DEAR Editor;
The Pillay family had a banana farm behind Spillers Wharf in the late 1940s and 1950s.
Some of us are now in our late 70s. My cousin and I were thrilled to read about the barge that was recently excavated.
We lived in a large home on top of the hill, and my cousin can vividly recall that the barge sailed down the river loaded with bags of lime. As it neared the power station, a siren would be blown and the lime was offloaded onto the trains.
My cousin and uncles used to fish on the banks of the river, and the barges looked stately, painted all white with a flag fluttering at the bow.
The floods of 1959 destroyed everything in its path.
The barge is part of our town’s history, and I agree with Mary Neethling that we must take good care of this relic.
BOOI (NATASHA) BABU
Marburg
HAVE YOUR SAY
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