A MOMENT, frozen in time

Household refuse was commonly buried on the property and waste water was disposed of on the ground. Toilet facilities varied from pit privies (with removable buckets) to the occasional septic tank.

TO GOVERNMENT RECORDS AND THE EXTENSIVE WORK OF LOCAL CHRONICLER ELIZABETH CAMP, WE HAVE AN ENLIGHTENING LOOK INTO HILL CREST OF 1944

Thanks

temporary, including the patients at the new hospital for the chronically ill, the population of Highbury School, and the residents at the hotel.

On some lots, the original wood-and- iron holiday cottages stood, but later on homes were built of brick and tile. Each stand had its own servant quarters, and many still had a poultry run, as well as a few horses and cows for private use.

One of Hill Crest’s most serious problems was water. A few residents had their own springs or wells, but some of them were horrifyingly close to the pit toilets – and most villagers relied on rainwater tanks, which often ran dry by September. A few also drew untreated water from the railway storage tanks. However, the scarcity of water was not the only difficulty. Wood’s store had been investigated earlier because it was a rat haven. The butchery was well organised but the walls needed repainting and its

Yesteryear

A distant memory of Hill Crest. Pictures of landmark buildings, like these, have been captured and preserved by chronicler Elizabeth Camp.

fly screens repaired. Highbury’s workers’ latrines and the disposal of rubbish, as well as pupils’ used bath water presented serious health hazards.

Generally, however, the picture was reassuring. There were four small dairies around the edges of the village and a general dealer, SG Wood, had his store on the main road, with the new hotel opposite. Slavin, the butcher, sold meat supplied to him from the Durban abattoir, while David Fregona ran a trading store opposite the railway station. An African cobbler worked behind Wood’s store and an entrepreneur named Ndaba ran a mobile canteen in a side street near the station to cater for the African market. There were 17 street lights but none of them had burned since the introduction of a war-time blackout. Once a week during the war, too, an air-raid siren was sounded to keep it in good shape for emergencies.

There was a regular rail service during the week and, at weekends, the hotel with its tennis courts and frequent dances provided a social centre, which replaced the dilapidated old wood-and-iron community hall near the present library. One of the first acts of the new health committee would be to dismantle the hall and sell its parts for £600. This must have been a great relief to the committee – as they had started life with an overdraft of £25! *