Eldoret - He told how he and his wife arrived in Kenya on the last day of 1920 and came up to Eldoret on the 1st January 1925 in their Model T Ford from Nairobi. Quite a journey; they took a whole day to go to Nakuru and another day to Eldoret. The road down the Escarpment was very dangerous with boulders and rocks all over the place. They were scared stiff of going too fast and used the brakes so much that they were often red hot. When the brakes wore out, he used reverse gear which was possible on that model! They had heard of people who had gone over the edge of the Escarpment. At the bottom a stream flowed across the road - splash point! Many picnicked under the lovely thorn trees there. Every few miles there were notices put up by the AA "Water for thirsty cars" where springs were found to fill up. At Eldoret, above the Pioneer Hotel was a mass of zebra and they broke down any wire fences put up. The DC, Mr Schofield, gave two shillings for every zebra tail handed in. People came with handfuls. The vultures and hyenas could not cope with the carcasses and the place stank. The Church was also the Magistrate's Court and there was a curtain across the bow front where the altar stood which would be drawn aside for Church services. A station was built but there was no railway line. It has been reported that the Governor opened the station but others say General Botha did so as he was in the country at the time. There was no glass in the windows of Gailey and Roberts' building, only chicken wire. There was a Post Office, Eddie's Bar, Mundell & Godfrey and a butcher's shop which opened once a week; most people shot their own meat. Indian fundis built the houses. Mr Beard did a great deal for the Scout Movement in Eldoret and has been a particularly good public spirited citizen of whom Eldoret is proud.

Red 31 - c/o Kenya Motors, Nairobi

Eldoret cemetery Rachel Annie Beard / beloved wife of / J E Woolston-Beard / 28-1-1885 to 14.6.1947