Vrystaat Confessions

Workshop Swansong contd

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bewilderbeast

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It’s ongoing. The emptying. The sad and reluctant emptying. The end of an era. There’s even less stuff there now, but some stuff is going to have to be pried from his tight reluctant fingers, maybe?

– “Where’s that tack hammer? It’s here somewhere . . ” – check the hoed –
– “No, that’s for Gavin. It’s hardwood. He wants to make knife handles . . ” –
– “You must take these, they were Oupa’s . . ” –

The awl and the hand drill brace were Oupa’s in Boom street in PMB. The screwdriver and needle-nose pliers on the right were issued to Dad by the General Post Office when he started as an apprentice electrician in 1938. He had to climb up telephone poles with those in his pocket. Here’s the GPO vehicle he’d drive around in, fixing the phones! They didn’t bother with parcels and letters, no! That was old-school! They were the high-tech side of the Post Office: The telephones!

– a young man, a truck and a dog – freedom! –
– happy apprentices under jovial Wally Coleman in the white coat –

~~~~oo0oo~~~~

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2 responses to “Workshop Swansong contd”

  1. Ivan Watson Avatar
    Ivan Watson

    What a wonderful blog! I believe we are distantly related – my Watson side of the family hails from Sarclet and Wick way way back and I believe that the Christina and Annie Watsons you reference in your blog post on the Bains were my 4X great aunts. I stumbled upon your site when I searched for “Sarclet” and “Watson.” Keep up the great work! Cheers, Ivan Watson (Victoria, BC, Canada)

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    1. bewilderbeast Avatar
      bewilderbeast

      Ah! Wonderful! Two more Bains found me: Katrina Duncan and Janis Paterson. They’re still in Blighty and have more access to old knowledge. One Annie Watson Bain was my gran, died age 90 in Harrismith in 1983. Her daughter (my mom) and grandaughter (my sis) visited Sarclet and Wick around about that time. Janis visited the other Annie Watson Bain’s grave in France. I’ll try and get my sister to write about their trip to Scotland.

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