Pages For this Section
Winnie, her life in Kenya.
Barnoldwick to - where?
Leaving England
First Impressions
Eldoret
Kisumu
Trip to England
Parties and Picnics
Home Leave
War Years - the last years in Kisumu
Nairobi
Post Script
Winnie's Cook Book
image: Kenneth on a picnic.
There being no cinema, Winnie and Frank and their friends made their own entertainment. It became a tradition to have fancy dress dances at Christmas and New Year at a nearby Hotel. Among the circle of friends were a number from Wales, including Cyril and Dorothy Lewis. They had good singing voices and after a dance, they would lead a singing session to finish off the evening.
Between the wars the reputation of the European community in Kenya was commonly described by the saying "are you married or do you live in Kenya?" This was prompted by the outrageous behavior of a small group of aristocratic and extremely wealthy settlers who inhabited an area known as the Kinangop but nicknamed "Happy Valley", not far from Nairobi. The conduct no way represented the general attitude of the extremely hard working settlers and Government officials. Indeed Winnie and her friends were disgusted at this way of life, which culminated in the notorious murder of the Earl of Errol in 1941. (As depicted in the film "White Mischief" based on the book by James Fox, printed by Penguin in 1984 and in the famous book by Karen Blixen and film "Out of Africa".)
image: Frank and the children
Treasure hunts were always popular and these celebrated birthdays and farewells. Frank had the gift of devising clues in rhyme and it was always his job to organize the hunt, which would take up much of the evening, the hunters moving from place to place by car. Dinner was fitted in along the way.
It was not safe to swim in the Lake because of the crocodiles and hippos. A swimming pool for the European residents was built some distance from the town. As well as the pool, changing rooms were built and a "banda" - a covered area for non-swimmers. The high wall around the pool was built from corrugated iron. Before anybody ventured into the water at the start of the day, it was carefully cleared of water scorpions by the attendant. The pool was a popular spot at weekends and later, when Marjorie visited Kisumu, the teen-agers would ride their bicycles to the pool.
Children's parties at Christmas time were also a tradition and were fancy dress, with plenty of jellies and cakes to eat. As a special treat, a projector would be set up and cartoons such as "Mickey Mouse" and "Felix the Cat" were shown. Father Christmas always made a dramatic entrance and distributed presents to all the children present. For individual birthday parties ice cream was considered the best of all treats and Winnie's ice cream churn was frequently loaned to friends. Ice from the ice works was packed inside the tub, around the inner cylinder filled with custard. One of the houseboys would sit for at least an hour, turning the handle of the churn during which time the custard slowly became solid. The taste and texture of this ice cream was quite unique and has a special taste bud memory!
Picnics became part of the life of Kisumu residents. Good weather over the Christmas and New Year holiday was always guaranteed. A fleet of cars, loaded with parents, children, food and drink would leave Kisumu in convoy, heading for a destination in the hills - sometimes a Mission, and these were very happy memories. Fathers would take it in turn to organize games and races and the Mission African children often joined in.
By 1940, Kisumu had a cinema and one Christmas, after the showing of Spencer Tracey's film, "North West Passage" the families went for a picnic on a river not far from Kisumu. It was some distance from the car to the chosen picnic spot and Frank soon organized the younger members of the party into 'porters', like those in the film. He had them singing and chanting and they carried every box of food and drink, cushions and blankets across the river to the picnic site!
The old Maxwells, known to everyone as Uncle Jim and Auntie Kitty, were a kind and generous couple. In addition to their own grandchildren, they acted as surrogate grandparents to all of their many friends' children. They owned the Kisumu Hotel and lived on a farm not far from town. Sunday afternoon tea at the farm was yet another tradition and generally included several families. The parents sat one end of the verandah and the children had their tea and played at the other end of the verandah. Table tennis was always the most popular game.
image: On the trip to Kericho
Frank took no holidays between his home leaves and the only break Winnie had from her home, was to accompany him on some of his safaris. He regularly visited townships within Nyanza or neighboring provinces, staying with friends or in one of the Government dak bungalows. One of the servants usually traveled with them, to do the various chores the family demanded. One of these visits was to Kericho, the center of Kenya's tea growing region and now on the main Nairobi-Kisumu road. The climate at this high altitude township reminded Frank and Winnie of the early sunny days of an English autumn and they happily gathered wild mushrooms for breakfast. Winnie had not brought her "travel bag" (containing toilet paper, a set of cutlery, egg cups, a tin opener, aspirins and a few other civilized essentials) whereupon Frank invented history by explaining to the enthralled children that Christopher Columbus' mother had forgotten to pack his travel bag. The great explorer flattened the ends of the boiled eggs to allow them to stand on a plate without support. The children forbore to ask how Columbus managed without toilet paper!
