Clippings
The Doors of Township Cricket Are Open Now
All the boys want to be Temba
Breakfast on Three Continents
John Young heads to Greyton and finds a cosmopolitan morning cuisine
Play Up, Play Up and Win the War
Exactly a hundred years ago, England and South Africa were battling it out for real. And as John Young shows, the Boer War had a surprising amount to do with cricket
Business
A rollicking time at Big Time Taverna
There’s really no way of getting consolation for missing out on a game of golf on one of South Africa’s finest courses. Even when no-one else on the sub-continent is playing. I was in St Francis Bay hoping to play St Francis Links on the weekend that snow was seen on Table Mountain and coastal
Turning green into gold
Denmark has found a way to grow its economy and reduce energy consumption. The House of Green in central Copenhagen is a sophisticated, high-tech, showcase of Denmark’s green economy. At the touch of a button you can call up any number of statistics to do with energy use and water wastage – and quickly show
Experience in icy Greenland pays off in sunny Uganda.
Solar-powering up a community for improved living conditions – and profit. When the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) realised that the forests on the shores of Lake George in the southern Ugandan district of Kasese were being depleted by villagers in search of wood to burn, they turned to a Danish think-tank to help
The Green Economy
Turning green into gold
Denmark has found a way to grow its economy and reduce energy consumption. The House of Green in central Copenhagen is a sophisticated, high-tech, showcase of Denmark’s green economy. At the touch of a button you can call up any number of statistics to do with energy use and water wastage – and quickly show
Water solutions are available
The De Rust WaterWise Ways project is showing the way. This article first appeared in Western Cape Business 2020 Edition A pilot project in the small rural town of De Rust has shown that a constructed wetland system and wastewater reuse can improve the health of a catchment system and convert wastewater into a useful resource.
Experience in icy Greenland pays off in sunny Uganda.
Solar-powering up a community for improved living conditions – and profit. When the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) realised that the forests on the shores of Lake George in the southern Ugandan district of Kasese were being depleted by villagers in search of wood to burn, they turned to a Danish think-tank to help
History
Italian town is still saying ‘dankie’ to SA
A town high in the mountains between Florence and Bologna has not forgotten how South African soldiers saved its citizens from murderous Gestapo troops. First published in Business Day, 21 September 2017. South Africans get a special welcome in Castiglione dei Pepoli, a town high in the Apennine mountains half-way between Bologna and Florence. There
In search of CLR
First published in Wisden Cricket Monthly, May 2015. There is a C.L.R. James Institute in New York and a library in the London borough of Hackney but it’s hard to find signs of the author of cricket’s greatest book in his home town. John Young searched high and low. “Tunapuna at the beginning of this
Enjoying lunch in Mandela
John Young meanders through Mandela and finds somewhere closed for lunch. This article first appeared in The Weekender, 23-24 August 2008. In this Mandela birthday month, it occurs to me that many people have had lunch with Mandela, many more have had lunch for Mandela (at fundraisers for his charities) and there has even been
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Gogga, one of the best spinners of all time
First published in Cape Argus, 15 March 2002. John Young on South Africa’s test spinner. Denys Hobson must have been smiling at Paul Adams’s return to test cricket last weekend. Soon after the Proteas returned from the West Indies, with Adams again having been relegated to drinks carrier for most of the tour, the wrist
The perfect picnic at Lord’s
John Young explores the social ‘season’ of London’s cricket crowds. This article first appeared in The Weekender, 2008. There is a small patch of grass in west London that on one day of the year assumes an importance vastly disproportionate to its size. This is the Coronation Garden in the Lord’s cricket ground. On the
Langa’s kids and their hockey ‘bats’
The Cape Town township has become a centre of excellence for producing players, signally hope for the next Olympics. First published in Mail & Guardian, 14 October 2016. “There is no reason why Langa canʼt have five players in the Olympic team in the next decade.” So says Langa Hockey Club coach John McInroy, but
Travel
The perfect picnic at Lord’s
John Young explores the social ‘season’ of London’s cricket crowds. This article first appeared in The Weekender, 2008. There is a small patch of grass in west London that on one day of the year assumes an importance vastly disproportionate to its size. This is the Coronation Garden in the Lord’s cricket ground. On the
A rollicking time at Big Time Taverna
There’s really no way of getting consolation for missing out on a game of golf on one of South Africa’s finest courses. Even when no-one else on the sub-continent is playing. I was in St Francis Bay hoping to play St Francis Links on the weekend that snow was seen on Table Mountain and coastal
It’s all about the chair
John Young discovered in Copenhagen earlier this year that although Danes appreciate good design of all kinds, they can’t stop loving the chair. First published in Sunday Times, 17 August 2014. Denmark has a well-deserved reputation as the home of seriously good design. Modern Danish architects such as Bjarke Ingels have earned high praise for
