I was born at the DDMA Nursing Home, Darjeeling in 1949. At that time my father Peter Pyke was Managing Tumsong Tea Estate.
My father came out to India before WW2 and started his career in tea working for a Mr Johnston in Cedars Tea Estate. Years later Mr Johnston’s son, Jeffrey, was brutally murdered at his Estate Rungmook which is just above Cedars TE.
My father saw service in Burma during the war and he joined Tumsong after the war. My father managed Pussimbeng and Teesta Valley Tea Estates before being promoted to Davenport Head Office in Calcutta.
He retired in 1963 and returned to the UK.
I have very happy memories of life in the Tea Estate. |