When I last posted, over a month ago, I speculated about the prospects for a drought in the south of the UK. Although I have now been in South Africa for three, I am assured that there has been ample rain in Norwich, indeed some very heavy showers with ‘localised flooding’. Sadly, this is symptomatic of global climate change. By contrast, the nights in Durban have been extremely chilly, to the point that I have had all the blankets in the flat on the bed and am wearing my fleece.

Over the past month I have seen two shows in the theatre and four films on the KLM flight from Amsterdam to Johannesburg. Douglas, Rowan and I went down to London to see ‘Operation Mincemeat’, a musical in the west end. It is the true story of a British intelligence operation in 1943. During the Second World War a corpse, dressed in a British officer’s military uniform, was placed in the sea off the coast of Spain. He, Acting Major William Martin, was carrying the ‘secret plans’ for an Allied invasion of Greece. In fact, the intention was to invade Sicily, and so this was an elaborate deception. The body was recovered by a Spanish fisherman and the plans passed to the Germans.

The original book, ‘The Man Who Never Was’ by Ewen Montagu, was published in 1954. In 2011 Ben McIntyre updated the story with ‘Operation Mincemeat: The True Spy Story That Changed the Course of World War II’, published by Bloomsbury in London. This book formed the basis for the musical.

The show was in one of the smaller venues in the West End, The Fortune Theatre. It would be correct to describe it as intimate. That it didn’t detract from the entertainment, it was outstanding, and the cast threw themselves into the performance with gusto. We travelled to London by train and met cousin/niece Kate, for lunch. As it was a matinee we were back in Norwich by the middle of the evening.

In Durban I went to see ‘Winnie the Pooh’ in the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre at the University. The reason they were able to put the show on was because the work is no longer in copyright, so can be freely adapted and reproduced. Clearly, this is a children’s production and I felt slightly uncomfortable going to this, as an older man, on his own. Indeed, I wracked my brains to come up with people who might have children and would join me. So, the burning, and obvious question is, why did I go? One of the leads lives in my block of flats, and suggested I support him and the rest of the cast. It was great fun and the children in the audience joined in, treating it like a pantomime.

I left Norwich at 6 am on 5th July and connected on a KLM flight to Johannesburg. I upgraded my ticket, using my airmiles, and so really felt spoilt. As Douglas pointed out, this is the first time I have not carried papers to work on or review. There was nothing I needed to do! I watched ‘Shotgun Wedding’, an enjoyable romp starring Jennifer Lopez; ‘Ticket to Paradise’, equally lightweight and starring George Clooney; ‘The Lost King’, about the discovery of Richard the Third’s body in a car park in Leicester; and ‘Spencer’ the story of Diana, Princess of Wales 10 years into her marriage. Two were about exotic destination weddings: ‘Shotgun Wedding’ in Indonesia and ‘Ticket to Paradise’ in the Philippines.

I would highly recommend ‘The Lost King’. It is amazing that one woman, neither an archeologist nor an academic, had the vision that led to the discovery of the King’s remains. The senior staff of Leicester University are portrayed as a bunch of bullies. According to the press this was not an unfair depiction! The spat is well documented on Wikipedia and my sympathies lie with Philippa Langley, although based on her characterization in the film I don’t think I would have much time for her. ‘Spencer’ on the other hand was not great, but it was the last one I watched. By the time I realised this I was invested in it, so! Charles is extraordinarily unsympathetically portrayed. It did make me even more inclined to republic sympathies, and the news that the Sovereign Grant, the amount paid by taxpayers to the King in 2022-2023, is worth £86.3m reinforces this.

One of the real benefits of my service at the University of KwaZulu-Natal is the Medical Aid. This means I can, within reason, have medical and dental treatments in South Africa. Having had a diagnosis of angina a couple of months ago, the GP said he would refer me to the local hospital’s heart clinic. Nothing happened for weeks, then a few days ago I got a call from them about my referral. I am in Durban and had an appointment with Rob Dyer a cardiologist whom I have known for over 30 years, he was part of the weekly touch rugby game! So, I had to decline the NHS appointment for the moment.

I went and saw Rob last week and am amid a battery of tests, one more to do and then advice on the next steps. In the meantime, though he confirmed the medication I am on is appropriate; I have angina; and I should not go running or do any exercise that will bring on an attack. I find it annoying and an indication of ageing I would rather ignore! I will have the final consultation when I have had a scan.

Running may be out but, fortunately, I can still walk. I try to walk at least eight kilometres every day and have managed this every day, except for the Swazi trip, since I got to Durban. The day I missed was wet. The Fitbit is a real motivator. It tells me that since I started wearing it, I have walked the length of the Nile, 6649 kilometres. I find this monitoring and measuring interesting. One of my friends and colleagues is trying to persuade me to take on a challenge to raise money for Waterford. I am quite happy to do this, the issue is what and when. My opening offer was to walk 200 km in a month. He upped this and suggested it include 60; i.e., 60 km a week over 60 days so it is in keeping with the 60th anniversary theme. I am pondering this, and will post in the next blog to let people know what I have decided.

Normally I walk through the neighbourhood, heading for one of the coffee shops. There are some steep hills if I choose to walk up them. It is amazing how empty the streets are in this area; on some walks I see more monkeys on the streets than people. There are at least three distinct troops in the area, and a week ago two juveniles decided to go onto the balcony. When I spotted them, they were investigating a luminous mop propped in the corner, they left rapidly!

For the last two Sundays I have done my walk on the beachfront. This is a popular place for recreation for walkers, runners, cyclists and skateboarders. On the last walk I had just set off when a boy of about ten kicked his football into the path of a cyclist. He took quite a tumble, and I and a few of the walkers helped him over to the side. He lay there and gradually recovered. Nothing seemed broken, but he had grazes and bruises. It happened right in front of the police station on the promenade! A policewoman saw it happen and hurried over to see what could be done. I left my phone number, but he seemed okay.

At the end of July, I drove to Mbabane for events marking the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of Waterford Kamhlaba School. I will cover this in more detail in my next blog but want to end this one by including a picture. On the road, just south of the border I stopped for a comfort break. I noticed what looked like a gravestone set back from the road in grass. I went over to see what it was about. As you can see it commemorates five young British volunteers killed in a road accident at that spot in 1996. It is said that we die twice, once when our hearts stop and the second time when the last person who remembers us dies. I post this picture so Jackie, Lucy, David, Deborah and Catherine, who died nearly 30 years ago, will be remembered for a little longer. It was remarkable that on the long, lonely road this is the place I choose to stop as it cannot be easily seen from the road.

Memorial