Family Sail for Peru

 Mrs. E. M. Ashe, of 5 Nelson Street, sailed with her two children from Liverpool on Thursday to join her husband at a mining station in Peru. Mrs. Ashe, who is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Saunders, of 49 Well Street, has been resident here since October last, when she returned with her husband from Northern Rhodesia, where he had been working in copper mines. In November Mr. Ashe, who is now employed by the Cerro de Pasco Corporation, went to Oraya, a small camp 12,000 feet up the Peruvian mountains, hoping that his wife and children would soon follow, but the shortage of housing accommodation has delayed their departure for eight months.

For their children, Rosemary, aged seven, and four-year old Robert, travelling is no novelty. While her husband was working in South African gold mines some three years ago Mrs. Ashe took Rosemary and Robert, then 10 months old, across France by rail and on to Cyprus, where her husband’s parents live. After a visit lasting 18 months they joined their father in Northern Rhodesia and lived for some time in the bush, with a crocodile infested river passing the bottom of their garden. After seeing the Victoria Falls by moonlight and going to the top of Table Mountain young Robert got his biggest thrill when he saw a double-deck bus in Cape Town for the first time before they returned to England last year.

On Thursday they sailed on the Reina del Pacifico, making her first voyage after going aground on a Bermuda coral reef. After disembarking at Callao they will journey inland to the camp. which will be their home for the next two years. The children will be able to attend a school in Oraya, but most shopping will mean a trip down to the coast for Mrs. Ashe. Eventually  they hope to return to the Island.

Source: Isle of Wight County Press 10 August 1957

Picture Source: Oraya Railway Station, Peru, from Wikimedia Commons