Little England... Nuwara Eliya

Being an avid tapophile I walk the cemetery to find three 2nd World War Commonwealth graves. They are of Royal Navy and Air Force personnel from 1942 to 45.

It’s our fourth stay at the hundred and fifty year old tea estate bungalow. We like to be just out of Nuwara Eliya in the hills of Sri Lanka.  On the first day we walk a section of the Pekoe trail, stage 22, well worth the three and half hours, though we have a bit of rain. The views are stunning as the route signage is very clear. 

It’s well worth checking out this amazing 300 kilometre walking route across Sri Lanka. We are all starving so we drop into the Grand Hotel for an excellent Thai meal, my favourite restaurant in the town.

Nuwara Eliya in its hey day is where the British would rush up to avoid the heat of Colombo, play golf and unwind at the Hill Club. They would wallow in the glorious Empire days, drinking their gin. Wind forward approximately ninty years,  this “little bit of England” is sadly a bit shabby and  losing its charm. The skyline has become blotted by concrete monsters. The quaintness is fading from my first visit, twenty five years ago .

On to Lake Gregory, a stretch of water of some 225 acres surrounded by grand houses and mountains as the backcloth. Boats and jet-skis are pounding up and down and the area is full of local tourists. We are charged 200 rupees per foreigner and 50 rupees for locals but we don’t care and did part of the walk. 

A must visit for me is the Holy Trinity church built over 150 years ago.  The inner church remains from its early times. Two stainglass windows celebrate two visits from Queen Elizabeth of England as well as many other wall plaques commemorating the British who had lived in the area, some having died for their country over two world wars. Each plaque tells just a little of a big story. It would be so interesting to know more  details. We meet an aging lady from New Zealand who was born locally and is chatting with the vicar whilst  they search for her parents' wedding registry and burial place of others. I ask the caretaker, whose telephone number happens to be on the church gate, if there are any war graves here and he says no. Being an avid tapophile I walk the cemetery to find three 2nd World War Commonwealth graves. They are of Royal Navy and Air Force personnel from 1942 to 45.

Railway stations in this part of Sri Lanka can be real gems to visit if maintained well. So much disappointment on the railway station at Nanu Oya, which services Nuwara Eliya. It is a big let down. A long platform full of foreign visitors but with few seats, is dirty and has no link to the colonial era. 

My favourite drop in place at night is St Andrews bar, a warm fire and catch up with good friends.

We have been many times for events at Hill Club. Formed  in 1867 as a billiard room and bar but then a planters' hotel which has had many transitions, the current building dating in part from the 1930s. Women  were only allowed into the club from 1967, but via a separate entrance. 

As we enter a smiling man comes to greet us. 

“I’m Tom Croos, welcome to the Hill Club“. A tour of the place ensures our friends have an appreciation for its history. This old colonial property with staff that have an amazing “can do attitude“ is a pleasure to visit.

On to Victoria park, said to have 34 things of interest to see and do inside, but you will have to look hard. It takes us about 30 minutes to walk the park, I’m sure it was immaculate in its good years. There are a wide selection of trees some with plaques.  There are no statues  which is unusual in a country that  has an abundance of statues. It starts to rain and we cross the road to the old post office, a solid red building. The sign implies you can have your photo taken and the staff will print it as a stamp and you can have it posted to loved ones, it even allows a group of us on one stamp. Fantastic. The bad news is the staff member can’t do it for two hours. The government has stated the property will be leased to the Taj group. 

Off to the Golf Club,  reputed to date from 1889. The place is deadly quiet. The noticeable thing is that there are signs everywhere stating ”no entry for non members”  or “no ladies allowed“ but somehow today it doesn’t apply and we are well looked after.

The annual horse racing events take place in April. At such an event, Jezzebel,  whist talking to a group of horse owners, not that she knew who or what they did, was heard loudly saying, “in Australia we would call these ponies not horses.”

Needless to say that was the last invite we ever received for the April race week in Nuwara Eliya. Her previous claim to fame was winning the best hat competition at the races. On stepping on to the podium to receive a free airline ticket, she said to the CEO of the airline “ I hope it’s business class, I don’t travel economy.” 

So as we come to the last night of our short stay in Nuwara Eliya, we drop into a newish place, The Sackville which sits amongst the clouds and we have our goodbye drinks.