Nostalgia

Appeasing the deities

Serene seclusion

Solitary splendour

Nuwara Eliya - Hatton road Glories of the morning

Keeping traditions alive

Radella mountains

Dimbulla Athletic and Cricket Club

With a branch of the Kotmale Oya picturesquely gurgling on one side and the Radella mountains standing guard on the other, officially called the Dimbulla Athletic and Cricket Club, the building which resembles an old English country house, secluded and serene, along the Nuwara Eliya - Hatton road, is surely a relic of the British that is certainly not rusting. Established in 1836, the Club is, unarguably one of the finest planters' clubs in the Nuwara Eliya district.

On quiet weekday afternoons amidst the rustle of the bamboo leaves and the murmur of clear spring water, one can almost hear the sound of horses, on the racing course.

These sounds imagined from the past date back to the times of yore when the Radella Race Club used to function with "proper horses' purchased from England, with great success.

The hub of social life for the local planters ever since its inception, old British traditions and customs are still scrupulously followed here. Every other Wednesday is Supper Day, when members from Lindula, Thalawakelle, Kotagala and Nunu Oya take turns to give dinner.

Once considered snobbish, a common quip today is that the Radella Club is more British than the British themselves.

However, it can be forgiven for being a stickler for dress codes and other formalities - for it strives to keep alive a culture that once flourished and which many in the hill country and elsewhere remember with nostalgia.

Aditha