EPWORTH’S TOWERS OF STRENGTH

Sifting through the Epworth School archives, Renée Alcock, the Pietermaritzburg school’s archivist and museum curator, came across an interesting photograph dating back to 1941 when the school moved from central Pietermaritzburg to its present venue in Scottsville.

In the first photograph, Miss ES Church, the principal, who championed the move during the extremely difficult war years, is seen in front of the single-storey school building, which was designed in 1937 by architectural firm Stott, Sullivan, Barbour and Tarboten in the then-fashionable Art Deco style.

The buildings at Epworth are not overtly Art Deco, but certain characteristics (porthole windows, stepped pyramid-like levels, deck-like balconies and flag masts) can be seen.

Verified legend has it that when Church realised she needed her own transport, she purchased a second-hand 1935 Chevrolet Master Deluxe Sport Coupé or, as the 1941 headgirl, Carmen Mans, referred to it, a “roadster”.

Church was taught to drive by a parent at the school, Mr Holman.

The second photograph, taken in the same spot, shows the same modernised building, now featuring a second storey added in the mid-1960s and typically Art Deco flag masts.

Current Principal Laura Bekker, sporting a school panama, was happy to pose with her vehicle. Notably, the veld has been replaced by appropriate landscaped gardens and tarmac.

The Independent on Saturday appeals to readers who have old pictures from elsewhere in the province, as well as those of Durban, to send them to us for consideration. If any of our readers are featured in the old picture, we will do our best to recreate the scene with them in it again.

Readers sending in pictures digitally can address them, with the relevant information, to satmail@inl.co.za. Pictures should be about 1MB.

If the pictures are in hard copy format, they can be posted to The Editor, Old Pictures, The Independent on Saturday, PO Box 47549, Greyville, 4023.