Friends

In their years in East Africa my parents made and lost many friends, for the white community was ever transient, with people coming out from the UK, working there for sometimes perhaps a year or two, then moving on, back to the UK or to other, usually British, territories. A few, however, were there throughout their time in East Africa.

As a boy in Mombasa a few very good friends of my parents stick in my memory. In the above picture, my father is on the left, with Do and Frank Anstey, and the photo was taken at the Hoey house which faced out onto Nyali beach - so this must have been in about 1957.

My parents knew them from the war years in Dar-es-Salaam, when Do was very helpful to my mother in obtaining fresh food for her in a wartime economy when I was a baby.

The house they had in Mombasa was in the district called Tudor, where they had a garden which stretched down to Tudor creek, part of the inlet which surrounded Mombasa island. Perhaps Frank had a colour camera because this is the only colour  picture I have of my brother Richard (right) and I dating back to the 1950s.

I'm sure it wasn't a factor in my parents' friendship with the Ansteys, but Frank managed East African Breweries, the manufacturers of....

....Tusker beer.