Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).
The train known as ‘Roos’, was built by Emil Kessler of Esslingen, Germany, in 1893. She was assembled in East London and worked for the Cape Government Railways on the line between Cape Town and Johannesburg. It is believed that she was used on the Pretoria – Johannesburg line during 1894.
Between 1 January 1895 and 1899 when the Second Anglo Boer War broke out, Roos is believed to have worked the Pretoria – Delagoa Bay line.
On the 17th of August, 1970 the Pretoria – Delagoa Bay railway line, which had been so important to President Kruger and the Transvaalers in their struggle for independence against Britain, celebrated it’s 75th anniversary. The ‘Roos’ was used to haul a special train from Waterval Onder to Waterval Boven. She was temporarily renamed ‘President Kruger’ for this commemorative trip.
In my book A Ghost and His Gold, about the Second Anglo Boer War, President Kruger, affectionately know as Oom Paul, would have fled Pretoria before the fall of the city, in a train just like ‘Roos’ as depicted in this short extract:
“May 1900 Oom [Uncle] Paul’s deep-set eyes were underscored by pouches of dark, bruised-looking flesh and new deep lines had etched themselves into the skin of his face.
“Pieter, I’m confiding in you as one of my most loyal and trusted citizens. The government has decided not to defend Pretoria against the Khakis. I’m preparing to leave the city shortly with several my advisors. We’ll establish a provisional capital in Machadodorp.”
“Why has this decision been made, Oom Paul? We have our four forts that were specifically built to defend the city. Why are they not going to be used?”
Oom Paul’s shoulders slumped, and his large frame seemed to crumple momentarily. Then he pulled himself upright and straightened his shoulders. “The government fears that the British will destroy all our beautiful buildings in a bombardment if we attempt to defend the city. For this reason, we have decided to abandon the city, as was done with Bloemfontein. Johannesburg will not be defended for the same reason and is expected to fall imminently.”
Pieter thought it was a strange decision, but he smiled at the elderly president. “I understand, what do you need of me?”
“I want you to take this, Pieter,” Oom Paul said, pointing to the two heavy sacks on the floor. “The Boers in your area will need it to rehabilitate themselves after the war, whatever the outcome.”
Whatever the outcome. Those are not the words of a man confident of victory.
“Thank you, Oom Paul.”
Two days later, on the 29th of May, Oom Paul had left Pretoria, travelling by train to Machadodorp, which was on the line to Delagoa Bay in neighbouring Mozambique. When it became known a day later that the government had left the city, rumours started to spread among the Pretorians and to the Boers living on the surrounding farms.
One rumour was that the President had made a secret deal with Lord Roberts to hand the city over to him in exchange for a huge financial reward. Pieter had scoffed at that one. The second rumour did not seem to be as groundless.
It was said that the President had taken all the gold from the National Bank with him when he left. This rumour led Pieter to reflect on the sacks that Oom Paul had given to him and to wonder if the Kruger coins they contained had come from the National Bank. He thought that they did.
What’s happened to the rest of the gold? Oom Paul must have given some to other Burghers and not just too me. It’s worth a fortune.
Round door to the coal storesInside the engineDoor to the first class carriageInside the first class carriageDoor at the back end of the first class carriageSecond class carriageDoor into the second class carriageName ‘President Kruger’ on the side of the engine
Sally Cronin from Smorgasbord Blog Magazine introduced me to Vera Brittain, a feminist, writer, and poet, who lived through WW1 and lost her fiancé, brother, and two close friends. My own great aunt never married after losing her fiancé during WW1, so Vera’s feelings of loss and displacement after the war gave me a lot of insight into how many women must have felt whose lives were scarred by the Great War and who lived among youngsters who hadn’t experienced its devastation in such a personal way.
It was a stroke of good luck for me to discover Vera Brittain as she wrote the most comprehensive depiction of WW1 from a female perspective that is available. I wasted no time in grabbing a copy of Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain and here is my review:
My review
Testament of Youth is a compelling depiction of a young English woman’s life during the war years from 1914 to 1918. The book is a memoir of Vera’s personal experiences and includes snippets of letters to and from her fiancé, Roland Leighton, her brother, Edward Brittain, and her friends, Victor Richardson, and Geoffrey Thurlow, and extracts from her diary.
For me, one of the best aspects of this book is that it starts well before the war and describes in detail her childhood and girlhood growing up in a middleclass household in Buxton, Derbeyshire. The society in which Vera grew up was still that of the ultra conservative Victorian era and female children were raised to take their places as wives and husbands.
Vera includes her memories of the eventual successful ending by the British troops of the siege of Mafeking in South Africa during the Second Anglo Boer War and the celebrations throughout England when that conflict was resolved with victory for Britain in 1902. This was particularly interesting to me as a South African, and it helped me contextualise the attitudes of British society at the time and how the events that unfolded were perceived from a British context rather than a South African one.
Vera is sent away to boarding school in Surrey when she is 13. The school was run by her aunt and prepared girls for their future roles in English middle-class society. They are educated but were not prepared for a transition to University or any other tertiary educational institution. She is an excellent student with a passion for learning and literature. After she finishes school she is bored and discontent at home in Buxton and partitions her father to pay for her to attend Somerville College, a newly established college for women at Oxford University.
Vera’s struggles to get her family to recognise her talents and ambitions were as important a part of this story as the effect of the war on her life. She was a leader in the education of women in the UK and pushed against the social currents of the time to achieve her ambitions. Having finally achieved her objectives of going to Oxford along with her brother and his friends, the war entered all their lives and everything changed.
Vera became romantically involved with one of her brother’s school friends, Roland, who was also a great scholar with literary ambitions, but their romance was interrupted by the event of the war. Roland, Edward, and most of their friends enlisted and Roland was quickly sent to France.
Having completed her first year at Oxford, Vera decides to delay her degree and to take a job as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (“VADs”). Her motivation for this decision was wrapped up in the fact that all the men in her life were fighting in the war and she wanted to be part of it and do something useful for the war effort.
The detail of the experiences of her fiancé, brother, and friends in this war are depicted in some detail in the book and are sad and emotional. Her own life, working in a horrible position in a hospital as a VAD and being mistreated by some of her superiors who resented the intrusion of the VADs, and taking comfort in the letters she received from the front graphically illustrates the awful waiting the female and aging population of Britain experienced at the time. Notification of the deaths of loved ones often didn’t come for a few days afterwards. Vera’s planned leave to meet up with Roland for Christmas and his non-arrival because he was killed on the 23rd of December illustrated this very poignantly.
Her struggle to cope with the news of Roland’s death and find purpose for her life are very real and she resolves her internal conflict by volunteering to work abroad. Vera is sent to Malta and spends several months working in a hospital there. Once again, the narrow moral ideas of the time are highlighted when an unidentified VAD is seen in a compromising position with a young man, but manages to escape identity. The entire staff of VADs are interviewed and the disgrace the wayward VAD has brought upon them all is highlighted above all else despite the devastation and destruction that is taking place all around them.
Vera goes on to lose both her friends in different battles and works as a VAD near the Western Front in France for some time. The details of the shelling, gassed and disfigured patients, and on-going peril are vivid and compelling. The descriptions of the American soldiers and how they appeared to the war-weary VAD’s were also interesting. They are described as being big men and full of confidence. The German prisoners of war are also treated by Vera while she is in France and they are described as being gray and weary and the same as the British and French injured and dying.
Vera’s brother is killed in action near the end of the war and it is a devastating and disillusioning experience for her.
When the war finally ends, Vera must decide how to pick up the threads of her life. She decides to return to Oxford and study history. Her experiences with the younger generation of students who have not suffered the same loses as a result of the war, and her resulting bitterness, as well as her own PTSD symptoms are well described. My heart broke for her as she felt so unwanted and displaced. Fortunately, Vera was a strong character and she managed to rise above it all and become great friends with Winifred Holtby.
The last section of the book is devoted to Vera’s successful life after the war and how she learns to deal with the pain of her loss and move on to the extent possible. She has a successful career and also gets married and has two children.
For readers interested in WW1 and its impact on the civilian and female population, this book is a must read.
A few quotes from Testament of Youth
“How fortunate we were who still had hope I did not then realise; I could not know how soon the time would come when we should have no more hope, and yet be unable to die”
***
“To my amazement, taut and tearless as I was, I saw him hastily mop his eyes with his handkerchief, and in that moment, when it was too late to respond or to show that I understood, I realised how much more he cared for me than I had supposed or he had ever shown. I felt, too, so bitterly sorry for him because he had to fight against his tears while I had no wish to cry at all, and the intolerable longing to comfort him when there was no more time in which to do it made me furious with the frantic pain of impotent desire.
And then, all at once, the whistle sounded again and the train started. As the noisy group moved away from the door he sprang on to the footboard, clung to my hand and, drawing my face down to his, kissed my lips in a sudden vehemence of despair. And I kissed his, and just managed to whisper ‘Good-bye!’ The next moment he was walking rapidly down the platform, with his head bent and his face very pale. Although I had said that I would not, I stood by the door as the train left the station and watched him moving through the crowd. But he never turned again.”
***
“It is quite impossible to understand,’ I commented afterwards, ‘how we can be such strong individualists, so insistent on the rights and claims of every human soul, and yet at the same time countenance (and if we are English, even take quite calmly) this wholesale murder, which if it were applied to animals or birds or indeed anything except men would fill us with a sickness and repulsion greater than we could endure.”
Roberta Eaton Cheadle is a South African writer and poet specialising in historical, paranormal, and horror novels and short stories. She is an avid reader in these genres and her writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.
Roberta has short stories and poems in several anthologies and has 2 published novels, Through the Nethergate, a historical supernatural fantasy, and A Ghost and His Gold, a historical paranormal novel set in South Africa.
Roberta has 9 children’s books published under the name Robbie Cheadle.
Roberta was educated at the University of South Africa where she achieved a Bachelor of Accounting Science in 1996 and a Honours Bachelor of Accounting Science in 1997. She was admitted as a member of The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2000.
Roberta has worked in corporate finance from 2001 until the present date and has written 7 publications relating to investing in Africa. She has won several awards over her 20-year career in the category of Transactional Support Services.
I am over at Beetleypete blog with a post about an infant, Jurgens Nieman, who died during the Second Anglo Boer War. Pete has a wonderful blog where he shares fabulous serialised fictional stories, debates, thoughts about his life growing up in London and his various interesting jobs, as well as chatty posts about his gorgeous dog, Ollie.
I am delighted to host a guest post from author, blogger, and cake-maker extraordinaire, Roberta Cheadle. This is an interesting historical account, connected to the same time period as her latest novel.
Roberta Eaton Cheadle is a South African writer and poet specialising in historical, paranormal, and horror novels and short stories. She is an avid reader in these genres and her writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.
Roberta has short stories and poems in several anthologies and has 2 published novels, Through the Nethergate, a historical supernatural fantasy, and A Ghost and His Gold, a historical paranormal novel set in South Africa.
Roberta has 9 children’s books published under the name Robbie Cheadle.
Roberta was educated at the University of South Africa where she achieved a Bachelor of…
Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).
The Outeniqua Transport Museum in George, Western Cape, houses two coaches of the White Train, one of which was used by the British Royal family when they toured South Africa 1947.
Here’s what Wikipedia says about the first coach:
“White Coach 49
Type = Private Name = Total built = 1 Built by = Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Co. in England Number = 49 (Old no126) Date in service = 1947
It was specifically ordered for use on the Governor-General’s White Train and was built by the Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Co. in England. It was placed in service as Car No.126 in June 1947.
This coach was neither intended nor ordered for the 1947 Royal train. It is often incorrectly linked to the 1947 Royal Train in the historical sense, but this is probably due to the fact that the car was intended for the White Train but only after the Royal Tour had been completed. This car being intended for specialised use on the White Train is undoubtedly one of the most luxurious diners in service on the South African Railways (SAR), but it was not used for general passenger service
The car’s saloon contains one large longitudinal table which can accommodate sixteen persons. The kitchen is fitted out in stainless steel and the whole vehicle is air-conditioned. The wall paneling is satin-finished figured timber. A small bar is provided at the end opposite to the kitchen. The exterior profile is identical to the present Drakensberg stock.
The coach which was renumbered 49 in 1969, served on the White Train from June 1947 to 1975, when the State President’s special train was officially withdrawn from service at the personal request of president Nico Diederichs.
This coach is notable as it was the central conference coach of the train which was placed in the centre of the Victoria Falls Bridge in August 1975 in one of the early abortive attempts to bring about peace in Rhodesia.
Door to Coach 49
Here’s what Wikipedia says about the second coach:
“Coach 51
Coach R7 (Princesses and Ladies-in-waiting)
The Royal Tour 1947
For this momentous occasion, eight new air-conditioned coaches were ordered from (Metro-Cammell Carriage & Wagon Co. Ltd.) In England. J. Stone & Co. Ltd. Provided the ‘Stone-Carrier’ air-conditioned equipment for the coaches. Under normal conditions, delivery of such luxury vehicles would be effected in about two and a half years but in this instance the contractors were given nine months to do so! They rose to the occasion and in doing so they certainly did not compromise on quality workmanship! Two Senior SAR Draughtsmen and a Senior Electrical Engineer were sent to England to Supervise the construction of the coaches
Five of the eight coaches ordered, were specialised luxury saloons while the remaining three, were built to standard (C-31-A/B Blue Train) design. The luxury saloons included the accommodation for the Royal Family and other dignitaries.
Use after Royal Tour
Saloon R7 for the Princesses and ladies-in-waiting, was also made available for the (White Train) as coach no.39) renumbered No.51 in May 1969 and used as the (Governor-General/State President saloon). When the ‘White Train’ was withdrawn from service in August 1975, this saloon was handed over to the S.A. Railway Museum for the National Collection.
Royal coat of arms on the outside of the coachDoor to coach 51Crockery from the Royal Family tour in 1947
Virgil gathers up the leaves that were torn off the tree damaged during the hunt in Canto 13, and returns them to the shade trapped inside. He then follows Virgin towards the third ring of the seventh circle of Hell.
The two poets come out of the forest into a desert where they see groups of naked shades either wandering about, squatting, or lying on their backs. The prostrate shades are screaming the loudest. These shades were previously blasphemers or those “violent against God” and are condemned to walk, squat, or lie on a plain of burning sand while fire rains down upon them.
Dante sees a gigantic man lying in the sand ignoring the fire flakes as if they do not hurt him. The man cries out that he still blasphemes all gods and is still unconquered. He adds that he will never by subdued by Zeus (also called Jove or Jupiter), no matter how many thunderbolts he throws at him. Virgin identifies him as Capaneus, a king who besieged Thebes and scorned God, and who was killed by a thunderbolt thrown by Zeus.
Virgil and Dante continue walking and eventually come to where a red river flows from the edge of the surrounding forest. The rivers banks have turned to stone. Virgil says that this river puts out the flames when they reach its banks.
Virgil tells Dante that there is a giant man under the Island of Crete, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean, with a golden head, silver arms and chest, a brass torso, iron legs, and one foot of clay. His tears run down and flow into Hell forming the rivers and the lake at the bottom of Hell. The Old Man of Crete is an allegory for the ages of humanity: firstly the golden age, which was corrupted and transformed into the silver age, followed by the bronze age and then the iron age, with a foot of age.
Virgil also tells Dante that Lethe, the river of forgetfulness in Greek mythology, is in purgatory and is where souls wash off their guilt and sins.
Extract from Canto 14
“Of naked spirits many a flock I saw, All weeping piteously, to different laws Subjected: for on the’ earth some lay supine, Some crouching close were seated, others pac’d Incessantly around; the latter tribe, More numerous, those fewer who beneath The torment lay, but louder in their grief.”
While on our recent road trip, my family visited the Boer Wars Museum in Bloemfontein. A fascinating museum, it had a lot of artifacts that featured in my book about the Second Anglo Boer War, A Ghost and His Gold. I thought I would share a few of my photographs and a short extract to go with each of them.
“Estelle climbs up and takes her place as the driver. From his position on his horse next to the wagon, Pieter sees Marta’s annoyed glare. He knows Marta does not approve of Estelle sitting in the open on the wooden chest, driving the wagon.
Marta’s just being narrow minded. We have no sons and Estelle is capable and willing. She is good at driving too and has expressed her preference for sitting outside in the air rather than sweltering under the covering at the back. Marta will just have to learn to accept my decision.
“Put your bonnet on, Estelle,” he calls, hoping to pacify his wife.
Estelle drags on the thick white ties attached to her bonnet, pulling it up over her bright hair and plunging her beautiful face into shadow. Pieter smiles at her and moves away, walking his horse slowly down the line of oxen.”
““When the Long Tom arrives from Pretoria and starts bombarding the town, the British will soon surrender,” a burly Boer called Pete Grobler declared after the music and dancing had died down.
Another Boer caught up the refrain: “Our general is experienced in this type of warfare. He forced the British garrison at Potchefstroom to surrender during the last war, and he’ll do the same thing this time.”
Pieter listened quietly while the men extolled the virtues of the French siege gun called the Long Tom. The government of the South African Republic had bought four of these great guns with their 4.2-metre-long barrels in 1897 for deployment at the four forts they had built around Pretoria. Now that war had been declared, it had been decided that the guns would be deployed as field and siege guns around the country.
A small smile turned up the corners of Pieter’s mouth as he went to sleep that night. He dreamed of the successes of the day and the eminent capture of Mafeking by the Boers after the arrival of the Long Tom.”
“Clambering out of bed, he stumbles across the uneven floor of the bedroom and down the passageway. By the time he reaches the front door, his eyes have adjusted fully to the darkness, and he can make out the shapes of the furniture in the voorkamer, a large room at the front of the farmhouse where Marta receives visitors.
Grabbing his loaded Mauser rifle from its hooks on the wall near the door, he hesitates for a moment to admire its smooth and shiny wooden length. The feel of the gun in his hands gives him confidence; he is an excellent marksman.
This gun brought me a lot of respect.
His ability with a gun had been his saving grace when, as a young man, his peers had been mystified by his interest in books and writing and had liked to share their derogatory thoughts in that regard.”
This is my first post of 2022 and I wish you all a very happy new year. Thursday Doors has a new banner for 2022, created by the amazing Teagan Riordain Geneviene. All the entries were excellent so well done to all the contributors.
Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time). You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2022/01/06/we-have-a-winner/
I have had rather a splendid ten day road trip holiday, and today I am sharing the first of my photographs from that trip. Dan Antion, the host of Thursday Doors, is a trains fan [just like me], I am kicking off with pictures from the Outeniqua Transport Museum in George, Western Cape. I like in George for two years when I was 10 and 11 years old and I have very fond memories of this town.
The Outeniqua Mountains, named after the Outeniqua Khoikhoi (previously Hottentots) who lived there, is a mountain range that runs a parallel to the southern coast of South Africa, and forms a continuous range with the Langeberg to the west and the Tsitsikamma Mountains to the east. [from Wikipedia]
Outeniqua means ‘they who bear honey’.
Steam locomotive built in 1902Door to the engineHatch door for coal storeDoor to the furnaceInside of engine with furnace and steering wheelFist train to come into use in the Transvaal – built in 1889Views of the Outeniqua Mountains
In the spring of 1843, Charles Dickens read a government report on child labour in the United Kingdom. The report, compiled by a journalist friend of Charles Dickens, comprised of a series of interviews with working children. It detailed the long hours, crushing work, and poor conditions suffered by these children. The new and heartless […]
Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).
This is my last post for 2021 except for my Dark Origins post over at Writing to be Read which will go out on Wednesday, 22 December. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and all the very best for 2022.
This week, Dan has asked us to share our favourite doors for the year. I am using poetic license and sharing my favourite Christmas doors ever.
These pictures are from our trip to the UK for Christmas 2009. It is the only white Christmas I’ve every experienced.
Doors to Leeds Castle. It started snowing during this visitLeeds Castle was decorated with a Disney themeGreg and I under the Christmas tree – a favourite picture of mineI was quite enchanted with the frost and snow
Just a reminder to all my readers, it doesn’t snow in southern Africa!
I’m going to end with my favourite Christmas song:
I am finally finished with work, three days late and its been a whirlwind so I didn’t manage to record a YT video for these two reviews. The Dead of Winter series of novellas are wonderfully imaginative and entertaining and I have enjoyed the nine journeys I have read to date.
This journey opens with a meeting between the long dead King Hallr and Arawn, planned by Arawn but a surprise to Hallr. What does Arawn want with this powerful former king?
The Deae Matres have finally discovered the Lost Library and meet the ancient and mysterious Haldis. Her family relationships with Hallr and Hallgeir are revealed to all. Emlyn gains a greater understanding of her powers and starts learning to use the Ogham Staff in order to unite with Hallgier, Osabide and Zasha who disappeared so unexpectedly. Unfortunately, the process through which Zasha transitioned into the Lost Library has made changes to her and she is not the same woman she was previously. The Deae Matres, particularly Osabide, are distraught about Zasha’s new persona and poor health, and discuss plans to undo the changes that have taken place.
Emlyn is gaining in confidence and knowledge, although the intense anxiety and mental barriers resulting from the mental abuse she suffered at the hands of her family, frequently manifest themselves in her behaviour and conversations. She spends some time roaming the library and learning more about it. Her interest in various paintings and artifacts will prove to be useful.
Emlyn suffers some distress as she gradually comes to realise that Haldis is not necessarily trustworthy and may have her own agenda. She also suffers disappointment in her relationship with Luce. Will her misgivings about Haldis and Luce prove to be true?
Journey 9: Doors of Attunement
My review
The book starts with some reflections by Luce which are very revealing. His devotion to his mother, fear of his father and the retribution he could take against Luce, ambivalence towards the Deae Matres, and intrigue with Emlyn are all revealed. His relationship with the Listeners, a new and intriguing element to the book, is mentioned.
Emlyn, Osabide and Fotia, previously Zasha, cross over into another realm on the advice of Haldis who has recommended this journey as the only way of reinstating Zasha’s own personality and good health. The trio come across the three doors of Attunement and realise they must open one in order to move forward with their question. They meet the Listeners who can grant the requests of questors at their discretion.
Fotia must make a difficult decision and Emlyn learns that there is more to the trios quest than simply restoring Zasha. It is also necessary to seek and find the missing crown of the Ohgam Staff.
The plans of both Arwan and Haldis are revealed.
The imagery and imaginative characters and settings included in this episode are more marvelous and intriguing than ever. A most worthy read and a great step forward in this epic journey.
Purchase Dead of Winter Journeys 1 to 11 by Teagan Riordain Geneviene
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