My father used to own

a Borgward, the barely remembered German car, which once was as popular and reliable as Volkswagen and Mercedes, but went bankrupt at the beginning of the 60's.
There is a Borgward street in Windhoek, in Khomasdal, which I had never bothered to drive down until this weekend. Intriguingly, it still looks like a street from the 50's - old houses and bars straddling an overgrown riverbed. Do any of the residents have any idea why their street was so named? Did the planner who laid out the township possess one? There is also an Edsel street, a Dodge street and a Rolls-Royce street, showing how these long dead marques once were the best known names in motoring.

A FORLORN SIGHT

just down the road from us, the former town residence of the List family, the Rockefellers of Namibia; but more than the Rockefeller's, since their company Ohlhaver and List, was involved with every industry from brewing to holiday resorts to fishing. Mr. List died in 2002, and the whole area was blocked by the President's convoy coming to the house to pay their respects. Then Mrs. List went to live with her daughter, and the house now stands empty and for sale. We went around to have a look - we expected a majestic mansion, from which we always averted our eyes in respect when driving past : instead we found a sad little 1950's house, with overgrown grounds, pathetically old-fashioned, useful only for knocking down and turning ino another cluster devopment. Everything on a small scale, except of course for the asking price.

So has the O&L empire declined - now in the hands of the bean-counters - its flagship hotel in Swakopmund has become a fast fish eatery, the historic brwery closed, and the once glorious Midgard a shadow of its former self, with weeds and cracked swimming pools: once hosting legendary sunday buffets, but now offering uneatable food prepared by catering students of the local Polytechnic !