NOSTALGIA….Wismar/Christianburg/Upper Demerara River – updated
by Peter Halder
Introduction
Christianburg was my home from 1957-1960. The time I spent there is still etched in my memory. It was an unenviable and unforgettable experience of what living in a mining area was like, especially when everybody knew everybody, and the males greatly outnumbered the females.
Christianburg was part and parcel of the Wismar-Christianburg- Silvertown- Silvercity- Wismar Hill area on the left bank of the Demerara River, opposite the then booming bauxite mining town of Mackenzie, now Linden. It was the District Administration centre for the Upper Demerara River District that extended from Kamuni Creek opposite and Princess Caroline adjacent to Atkinson Field, now Cheddi Jagan International Airport, southwards to Cannister Falls and the border with Brazil. An estimated 30,000 people lived in the Mackenzie -Wismar-Christianburg-Silvertown-Silvercity-Wismar Hill area. [Read more]
Comments
Noted with gratitude. Sawak Sarju.
Date: Fri, 5 Jul 2013 05:31:32 +0000 To: studentforlife2011@hotmail.com
Dearest Mr.Halder,
I am sitting in my back yard here in Dallas Texas, reading your article and, I enjoyed every bit of it.Thanks for making mention of my dad, the coxswain Mr. Vivian McCalman.As a little girl, I have lots of pleasant memories of the Rita C.I was on that boat too. Thanks for letting me know how the boat got her name.
I am reliving your description of the government compound where we lived and who our neighbors were.Thanks for taking me back to my roots.
Vaniemac