I had excelled at sport and academics at primary school and my Dad who had not had the opportunity to attend a fancy school but who had dome well in his career, was keen to send his kids to private schools. My sister went to St Annes and my brother and I were fortunate to attend Hilton College. As a Mommy’s boy, I found the first few months at boarding school tough and was often homesick but sport allowed me to see my folks on weekends and my batting ability gave me some respect amongst my peers. I have a few fond memories of some of my teachers but generally I felt a bit below par on the academic front. In hindsight I realised I was a small fish in a big pond and might have excelled more at my local High School as a big fish in a small pond.
The access to opportunities at Hilton were unbelievable. The best sporting facilities, food for days (Our Chef introduced a self catering system), a modern library (in 1982 we even had one Wang desktop in the basement of the library for the whole school), the Enterprise Club (where I spent 5 days hiking on the Wild Coast, 3 in a tropical rain storm), Sunday walks on the incredible Estate. I just wonder if i truly appreciated this gift.
My best memory was being a part of the First XI cricket team in 1986 that lost just one game the whole season. We set a school record of 5 wins in a row and there were two young men who went on to play for SA Schools, Rowan Varner (1986) and Deryk Crookes (1988). There were several others who played provincial schools. O what a joy.
FROM HILTON TO HILLBROW 