market, which, when we left in 1984, was the then "garden centre shop". (run by Jean McLaughlin) Just cannot remember her married surname.
Your Dad will surely remember my husband Steve Kirk?
Pam Greenshields, Bob's wife, was my younger sister.
Steve and I have some very fond memories of CDM.
Some of the fnames that spring to mind - Symes, Johnson, Buchanan, Mc Laughlin, Hughes, Bennett, Creedy, Dunster, Quantrill, Zandhuis, Old school principal Dr Anderson, Jackson, Dr Bazley, ... I could fill a page with these names.
Carry on the good work Michael.
Kind regards to all the old Oranjemunders.
Janet Kirk (nee Bester) Maiden name Gerard."
I to recall all those people........the name is Jean Joubert (Mc Laughlin)???
Hi Michael
Do you have an email address for Dr Emma Christopher so I can contact her.
Quote from: Michael Alexander on March 25, 2008, 07:07:58 AM
This is a really interesting email I received, a story that I had not heard before, anyone know something?
"Dear Mike (if I may),
I hope you won't mind receiving an email from somebody who isn't an old Oranjemunder, but who has been very much enjoying your website and has an entirely different interest in Oranjemund.
I am on the faculty at the University of Sydney and am currently writing a book which tells the story of British government attempts to found a settlement for convicts in Africa. This was directly after the loss of its American colonies and before it colonised Australia (1781-7). As you probably know (sorry if I'm stating the obvious, I have no idea how well known this story is in the region), the mouth of the Orange River was the very last place they planned on placing the penal settlement before giving up and deciding upon New South Wales instead.
In actual fact the ship they sent out to survey the region and decide on a place for settlement didn't really find the right place and as well as Oranjemund, also looked at where Luderitz and Walvis Bay now are.
Anyway, the reason I'm contacting you is because my new project looks at the counterfactual question of what might have been...what could have happened had the British government sent its convicts to Africa instead of NSW in the 1780s. Which of course is where Oranjemund comes in.
I went to Luderitz last year and have visited Walvis Bay before, but so far have not been to Oranjemund or Alexander Bay. This is why I found your website so fascinating, as I had so little idea of what the place was like, and how very, very different it is from the other places which could have been the site of the penal colony (eg Lemane Island in the Gambia River or the Banana Islands off Sierra Leone). Its history has been so different and so, of course, is its current quality of life.
So I was wondering if you know of any old Oranjemunders living in Australia who might be willing to share their memories of the place with me?
I hope to visit at some time -- I have to be at Wits later this year and in Cape Town next year -- but I haven't yet figured out how hard, or impossible, it would be to get a permit. Certainly I plan to go to Alexander Bay and talk to people there about their town.
In the meantime, I hope I haven't intruded by emailing out of the blue, and thanks again for your website, which is great.
Thanks in advance for any information or help you could offer,
Emma
Dr. Emma Christopher
SOPHI
University of Sydney"
check your message Box!
cheers
Mike
george.....theres no crap on here ....who says there is thumper....even koos has mellowed now....and i think maybe even enjoying our company from time to time.........and now i can i only say this in my yorkshire accent.......int it all exciting.......all the old teacher getting in touch now......and the one from emma........get them all to come in november mike.......the more the merrier hey..... e154
I was talking about myself Bev. I feel as if I'm contributing less stories that make sense than most others.
Don't panic Boy Georg I'm not doing much better myself.. :emot78: Oh woe is me.
An old saying ... Quality not quantity .. dig into the mind and photo albums and pull up some more good stories ... just remember to keep the code of silence ... further spice things up with critical or social comment ..
I often start writing and delete it when I get to a point of insecurity. (was that English) I'm starting to feel more secure now, but still, everytime I start using "big" words, I feel my grammar isn't working to put the words into the right meaning.
??
That's what I mean...
Don't worry about your grammer and spelling I'm sure most people can understand what you trying to get across. I think we should also remember you thinking in German and writing in English. Must be the weather I'm also feeling a bit down and agro right now. e154 Best I stop getting deep here before we both burst out :emot78:
allgood discodance : 36_2_35: BierSuip
What did Jnr just say? :emot19:
Michael arse
I could'nt resist that... he would have done the same to me....
iknow I find many things I can't resist like :emot186:
What would my day be without you guys? daman dawoman
@Diana: Thanks
@Michael: That's true, I would... laughpoint
From Colin..
"Hi Mike
Don't know if you will remeber Trevor & Lindsay Hedenrych. They wer in
Oranjemund for about 14 years not sure from year to year all I can remember
is that we left when I was 4 years old so that would be 1971 which means
they would have been there since 1957. Anyway my dad passed away last year
May 2007.(Trevor Heydenrych)
Cheers,
Colin Heydenrych"
Colin.. under Kids of our time a pic of your brothe keith .. sandy
An email from Bois Wilson, he is a member here, and I remember him from the original site, if any of you can help with 50's and 60's let me know. I unfortunately have mostly articles from the 70's onwards. So come on you 50's and 60's kids...drop us a line...
"Hi Mike: we corresponded a while ago, when you first put a less
sophisticated site up... you're doing a great job! What you have now is
really great. I registered, but am in the middle of something right now,
but will get in touch with the forum shortly. I did have some incredible
contact, however, with Joco Mueller.
I just wanted to send a short note to update the lost diamonds section in
reference to my Mom and Dad:
Wilson, Jack Dawson: 1995
Wilson, Francis Rosalie: 2001
As per our previous correspondence, they were in Oranjemund from the mid
50's to the mid 60's. My Dad managed the store.
Special requests: if you have any more school or sports photos from '56
through '62, I'd love to see them. Also, if there are any newsletters from
that period, I'd also love to see them. Finally, the Players program that
was posted was great - there was a little caricature of my Dad in the
corner and it got me in touch with Joco, which was really worthwhile. If
you have any programs or info on the previous years productions (especially
the Sound of Murder and Lock up your daughters, that would be phenomenal.)
I really wish I could make that reunion, as my birthday falls Nov 14 - it
would be a phenomenal thing, but am unfortunately stuck in Toronto. One
day, however, I'll be back to show my daughter the town! I hope you're
still there when that happens.
Thnx again for all your phenomenal work!
bois
"
@ Bois
Nice to hear from the oldies
I visited Joco Müller together with Günther and Helga Machts in the early 80 these
Found them through the forum
Georg
Oranjemunder 1973-1979
Name: Michael Norman
From: Pretoria
Email: michael.norman@goodmetals.co.za
Comments: A customer told me about this website and I must say that it was great for me to view the town of my birth. We lived in Oranjemund for a short period, I think it was from "63-65/66", but I was born there on 6th February 1964, even though I don't have much recollection of those days, my eldest sister Avalon started school there so she would know more than I do, but if anyone remembers the Norman family back in the day, they are welcome to contact me, my parents names were; Walter Andrew, known as (Wally) and my mother name was Elizabeth, known as (Betty). My other sisters names are Lynn and Melinda and a brother Gregory.
Thank you &
Kind Regards,
Michael Norman
Sales & Marketing Manager
Yes Michael I remember your family .. had some contact with your sister Avalon via sareunited but it just seemed to fizzle out .. It was around the time your mum passed away .. a few years ago ..
Sandy Buchanan
Just received an Email from John Creedy in Canada, he will be arriving in Oranjemund on Monday..... after quite an abscence.... it's always great to welcome "old" timers back...... Looking forward to this..... the power of the internet.....
woo_hoo
For all you Rhodesians....
"Michael ...
My name is Dave Cooper and I am the founder of a web site called THE
GREAT NORTH ROAD ( www.greatnorthroad.org ). I started my website
over 13 years ago to bring together all the people scattered over the
world who used to live in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia). Today we have
over 4,000 members world wide.
And one of our members used to live in Oranjemund, and I suspect some
Northern Rhodesians probably lived there and might still do. We share
a mining experience and culture.
Your site looks great and is very similar to ours. We just held a big
reunion in Johannesburg this year, and we do every year somewhere
around the world where our people have settled.
I am going to link from our site. Maybe you want to do the same.
Met vriendelijke groeten ...
Dave Cooper
Founder of the Great North Road web site
Amsterdam
Nederland
"
from Dave Hucker:
"Hi Michael,
am about finished putting together a collecrion of slides taken in
Oranjemund circa 1972 - 82. Unfortunately as I explained to John Creedy a
lot have been damaged and unusable due to all the moving around done by
Yvonne & myself
I will copy them to CD and either give them to someone to bring to the
reunion or post to you if you let me have your address.
Unfortunately I will not be able to attend but please accept my apologies.
I would love to contact your Dad as he and I started at CDM within 2 weeks
of each other in 1972
Incidently the lady trapeze artist in the Flying Oslers is my wife Yvonnes
cousin. The trupe traveled around the world and won nany prizes. She had a
bad accident on the trapeze a few years ago and retired from "flying" She is
a New Zealand resident but is presently managing a circus in Australia.
Keith Anderson is still alive and is a professor at UCT
All the Best
Dave Hucker "
Nice to hear of Dave
@ Michael what would you say that i have a 8mm film from that artist group on the xmas fair LOL
i do....but hats the use if you have no DSL
I have applied for ADSL for the shop...lets see how that pans out...
"WE LEFT ORANJEMUND APPROX.32 YEARS AGO AND STILL MISS ALL THE GOOD TIMES.MY TEENS WERE BOPPING IN YOUTH CLUB AND GOING TO THE ONE AND ONLY CINEMA IN TOWN.HOW WE MISS THOSE CARE FREE DAYS ! MY HUSBAND RONNY V.D. ELSHOUT AND I MET AND MARRIED THERE.SO SAD TO SEE THAT THERE ARE SO MANY LOST DIAMONDS , SOME GONE FAR TOO YOUNG.THANKS FOR A GREAT WEBSITE AND MAY IT GO FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH.JENNIFER VAN DEN ELSHOUT[LANGFORD]"
I thought this was interesting, from a person that was never even in Africa...
You read the following from the bottom up.....
"Hello !
No I´m not an ex Oranjemunder and have never visited Namibia, unfortunately. To tell you the truth, I probably never will.
Though I´d very much like to. But it´s by far to expensive, being a middle aged middle income divorced father of two sons in their early twenties.
A couple of years ago I studied English at the University of Dalecarlia, in a feeble attempt to become a teacher, together with a countryman of yours by the name of Moses Naguib. He is a native Tamarama (??) speaker and had an English-Afrikaans dictionary to assist him. As I recall it Tamarama has 12 different "klick"-sounds. Amazing.
So I´ll keep on surfing the net, and your country and the rest of southern Africa with it´s exciting mixture of many black African cultures, Dutch, German and English are among my favourite objects.
Particularly I like the down to earth concept of your site/homepage. One really gets a grip what ordinary life in Oranjemund must have been like.
Yours,
Michael
Från: MIke and His acer [mailto:michael@oranjemundonline.com]
Skickat: den 19 februari 2009 11:20
Till: Enegren Michael
Ämne: Re:
Hi Michael, thanks for your kind words of encouragement, it is appreciated...
Out of curiosity, are you an ex Oranjemunder, visited Namibia before?
Please feel free to register on the forum section for a chat..
cheers
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: Enegren Michael
To: michael@oranjemundonline.com
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 10:08 AM
Thanks for a simply wonderful site !
A site like yours makes internet surfing worthwhile.
Yours,
Michael Enegren
Dalecarlia
SWEDEN"
and another follow up, some of you might find it interesting:
"Hello again Mike !
So he fooled me Moses. Well by now he´s back in your country somewhere. We only shared a couple of lectures back in the autumn of -01. He and a couple of country men/black africans seemed to have "hell to cross" because of the modern way of teaching, at least I did.
During the weekend I got to thinking that you might be interested in a bit of Swedish/Dalecarlian mining history. Only a couple of hundred meters from my "hut" and with a spectacular view over Lake Väsman lies the remnants of a once major iron ore mine, the LEKOMBERG MINE. At <www.lekomberg.se and <www.lekomberg.com you may find out a bit of german technology since the mine was owned for several decades by a german company. As I´ve learned the process to extract the phosphorus from the iron ore is a german invention. This was a crucial thing for the entire region of BERGSLAGEN with plenty of iron ore, but phosphorus "contaminated". We also had a couple of mines that produced alloy ore ( technical english isn´t my coup of tea ............) such as wolfram. One also reflects a bit over the blood, sweat and tears invested in the iron and steel.
And today they are all shut down.
The sites are not as charming and down to earth as yours but well worth checking out. And there´s a poetic sound in the name LEKOMBERG, as there is in ORANJEMUND.
Do take care,
Micke"
We always knew that the Republikein and Namibian monitor this site, but here;s a new media interest....
"Hello Mike,
I got your email through Oranjemund online - it appears such a fascinating and unique place. I was wondering if you knew of anyway that journalists got permission to visit? I work as a reporter for BBC News.
Many thanks,
Jonah Fisher
Jonah Fisher
BBC Africa Bureau, 3rd Floor, 1 Park Road, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2092 "
http://www.bbc.co.uk"
Another Old Timer has found us...
"Hi Michael,
Your website is a great idea! We enjoy all the photos and the good memories.
We left Oranjemund during 1992 for George, after 20 years service with the company.
First 7 and a half years at Beauvallon with the Pollards Andre Fourie and others.
Andre Fourie passed away January 2007. His wife, Sally and their children now
Live in Pretoria.
Regards to all the old friends!
Boet and Malie Grove"
ahhh remember the Pollard's with great pleasure. Wonder if they still have contact :-)
Boet and Malie Grove... More names I remember... Didn't realize they left OMD so long ago...
Regards to them.
From our latest forum member, Lummie
"Hi Michel,
Ek het van die site gehoor via Ina Niessing (Brunner), en moet se het dit baie geniet om te lees,
bring so baie goeie "memories" terug. As n mens nou terug kyk na daardie dae, besef n mens nou
eers hoe ontsettend bevoorreg ons was om daar groot te word, daar het ons nie geken van inbrake,
aanrandings en verkragtings nie laat staan teroristiese aanvalle.
My pa Jan van Rossum het daar gewerk vanaf 1964 en is in 1976 terug Holland toe, gedurende die laaste
jare was hy voorman op Central Fields en het saam met Johnny Siebers gewerk. Hy en my ma is in 1976
terug Holland toe waar my ma Milta van Rossum op 5 Januarie 2002 en my pa 7 Junie 2009 hier in Holland
oorlede is.
Ek het nog n hele paar fantastiese fotos van my pa se werk en skool, ek was in std5 in 1969 en sal dit op
n later tydstip vir jou stuur.
Ek het nou n vraag hoe kan ek in kontak kom met ou klasmaats van my??? Hier is n paar name
Anelma Maritz Willem Mouton Marius Venter Edith Coetzee Siegie Deim Margret Woest Ina van Staden
Hester+ Sophia Marrais Ria Cloete Ester en Yvonne Holtzhauzen Magda Beukes Casandra Friederichs
Sal jy my laat weet of dit moontlik is.
Groete en baie dankie vir die wonderlike herrinnering.
Groete en n Geseende Kersfees en n Wonderlike gesonde nuwe jaar,
Lummie de Vries (van Rossum)
Still getting emails from the Old timers, always a pleasure...
"Hi Michael I grew up in Oranjemund and my mother started a nursery in the town .Can you tell me if the nursery is still operational.
My name is Athene Snow and my father was Arthur And my mother affectionately known as 'Bobby'
I went to junior school there but commuted to Cape Town in High School. My father was there from 1949 to 1969
Great site Thanks"
Another memory ,, the Snow's..
... and I just spend 25 minutes talking to ex resident Clive Manthe, he and his wife came back for a nostalgic trip to Oranjemund for a couple of days...
He first arrived in Oranjemund in 1953.
Looking good for an almost 80 year old....
Give regards to Clive and Heather ,,,,
They left today, but I am sure Glenda will read this when she gets back to Windhoek...
Aah the Missu's name was bothering me ... the one daughter was Heather...
From our latest member, Helle Rohde
"I do hope that I can we approved, as I would very much like to get more information on Oranjemund and the people still living there.
I myself was born in Oranjemund in August 1962 by Hans and Tove Rhodes. My father Hans Rhodes was working for CDM for a numbe of years, and they knew the La Trobes whom I have just been reading about online. I am working on plans to come to Oranjemund in February 2012 with my family to see where I was born and lived for the first 3 years of my life. I have 2 older sisters and an older brother. My brother and youngest sister where also born in Oranjemund in 1955 and 1957."
Welcome to Oranjemundonline, any of you older members recall the family?
Sandy,
Didn't the Rohde's live a few doors down from you and diagonnally (left) from us when we were at 60/2nd Avenue? I remember the two girls.
Helle are you the younger one? And your sister was/is friends with my cousin Adeana Wright?
From Rod Randall!
"Hi Michael, yes I would like to register on your forum, I've been checking out Oranjemund for a while now, and how it's changed over the years. I was there many years ago, 1961-1963 or so. I'm not even sure myself anymore, but I was a fitter at Affenrucken those days after first being at Central Fields. My days we had the Kemps, Peter De Beer who married Jackie Kemp, and of course Binie Fouche, although then she was still Binnie Coetzer. And so I can go on forever, I wonder if Jock Alexander from Kleinzee was related to you in any way? Keep up the good work. All the best for the New Year, Rod Randall. "
Good morning Michael
My family spent a few years in Oranjemund in the early to mid 1970's. My sister and I were abut 14 at the time. My father, John Derrick, was a contractor, sent to Oranjemund from Cape Town to build a concrete jetty in to the sea, I think, to pump sea water to cool machinery down. Halfway through construction, there was a fierce storm, the sea bed shifted, and the crew arrived next morning to find a dip in the jetty! The existing one was stopped, and a new one built alongside. I have spoken to my father, and he is dusting through old photo albums as this is being written, and is searching his memory for stories. Once the photo's have been found, I will send them on to you.
Regards
--
Timothy Derrick
I have been looking at the photographs om my brother and his family. I wondered if anyone remembered them. Jock Carr, Edna Carr and their son Robert. These pics were in the Oranjemund Newsletter june 1982. Sadly they are all gone now. Robert was champion of champions that year, He was killed in a road accident. There is also Ken Gottsch and Barry Ainsworth after winning for the 3rd year the mens four. Is your club still going. One more item. We have a dvd of Jock ( Alec to us ) winning the playboy of the year. Thank you for your web site . Alecs sister Mary Shaw.
We were in Oranjemund from 1975 to 1986. Engineering dept - as Instrumet tech - ou small team constructed the control rooms for no 2 and no 3 plants