A different view on current affairs & history
Most visitors to this tea garden / B&B / function venue do not appreciate that fact that portion of the buildings could represent the oldest building in the Port Elizabeth district. This is the untold story of its origin and its future owners.
Main picture: Chelsea Cottage painted by Waldon Arbouin Harries in 1855
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River crossings for the early traveller were always time consuming and sometimes even hazardous if they were dependent upon the tides such as the drift across the Zwartkops was. Perhaps that explains the Divisional Council’s decision to place this crossing on its first to-do list after its establishment.
This covers the trials and tribulations of the history of the Zwartkops River crossing from the use of the drift, to the pont and ultimately the various bridges and ultimately their effect on the ecosystem.
Main picture: The Wylde Bridge across the Swartkops River. This bridge replaced the Rawson Bridge
This quaint hamlet on the banks of the Swartkops River is well-known for yachting. This is the rather modest history of this village.
Main picture: The original red house on the Zwartkops River
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Spare a thought for explorers, adventurers and soldiers of the nineteenth century. Nothing today comes close to their sense of isolation from their family and friends as these intrepid souls departed from their hometowns. It is reasonable to assume that the departing spouse was virtually non-contactable from the moment that they sailed away. One such character was Jacob Glen Cuyler who would arrive in South Africa via an extremely circuitous route. He become an important character and play a prominent role in the settlement of the British Settlers in the Eastern Cape. His assistance to the arriving settlers is commemorated in a street adjacent to Fort Frederick, known as Cuyler Crescent and which becomes Cuyler Street as it heads inland.
Main picture: Captain Jacob Glen Cuyler
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