#50YearsAgo Pioneers of Illovo Beach (part 1)
Goods bought in Durban would be loaded onto the train to Illovo Beach.
ONE of the first settlers in Illovo Beach was Billy Bates. Mr Bates built a house on the banks of the Illovo River in 1908. The house was typical of the time. It was made of wood and iron and was up on stilts.
Goods were delivered from Illovo Sugar Estate to Illovo Beach by ox-wagon along the transport riders dirt tracks. The first vehicle road was built in the late 1920s.
The main road through the area ran from the sugar estate to Karridene and was two miles from the Illovo Beach area. The Karridene Hotel, now the Protea Karridene Hotel, was built by the lllovo Sugar Estate prior to1928. The Illovo Beach area was formally surveyed after World War I.
The area was divided into ten acre farm lots with one acre lots overlooking the sea and the Illovo River. Mr Jeff Beddingham’s house was the first house built on these lots. It was built by Mr Harris in 1920. The Beddinghams bought the house in 1927 and have been there ever since.
In 1930, the Illovo Health Board was formed. The rates then were one pound a year. The provincial council in Pietermaritzburg agreed to give the Illovo Health Board one pound for every pound it raised. This resulted in many fundraising drives in the area.
The money from the provincial council was used for the building and hardening of roads in Illovo Beach. Jeff Beddingham’s father organised the building of the first roads. There were no cars in the area though and the roads were still used by ox-carts.
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At this time there was a small village between the Umsimbasi and Illovo Rivers, fairly independent of the sugar estate. Many people retired there. There were also many young people living at Illovo Beach who worked in Durban, catching the 07.10am train to Durban and the 05.05pm train back to Illovo Beach.
In the 1930s there were four shops in the Illovo Beach area. The Karridene Trading Company was situated on the Illovo Sugar Estate. The Turnbill Store was a general dealer in Illovo Beach. The store was attached to the Turnbill’s house. Mr and Mrs Turnbill had three children.
The Illovo Beach Store was off the Illovo Beach Hotel and sold groceries. Miss King’s store was owned and run by two sisters who sold haberdashery.
Many residents caught the train to Durban on Saturdays to shop and watch a movie.
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These would be collected later by wheel barrow from the goods shed when the residents arrived back in the evening after the afternoon movie. The first car in the village arrived in the 1930s. It was a “Terreplane Hudson”, owned by Mr Mcelew. He was the chief postmaster of Pietermaritzburg and had decided to retire
in Illovo Beach.
Mr Mcelew drove the car from Pietermaritzburg to Illovo Beach when he retired and never used it again. The local children used to play in it after that.
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