Parkmore: Family orientated suburb

Parkmore: What is in the name?

The name Parkmore was derived from two farms, Hurl Park and Benmore Farm.

History of Parkmore and Field and Study Recreation Centre:

Sandton Chronicle spoke to a well-known figure in Parkmore, Rose Johnson of the Friends of Field and Study. Johnson provided insights on the history of the area and the park.

Although Johnson resides in Morningside, she is still active in Parkmore, having been in the area for more than 50 years.

Johnson became a resident of Parkmore in the late 60s and was chairperson of the Field and Study Recreation Centre, which included the park for 10 years, and at the Friends of Field and Study for 11 years.

She recalls the suburb back then as a happy family suburb where crime was not a frequent topic of conversation and life was less pressured. “[We took] the children to the then wonderful George Lea Park,” said Johnson.

Today, Johnson said the suburb is still a family suburb with a good few of those who have been around since the good old days. “It is on the border of the Sandton CBD, now world-renowned as the richest square mile in Africa. Its residents care about the suburb and it has an active residents’ association.

“When I came it was a suburb out of town of mainly young families with the 11th Street shops the centre of it. All you needed was there and everybody knew everybody.”

History of Driefontein:

A notable landmark is the Field and Study Recreation Centre which is housed in the old Arnold house, which was part of Driefontein Farm.

Elsa and Adolf Wilhelmi arrived from Germany 1891 and bought the farm Driefontein where they lived in a stone house they built opposite where the Field and Study Recreation Centre is today. “They planted many of the Blue Gum and Wattle trees still there today for a nearby tannery that used the bark.”

Johnson said in 1937 Elsa sold 40 acres to Philip Arnold, an German friend.

Philip and Emma Arnold and their son Wolfgang built their home on this land and farmed cattle, chickens, pigs, lucerne and asparagus.

“This is the house we know as the Field and Study Recreation Centre.”

Johnson said Friends of Field and Study was formed in 2006 when the council divided the recreation centre from the park. “This left the park with no one. I was chairman for 10 years mostly expanding the capacity of the recreation centre, adding more studios, as originally there was basically only the rooms in the house for the various classes.”

Today, the centre offers a multitude of courses for body, mind and soul such as art, bridge, cooking, sewing, karate, exercise and languages, which changes with demand.