Better than Bambi
THE FORESTS of Zululand are places of enchantment – giant trees, dappled shade, wee beasties scurrying in the undergrowth. Civilisation has not yet touched and spoiled them
It was the theme of the St Clement's soiree this week, illustrated by slides which included a depiction of a surreal and frightening strangler fig that looked just like a giant praying mantis. There was also the extraordinary relationship that developed with a family of blue duiker.
The slides were shot in the Dlinza forest at Eshowe, where St Clement's compere Pieter Scholtz grew up and the setting for his soon to be published collection of short stories titled Encounters With Trees, of which he was giving us a preview.
Pieter started out befriending a little duiker doe he named Manti. Before too long she had brought her entire family to meet him every day and they would skitter about the undergrowth like a pack of fox terriers as they greeted him.
Hey, this better than Bambi. Giant praying mantis? Gambolling blue duiker? Do magic mushrooms also grow in the Dlinza forest?
No, Pieter had a photograph of little Manti. And of some of the magnificent trees to be found in Dlinza. It is indeed a place of enchantment.
So is the Nkandla forest, not too far away from Eshowe. In fact, if we're to believe an account of events in very early Zululand, it was in the Nkandla forest that Shaka's enemies were panicked and stampeded one night when they thought they'd spotted a baboon riding a hyena.
Magic mushrooms? No, just ordinary enchantment. The strangest things go on in these Zululand forests.
Kingsmead
FORMER Durban man Mel Smethurst, now living in Port Elizabeth, is a third-generation habitué of Kingsmead and is trying to write up the history of the ground. He appeals to anyone for information and photographs, especially of the old days.
Mel's grandfather, Ernest, was groundsman in the 1920s and 1930s and his grandmother, "Ma Smethurst", made tea and cream scones for countless international cricketers of renown over the years.
When she retired in 1957, a special schools soccer tournament was held in her honour.
Mel's father, Horace, captained South Africa at soccer and his ashes were scattered on the pitch. Mel himself played soccer at Kingsmead for Glenwood (the amateur club, not the school or the old boys' club).
"My endearing memory is my own debut on the ground so you can appreciate this is more than a passing interest."
Can anyone out there help?
More Kingsmead
OF COURSE they played rugby and soccer at Kingsmead in the old days, as well as cricket. It was 1956 when Natal played their first-ever Currie Cup rugby final there, led by the great Peter Taylor.
It was against Northern Transvaal and we went down 9-8 with a very dodgy Northerns try in injury time. I still haven't got over it.
Brian van Zyl did his best to avenge this and assuage my feelings. I'm most grateful to him. I've no doubt John Smit will carry on likewise. But these deep psychological scarrings at an impressionable early age are not easily removed.
And still more
I MYSELF have turned out at Kingsmead on occasion. This was to play cricket for the Durban Press XI against sides such as SA Breweries.
It was in the company of our gallant skipper, the Compton Boy; his brother, Compton the Elder, who writes cricket for this newspaper; and the Maclaine of Loch Buie (known as Drambuie) who is chieftain of a Scottish clan and marketing director of this newspaper.
My contribution was in the leg-spin department. Modesty forbids further detail (though comparisons with Shane Warne do spring to mind).
Tailpiece
Last word
Humour is always based on a modicum of truth. Have you ever heard a joke about a father-in-law?
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