The Nyahode river on Westward Ho!, first crossed by a drift and then by a causeway, was for many years a barrier in travelling when the river was frequenfly too deep for weeks on end for normal passenger cars to get through. One evening a family had an alarming crossing: at the approach the river did not look too bad, and they drove in. When the wave in the middle washed right over the headlights the only thing to do was to drive steadily on. The car stalled, luckily well beyond the middle, and all piled out on the lower side of the car and eventually managed to push it through, but it was an unpleasant experience in the dark with the river swirling madly all round.

 

It was hoped for many years that the status of the V.M.B. would be raised to that of a Town Management Board, but in 1960 the Government abolished Village Management Boards, and the Melsetter Local Committee, witb even more restricted powers, became the local authority and acted until the next change in Local Government.

In a competition for the lay-out of the Arboretum 28 entries were received from nine countries, and the thirty-guinea prize donated by Dr. Alexander and B. D. Goldberg was won by a Leeds firm of Landscape Artists, and it was hoped to plant attractive and interesting exotics and a specimen of each indigenous tree which would support the climate, with each bearing a label giving scientific data. By 1960 the area was fenced, a storage dam constructed, two pools formed in the stream, paths demarcated, and over 220 trees planted. The Arboretum Committee struggled on with maintenance but supervision was difficult and funds were being used up. An appeal for more money was launched in the hope of collecting a capital sum of �3 500 to yield interest considered the minimum amount needed for the first seven years. The Arboretum, if completed, would have provided instruction and pleasure to many, but the appeal met with such a poor response that the scheme had to be abandoned.

Dr. Niblock retired as G.M.O. and for about two years Melsetter had no resident doctor and Chipinga G.M.O.s came once a week to see patients. With no doctor, no district nurse, and no Clinic Melsetter was very badly served, and the position led to many protests by official bodies. The Government then rented the W.I. Committee room as the G.M.O.�s consulting room for a year, and work was started on a Doctor�s house. By the time it was completed, Dr. Helen Godwin was the G.M.O. and running the practice from her home at Silverstream with the surgery in one wing of the new house. Towards the end of 1960 the Government took over the Camping Site for the African Clinic which is run by a fully trained nurse under the supervision of the G.M.O.

The Post Office was gradually expanded; the next-door front room on the verandah was taken over for postal sorting. Post boxes were installed, and an Exchange room was built on to the end of the Government building. The Postmaster�s hours on duty depended on R.M.S. arrivals and departures: besides the normal hours he worked on three days a week till 6.30 p.m. if the buses were not late, but mail was frequently sorted by the light of pressure lamps; on the other three weekdays he made up mailbags for the R.M.S. from 6 a.m.

Heavy capital expenditure took place on the B.S.A. Co.�s Charter Estates when outlay in excellent housing for all employees and an extensive road network kept pace with afforestation. Schools, a clinic, a community hall, offices and self-dependent workshops kept two builders busy over five years.

Members of the Capricorn Africa Society in Melsetter realised the need to develop the domestic efficiency and elementary citizenship of rural African women in areas not already reached by others working in the Homecraft field. Tremendous efforts were made by a small local group who raised enough money to equip a Land Rover and to pay its staff and running expenses. Colonel Laurens van der Post gave the Land Rover he had taken on his Kalahari Expedition, and the service known as Kalahari Kate was started.

 

The work entailed driving some 1 000 miles a month into the Reserves over the roughest roads. Twenty-two communities were visited once a month, and the women paid ld a visit towards expenses and were encouraged to meet each week. The work expanded, and homecraft training is given today by the team of two to 42 Clubs and six Youth Groups, and the programme now includes Area Days and Training Courses in farming, leadership, and tackling local problems.

 

Most Clubs make money from running small rural industries, and at Mutambara the C.M.U. started the first women�s co-operative in Rhodesia, the successful Kumboedza Co-op. The C.M.U.�s success led to other official bodies starting similar services with units which now cover a great part of the country, and the C.M.U. experience in co-ordinating Clubs of various organisations led to its advice and assistance being sought in the formation of the Women�s Group Liaison under the Rhodesia Council of Social Service. The Committee is convinced, after ten years� hard work and experiment, that it has been possible to achieve so much and now to consider a much wider range of activities because it has concentrated on regular instruction in a comparatively small area. The achievements of the women themselves are many, lasting and growing.

At Melsetter Country Club in the early 1960s some progress was apparent. A nine-hole golf course was laid out and planted to grass, the Golf Section was formed, and in 1964 fairways and greens for five holes had been planted and the first official golf match was held on home ground. Since then a small band of enthusiasts has battled to keep the nine holes of this scenically lovely course going.

In 1961 weekly children�s tennis was started during school holidays, an excellent service which, with the coaching and encouragement given, led to the children�s standard becoming very high.