Refer to our website www.teal.co.nz/teal about how we got our name.
We received the following email from the UK today and wondered if anyone can assist by identifying the photo?
"I found this photo in a junk shop in Brighton (UK). It appears to feature a Short Solent landing somewhere exotic. Any idea where it might be? The rectangular pool seems a curious feature".
UPDATE 1
We received an email suggesting that the location is Lake Nyasa taken from Cape Maclear Hotel towards Elephant Island.
"This seems to be likely; however I am unable to confirm this. Lake Nyasa was used by the Imperial Airways to land their flying boat service on the Johannesburg to Southampton route. Apparently there was a hotel built there to service passengers etc, but fell into a state of disrepair years later."
UPDATE 2
We have received a further email that appears to have cleared this exotic mystery:
"The picture was taken in Cape Maclear, probably from the old Golden Sands Hotel owned by Mrs Wynne-Jones who used to sleep with 3 or 4 civet cats on her four poster, there is no sign of the hotel,or the pool or the Madam for that matter. What appears to be hills in the background are islands on the left Tumbi (east) and on the right Domwe Island in the distance you can just make out a faint blotch on the horizon above the tail of the solent that is Zimbawe Rock which used to have a light tower.
As far as I know the service was not viable as Cape Maclear is 18km from a main road which in those days could take hours, and there was not much going on in those days for another 70km. Tourism in the area had not even really begun.
UPDATE 3
We have received yet another email that appears to be the definitive answer to our original post query
"Should like to correct some of the statements in update 2.
This photo was almost definitely taken from the original Cape Maclear Hotel, overlooking the swimming-pool (in which one of my school-friends remembers bathing as a young girl!). The date must be either 1950 or 51 as the service to Nyasaland only lasted 2 years.
The hotel was dismantled in the early 50s and moved around the lakeshore to Senga Bay, being reborn as the present day 'Livingstonia Beach'. Mrs Wynne-Jones (the mother of another school-friend!) owned and ran the 'Glengarry Hotel', which was further round the bay, and only opened in the late 1950s. When she sold it in 1970, it was renamed 'Golden Sands'.
I believe that's Elephant Island (now Thumbi) on the left, but think it's the western arm of Cape Maclear on the right. There is still a light tower on Zimbawe rock (photo below) I'm also attaching a photo from Flight magazine (poor quality unfortunately) showing a Solent taxiing past Elephant Island - I believe the shape of the hill confirms that your photo was taken at the same place.
Thanks for keeping memories of TEAL alive. As a five-year-old I flew from Sydney to Auckland on one of their Solents, before my family moved to Malawi (Nyasaland)!
Best wishes, Tony Richardson"
Solent taxiing past Elephant Island
Light tower on Zimbawe Rock
