The choice of Darrawella Club as my first blog entry was not an entirely difficult choice. With relatively limited visits to tea plantations during the course of growing up (most of my childhood holidays were spent on the East coast), the Darrawella Club is perhaps the only planters’ club that I had more than fleeting visits to and of which I have very fond memories.

My cousin Johnny Roelofsz was a tea planter with James Finlay’s, albeit briefly, before departing to take charge of the family coconut plantation in Lunuwila. I used to tag along with Johnny on occasions when he used to visit his old tea planting buddies. Most often than not it was to Charlie Ramanaden’s who was at Mousakelle Estate in Maskeliya, and for the majority of my visits, to Kirkoswald Estate in Bogawantalawa where Charlie was present for a considerable period of time.

Charlie was stylish and cultured and a gentleman to his finger tips. He exemplified an era when the plantation industry attracted only the finest. If I recall correctly, Charlie was also one of the very few University graduates in the plantation circles. All my visits to the Darrawella Club in the late 1970s and early 80s were as a guest of Charlie, and I looked forward to each visit with great anticipation.

For one, as a teenage ‘drivaholic’, I was guaranteed the controls of Charlie’s Daihatsu 4WD from the bungalow to the club and back (though driving back was ‘conditional’ in every sense of the word)! Remarkably, I cannot even recall a single word of caution emanating from Charlie as I, with ambition exceeding skill, flew around the pot-holed riddled, precarious narrow and winding estate roads! The consequences of even the tiniest of miscalculations on these roads were dire to say the least! I would not be able to elicit even half that control and confidence to a 17-year old simply backing out of my driveway! Charlie was the ultimate confidence builder.

At the Club, there was tennis and badminton, which was always a joy sans the heat and humidity of Colombo, and ofcourse the billiards and snooker. And in due course, the bar was also added to the list of attractions! It was a sort of total package that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Having migrated to Australia myself in the early 80s, I nevertheless frequently added Darrawella to my itinerary on the numerous trips I made back to Sri Lanka over the ensuing two decades. In fact, it was with mixed emotions that I recently spotted an entry in the visitors’ book of my visit to the Club in August of 1995. I was the guest of Charlie and it was the last time I saw him. Barely six-months later, Charlie suffered a massive heart attack while playing tennis at Darrawella Club and passed away.

Returning to Sri Lanka in early 2000, I undertook a project to write about the history of Ceylon tea and cricket, and naturally, Darrawella Club (and Radella Club) featured prominently. Researching material for the article caused me to view the Darrawella Club in a manner that I had not contemplated before. I found it a fascinating exercise, not the least due to my interest in sport, particularly cricket and rugby union.

To have thus been associated with the project to digitise the rich memorabilia resources of the Darrawella Club, and to create a dedicated section for it on the History of Ceylon Tea website, has been a great source of satisfaction. I am sure many of you would take great delight in perusing through the reproduced collection of photos that are displayed on the walls of the Club to this day. I’m also certain that the fascinating visitors’ book and the Club minutes will be very well received by you. Unfortunately, some of these pages are not entirely legible, but that was beyond our control.

I would welcome any comments, tales and anecdotes about experiences at the Darrawella Club which you may wish to share with us so please do write in.

David Colin-Thomé
Editor

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