TBK travels - My home for 11 years in Bahrain, wonderful Awali


View over the oil field from the Water tanks at one end of Awali

Let me introduce you to Awali in Bahrain, my home for 11 years! The town was built around 1935 and extended over the years to accommodate more than 400 families. Originally the inhabitants were mainly expatriate but now more and more Bahraini's have moved in as the old original workforce retired , like me , and hand over to the locals.

The town has everything it needs to keep everyone amused from its own water supply ( from a spring at Zallaq) to shops, a bank, Hair dressing Salon, Restaurants, bars, and a state of the art Bowling Alley. There are two swimming pools, Tennis courts, Badminton, a sand golf course, squash courts, football pitch and running track and a cricket pitch. We also have a hospital, Dentist, physiotherapy and two coffee shops. There is a post office and library and recycling facilities. We even have bus stops, but the bus no longer runs!

There is a church and a new Cathedral, two mosques and a huge park with water features and play areas named after the King's wife- Princess Sabeeka Park.


The Awali Water supply- newly painted

Since 1940 this unique town ( the first in the Middle East with centralised Air conditioning) has been home to thousands of families. Some got married in Awali and gave birth to their Children in the Awali hospital. They then grew up here and hold the place very dear in their hearts. Every few years they have an "Awali Teenagers" reunion , for kids who grew up in Awali, but whose average age is now 75!

I was fortunate enough to volunteer to show people around the Oil and Gas Academy ( the Awali school for the "Teenagers" in 2020 and it was fantastic to hear their stories. My colleague, Steve Lever and the Bapco Archive team made a special video on the history of Awali to celebrate the event ( I have put the link at the end of the blog )

The Awali Teenagers, reunion- 2020

I wrote a blog about Awali in 2015 and had a comment from a guy who said one of the pictures showed his family at the Bapco club in the 1960's and he thanked me for bringing back so many happy memories. Chester has managed to rescue some of that first blog which I add below.