Whatshot
Through My Eyes
Through My Eyes
Date: 2013-06-13
We were on our way to visit Basil Townsend, the Squire of Compensation, and persuade him to sell off a portion of his vast sugarcane estate for the development of a coastal township."
And this is how Ballito was born in the words of local author Jack Nash who first published his book, "The Birth of Ballito - Pearl of the North Coast" in May 2005. Jack Nash was the property salesman, whom, in the early fifties, was responsible for marketing and sales of the Ballito Bay Township.
Today Jack Nash is a couple of months short of his one-hundredth birthday. He is one of those incredibly knowledgeable characters who know all there is to know about most things but especially about how the village of Ballito started.
It was the good old days, as I close my eyes I can see them trundling, in their big motor vehicles, down the dirt road down to the beach to buy a piece of paradise.
"There was no respite in the afternoon as car after car pulled in front of the little hut to take advantage of the easy terms of purchase. Darkness had fallen and the salesmen continued to sign up deeds of sale on their car bonnets in the glare of headlights.
It was a day I've never forgotten, the 23rd of November 1954, when the weatherman played on our side and helped our salesmen sell a total of seventy-three plots in a single day, a record to be proud of, and the doctor was."
I always loved history, and Jack Nash's book allowed me to travel back in time to the pioneer days of the first settlers in Ballito. It give me an insight into the visionaries who saw a rocky outcrop on the coast and made it into one of the most successful and most sought after property investments in South Africa.
Jack Nash was here right from the beginning and now sixty years later he is sharing his story with us. I have nine copies of his book, which he has asked me to sell for him. The last nine books in the last print run. I have undertaken to sell these books for Jack, not because I want something in return but because I want you to discover the treasures about our Ballito that you might not have know.
The thing about history is that it is required to be passed from generation to generation. Jack Nash's account of the birth of Ballito is one of those nostalgic pieces of history that begs to be passed on. It also makes a wonderful Father's Day gift. So call me and get yours today 084 511 9365.