A school through the ages
The old picture this week takes in Mitchell Primary school in Gladys Manzi (formerly Mitchell) Road in Greyville. It was posted on the Facebook site Grey Street Casbah and Surrounds.
The school dates back to the early 1900s which is likely when this photograph was taken. At the time it was known as Windermere Girls School. The architecture is simple but elegant, making use of wide decorative verandas between classrooms, which protect pupils from the sun and rain.
The school later became Mitchell Girls, then Bechet College and Umlazi Commercial College. Finally it was reopened as a school in 2000 becoming Greyville Primary. The current principal is Dr Mark Jacobs. Today it accommodates 600 pupils and 22 teachers.
The trees at the front of the school have grown substantially over the last 100 years, all but hiding the original building. To get a semblance of what the school looks like today we had to shoot the picture from the front. The entrance to the original school was in Mitchell Road, but today it is in Kohling Street opposite the rear entrance of Independent Newspapers.
The building on the vacant plot in the left of the school is today the old W Daly bottling plant which is currently for sale.