Varosha, Cyprus- The Untouched Hotel (The Golden Sands) Part 2- The Stories behind the Storeys.
Readers mail…..
From Oz Orman….
Thank you for featuring my first video, which has been warmly received. My channel, supported by my research team (Morton Park F.C.) is not for monetised purposes. It allows our group to learn new I.C.T. skills, research things of interest, and communicate with different organisations.
The first Golden Sands video I put together was so successful in terms of viewing figures, that a Turkish YouTuber, took it, plagiarised it, and passed it off as his own to earn money. YouTube is a free for all, you play the game, sampling other people’s content and I get it, but to make out it was his work left a bitter taste in my mouth. There is nothing I can do about it, a valuable lesson learnt and no doubt he’ll claim the next Golden Sands video too.
We move on….
The next Golden Sands video came about after I received more information after I had posted the first video. This is always the way and organisations in Cyprus were helpful and supportive. I came across documents and information I could use for a follow up video regarding the people linked to the hotel. There was also a few visits to the National Archives in Kew, London, which has a wealth of information and slowly, but surely I was able to put together ‘The stories behind the storeys.’
It was all very interesting and thought provoking trying to track down people like Toastmaster, Bryn Williams, who was a good friend of Lord Forte and was one of the main organisers at the inauguration of the hotel in May 1974. I uncovered a photo of Bryn at the event and spent an age trying to identify who he was. He wrote a book about his life as a Toastmaster, but sadly passed away in France in 2018.
Then there was the footballer, David Hay. I did contact Celtic F.C. in Glasgow but never heard anything back. Apparently, he still works in their pools department at the club. He was staying at the Golden Sands during the summer of 1974.
Finally, there was Hermann Jakob Dorner, the General Manager of the time. He wrote a book about his experiences running hotels for Trusthouse Forte around the world. The chapter about the Golden Sands features prominently in his book and I was glad to put a picture of the man to the name. The last known whereabouts of Dorner was in Lausanne, Switzerland, but that was back in 2010.
My team and I then had to condense the information to make it all link together, never an easy task. We could’ve mentioned more, but that is for another time. I hope you and your readers find the video of interest. I see more parts of Varosha are opening up, especially along the beach. I do have it on good authority that the Golden Sands is owned by the British Royal Family and will not be open anytime soon, but you never know!
Keep up the good work!
With regards
Oz Orman
Editors note: To read more and see the first Golden Sands Hotel video please click here
