A brisk walk in CBD revives memories of Durban back in the day

SOME people don’t mind working while they are on leave. Like me. Yes, here I am again on Sunday morning in front of my PC at the Daily News in the middle of a two-week holiday. And can I let you in on a little secret? It feels good to be back for a few hours.

Not that I haven’t enjoyed my five days’ leave so far.

Sleeping in and not being being stunned by a heart-stopping alarm clock at 4.45am every day is the best part of leave for a journalist who works on an afternoon newspaper. Curse those early deadlines!

Besides that sleep-in, it’s been a satisfying, quiet, relaxing and nostalgic week which I thought might make for interesting reading.

Leave is all about recharging the batteries and chilling, but after two days of watching SuperSport and movies recorded on my PVR decoder, and generally spending eight hours of the day on my couch, I decided it was time to take in the sun and get some blood coursing through my veins.

So on Wednesday morning I pulled on my ancient running shoes – which have holes allowing my toes to get some extra air – put on some shorts which expose my spindly legs, donned a T-shirt, and then drove down to North Beach to do a bit of speed-walking, something the doctors and experts tell me is far better than a gym workout or jogging.

It was a beautiful morning, a nip in the air from a gentle south-westerly making the sea look gorgeous.

Off I went at a brisk pace along Sutcliffe Promenade with hardly a soul in sight except for a few other walkers, bikers and some people sun-tanning.

Not a spot of litter anywhere, and even the palm trees looked healthy.

After about 45 minutes of brisk walking, I had almost reached uShaka Marine World when I impulsively decided to head inland and take a walk down memory lane to see what old haunts I could find.

Next thing I was in Gillespie Street. Of course, I have driven down there several times in recent years and know how things have changed, but walking and popping your head in at places is interesting.

So there I was looking into the famous old Italian restaurant Villa d’Este, and then wandering past the Four Seasons Hotel, with a peek into the once-excellent Pink Panther steakhouse.

All of these places are now bars or shebeens, whatever you want to call them.

Then I saw Palm Beach Hotel on my right. That’s where the Millionaires’ Club used to be in the 1970s and 1980s, although, again, I am painfully aware it was a whites-only place, like all the other places mentioned.

I walked down the stairs. The room looked the same, except that it is now a very dingy-looking and badly-lit bar which had only one customer.

I then passed the Lonsdale Hotel, which is now a university residence, as are many of the former hotels, locals told me.

The Lonsdale was a huge jolling spot, and the El Castilian next door was a great club which used to host bands such as The Bats. I walked in and, with slot machines and other changes, it looked far smaller than I remembered. Suddenly I could taste the combination of Mainstay cane and Schweppes sparkling lemon in my mouth. Yes, one of my drinks in the ’70s.

A couple of guys were sitting drinking beer at 11am. Nothing’s changed, I thought, except the colour of the clientele.

Then it was on to the Killarney Hotel, where the Monks Inn used to be (with the words “Steak, Eggs and Strips” posted prominently outside), and then to another place – Thatcher’s Bar at the former Parkview Hotel.

This time a couple of white guys were sipping beers, but I was told by the bar lady (whose eyebrow pencil obviously had a mind of its own) it was a very mixed bar at nights, with blacks and whites getting along just fine.

Then past the Edward Hotel and Magoo’s Bar (I forget what it is called now), and so back to the North Beach car park and home again.

I posted my nostalgic journey on Facebook and have been amazed at the response. There are so many sites on Facebook like “Durban Beach boys of the 1960s” and “Journalists of the 1960s and beyond”. Nostalgic old stories live on through the social network.

So this week I will do some