Gillian Hirche was born in Worcester, at The Pines Hospital, now a psychiatric facility. More than five decades later she has returned to her home town, filled with memories of a place that shaped her formative years, but has since changed almost beyond recognition.
Hirche’s journey began at Worcester Girls’ High School, now Worcester Gymnasium. “As I entered Worcester I couldn’t recognise the building,” she said. “But I recognised where the library was, the building opposite the Standard & Breederivier Gazette office. This is where I learnt to type manually.”
The connection runs deep, as the house where the newspaper office now stands was once her home. “Number 114 High Street was our address,” Hirche reminisced. “My father, George Hirche, was the managing director of the Worcester Standard Electoral Press, as it was called back in the day. Every day after school I would sit on the big stoep, where Boland Skryfbehoeftes is now, and do my homework while watching the workmen sit in a row and fold newspapers as it rolled out of the machines on a Friday.”
In 1969, seeking adventure, she left South Africa to pursue a career as a flight attendant with Delta Air Lines in America. “America didn’t agree with me,” she said, “so I migrated to Australia in 1995 and was hired as a Qantas flight attendant. This was all I wanted to do.”
Now, after more than 50 years away, Hirche returned to Worcester, where nostalgia greeted her at every corner. “This office was our house; I hardly recognise it but I do remember it was very cold inside, and there was a room here where my dad would develop photographs.”
Of all her global adventures her return is not about seeking out old connections, as most of her family has died. It is a personal journey to close a chapter.
“When I left I wanted to see the world and live on tropical islands. Now all is done I have no desire for that anymore.”
As she stepped onto the premises, with all its memories, she had to make a hasty retreat to the bathroom. So overcome was she by it all.
For Hirche, this return to Worcester was clearly more than a visit; it was a walk down memory lane, reconnecting with the past and finding peace in a place that, while different, still held echoes of her early years.
