MODDERFONTEIN LIFE
kids learnt to swim) or taking me shopping at the shops, where we bought
every need in those wonderful old-fashioned days before the world changed.
The change rooms were at the Dynamite Café, next to the dam and where we, in
later years, held very raucous parties with radio grams and LP’s of Procal Harem,
The Hollies, The Beatles and all the other wonderful groups of the time, mainly
bought from Hilton Radio in Orange Grove.
For many of us, our first kiss and first drink were all taken within the safe walls
of The Dynamite Café. I can almost taste the wonder of growing up here in the
1950s and 60s, and more particularly, the weekends. Every day seemed like a
new day filled with much happiness and expectation and the only irritation and
interlude in our lives was having to go to school. Bunking and smoking were a
great pastime and the sick notes were a dangerous problem that kept us awake
nights before school the next day. There were just so many kids in the Village and
Lakeside and the bus service was a dream – every hour to and from Sydenham
bus terminal until late into the night which gave us an opportunity to hit out into
far flung areas including Orange Grove (The Radium Beerhall was a favourite and
remains so up until today), Highlands North, Yeoville, Hillbrow and even central
Johannesburg which was full of movie houses, hotels and restaurants.
After finishing school at Northview High, I went off to Walvis Bay for my army
training and never really took much notice of my deteriorating childhood abode,
even though from where I stayed in Edenvale, I probably drove through Modder
4 or 5 times a week to get to our amazing sports club up on the hill where every
sport was available to all. This is where our fun just continued with a wider
group of friends who were travelling from all over to play baseball, cricket, hock-
ey, and golf in newly acquired Beetles, Anglias, Austins, and Volvos for a lucky
few. My first really desent car was a white manual 504 Peugeot in 1973 bought
in Germiston for R2 800!
It was only after getting married in 1976 and moving around Edenvale, Kemp-
ies, Cape Town and Benoni that arou nd 1990 I started drifting back to Modder
with Cathy, Nick and Moni on weekend drives... “Not Modder again Dad!” I can
remember coming from the backseat on more than one occasion, however I am
eternally grateful that we all eventually agreed at some time in early 2005 that
Modder really was a possibility and we bought into this wonderful community
and estate in May of the same year, a move we have never regretted.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my great thanks and appreciation
to our Chairman and all the trustees and managers of our estate, and the guards
and gardeners, for their endless and selfless tender care for the people and this
place of my birth, my home where I grew up, and where we will probably live
until we die. Thank you to our Creator for all this as well, and for the protection
of our place and community.
Allan Bartram, within the most beautiful, historic garden village of
Modderfontein