Dean McCleland, Author at The Casual Observer

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The History of the Van Stadens Area

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 11 April 2020 0 Comment

The river was named after Marthinus van Staden, one of the area’s pioneering farmers. He was also among the first to plot a rudimentary track through the valley. It is through the steep, winding gorge for which this River is renowned.

The Van Stadens River rises in the Elandsberge and cuts through the Van Stadens Berg. Just east of the river on the N2 one may see rounded, marine gravels, dating back 30 million years BP, [Before the Present] resting on Table Mountain quartzite.

Main picture: The Witteklip Rock which served as a scratching post for elephants and later used for a more mundane purpose as an outspan for wary travellers

Port Elizabeth of Yore: From Temporary Jetty to Focal Point – The North Jetty

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 5 April 2020 0 Comment

The erection of the North Jetty was the second attempt at constructing a jetty in Algoa Bay. The first one had been unceremoniously destroyed in a ferocious gale on the 26th August 1843 when three ships were driven through it. Until the construction of the South and the Dom Pedro jetties almost 30 years later, this small extemporised jetty would serve as the focal point of the harbour.

As it turned out, this temporary jetty would fulfil the starring role as the main jetty until the Charl Malan Quay was built, some 63 years later.

Main picture: An early view of the North Jetty probably from the 1870s

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Moorings instead of a Harbour

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 4 April 2020 0 Comment

As Jon Inggs acknowledges in his enlightening thesis on the development of the harbour until 1870, “Nothing was done to improve landing facilities at Algoa Bay before 1820 apart from setting up a flagpost on the landing beach with the dual role of marker and signal as to whether it was safe to land or not”.

What would be done, if anything, over the first decade from 1820 to 1830 in order to improve matters for shipping in Algoa Bay?

Main picture: Port Elizabeth from the shipping in 1850 by HWHC Piers [NMM Art Museum]

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Grandiose 1905 Harbour Scheme That Never Was

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 3 April 2020 0 Comment

At the turn of the 20^th century, Port Elizabeth still did not possess a harbour. For fifty years no progress had been made in spite of a barrage of requests. In 1905 the Cape Government submitted three proposals to a commission of engineers in London to adjudicate them. The commission recommended the submission by Coode, Son and Matthew but would this proposal be the plan to eventually be executed?

Main picture: Proposed new dock at Port Elizabeth with the outer wharf at North End

Port Elizabeth of Yore: When the Swartkops River almost became a Port

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 2 April 2020 1 Comment

Far be it for me to impugn the motives of the Port Elizabeth Harbour Board for requesting an eminent harbour engineer, Mr. C.W. Methven, to report on the practicability of building a harbour at the mouth of the Swartkops River. Accordingly I will not speculate as to their rationale but rather assume that the issue regarding silting would forever bedevil the construction of a breakwater at or in close proximity to the existing jetties and landing beaches.

Main picture: 1862 map of the Swartkops River

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Second attempt at Construction of the Breakwater

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 1 April 2020 0 Comment

Despite a breakwater being a critical component of a harbour, Port Elizabeth was deprived of one until the 1920s. That consigned the unloading of the ships to be performed in the roadstead, an archaic practice, long since abandoned by other ports.

The initial attempt at building a breakwater in 1856 was disastrous as it became unusable due to silting after the flood in 1867. It would be fifty years before another attempt would be made to construct the breakwater.

Main picture: Breakwater with the Charl Malan Quay still under construction

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Effect of Spanish Flu

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 30 March 2020 0 Comment

In the midst of the Coronavirus epidemic ravaging the world, South Africa will have to brace itself
for a tsunami of dead bodies. Given crowding in the townships and on the public transport, social distancing is impractical. The last time that South Africa experienced such a pandemic was in 1918 which resulted in at least an estimated 500 000 deaths.

How did this pandemic affect Port Elizabeth? And what lessons can be learnt?

Main picture: Mouth of the Shark River in Humewood with Lazaretto Contagious Diseases Hospital

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The OK Bazaars in Main Street

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 17 March 2020 2 Comments

Amongst the many iconic buildings in Main Street during the mid-1980s was this building. Originally built in 1937, it underwent a major upgrade in the 1950s and a minor one in the 1960s.

Main picture: OK Bazaars building in 1938

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Paris Maru Disaster-When Humanity confronts Bigotry

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 15 February 2020 2 Comments

That evening, Monday 15^th January 1934, was not going to be a good one for the ship from Osaka, Japan en route to Cape Town. An angry south-easter was gusting as this steamer left the protection of the recently completed Charl Malan Quay at 19:00. Unlike the days of the sailing ships, when the wind from this direction could be a death sentence for ships at anchor in the bay, the conversion to steam had long since tamed that menace. After exiting the harbour and entering the choppy waters of the Bay, the ship veered to starboard and headed for Cape Recife to meet its fate.

That day would also not be a good day for the newly-arrived destitute Jews from Nazi Germany. In effect the call by the Grey Shirts in the Feathermarket Hall to block the emigration of Jews to the Union, would constitute a death sentence to Jews trapped within the warped bigoted anti-Semitic world of Nazi Germany. But how would the stranded Japanese sailors fare in a race addled country far from home?

Main picture: The swansong of the Japanese merchantman, The Paris Maru

The Swansong of the Quo Vadis Hiking Club: 1988-2020 RIP

By Dean McCleland in Hiking 14 February 2020 0 Comment

While the hiking function of Quo Vadis might have terminated with a whimper, the game viewing segment of our “hike” bore testimony to both Malcolm’s generosity as well as the capacity of a certain contingent to once again drink themselves into a stupor. For them, the wealth of game was a distraction.

But as Julie Andrews would sing in the Sound of Music, “Let’s start at the very beginning”.

Main picture: Malcolm’s shack in the Olifant’s North Game Reserve

The Opinion Pieces are an eclectic bunch on current affairs & history often with a human interest aspect. The Movie/DVDs reviews are mainly on documentaries with a smattering of movie reviews.

Author: Dean McCleland