Henry Hyde
Written by Hugh Solomon, trainee on G8 July 1970
Henry Hyde was very involved with the Greystone course over many years, and so too was his wife Jo. As a local businessman in Estcourt he published a weekly newspaper which I think was called the Estcourt Gazette and had a retail stationery store in the town. Henry and Jo had four children, Edward, Catherine, Elizabeth and Charles. Henry gave of his time to Veld and Vlei generously and served as warden several times. He and Jo emigrated to Australia, and the children are now scattered around the globe.
G22 December 1976: Back row Darryl Friedman, Trevor Dugmore, Dick Lavers, Chris Davies, Kim Becker, Clive Truter.
Middle row: Iain Kelman, Geoff Ward, Dave Carr, Jo Hyde, Henry Hyde.
Front row: Hugh Solomon, Mark Bischoff, Robbie Bidgood, Theo van der Walt.
I got to know the Hyde family better when I volunteered my services at the G13 December 1972 course to manage the kitchen and food side of things. I thought that my training as an army chef would equip me adequately for the task. It didn’t really, but fortunately I had Jo Hyde in the wings, bringing her much better and broader experience at Veld and Vlei to the fore. An unsung hero was Isaac, the cook (see photo below). I recall that he was employed as a cook at a school boarding-hostel on the Natal south coast, and was available over the holidays to work at Veld and Vlei. He knew his job backwards, and I was grateful to let him take full charge of the cooking operations.
Isaac the cook at Veld and Vlei, Greystone, Estcourt
Year unknown, mid 1970s
Back row: Jan, Jonathan Harley, Trevor Mundy, __ , Neil Dummer, Rob Benion
Front row: Murray Robertson, Henry Hyde, Alan Webster, Ian Watson, Geoff Ward, Hugh Solomon
Murray Robertson, above photo, is the son of John Robertson who was the headmaster of Treverton College in Mooi River, Natal. Over the years a strong link was to emerge between Treverton College and Veld and Vlei, Greystone. From 1974 onwards the standard 9 class of each year attended a course.
The following photos were taken on G13 December 1972
Veld and Vlei Estcourt 