Saturday 24 October 2009

Sandycroft, Penang - Home Movie

This photo shows my dad, Alan, George Holden, Les Sharpe and my pal, Debbie Sharpe. The Sharpes lived very close to us in Jalan Wijaya at Jalan Dato Sulaiman in Century Gardens, Johore Bahru. I remember cracking my head open on one of their metal windows (I still have the scar) but I'll save that story for later! Incidentally, Les has just got in touch with my parents again after 33 years after reading this blog!
This photo was taken at the tennis courts at Sandycroft and I remember the day because I was a bit moody and wouldn't play and me and Alan went off to explore instead. To save any confusion, and I forgot to mention it before, both my dad and brother are called Alan. We used to have a copy of this photo but it disappeared over the years but when my parents met up with George Holden and his wife, Kit, recently, I was able to get a copy. We've loads of photos of Sandycroft and I'll post some more later.
Meanwhile, here's another of my dad's home movies, this time shot at the Leave Centre at Sandycroft in Penang in about 1966.


It starts off on the beach at Tanjong Bungah with me trying to fill the moat of my sandcastle. Everyone will recognise that red bucket, the washing powder used to come in them! Then, there's a shot of us playing football up by the chalets. I think the chalets were on several levels and we were somewhere near the top. The chalets had no toilets, they were at the end, and at one point, my brother stops playing football to go to the block at the end!
The next scene shows us with our large wicker hats, to keep the sun off, heading down towards the boat jetty and then there's a cruise along the river. Looking back, you can see Sandycroft.
After that, we're back in the hire car and heading up to Ayer Itam Temple. There was a small market nearby which is shown in the film.
The shots of the tank and helicopter were taken on another day trip out on the island. I remember sitting in that helicopter and the horse in the film sticking his head through the window. I wasn't too keen! We both ended up on it though!
The final part of the film shows us sat at the station at the bottom of the Penang Hill railway.
The film isn't too clear but hopefully, it'll bring back memories. I've never seen any other home movies of Sandycroft. We've got other films like this which I hope to include soon.

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