Port Elizabeth of Yore: Blunting the Menace of the Drift Sands

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

A natural feature of Port Elizabeth since time immemorial was a band of drift sands stretching from Gulchways near Schoenmakerskop across the bush to Algoa Bay between Shark River and Bird Road.

To protect the town, in the 1870s it was decided to prevent the sands’ possible movement over the town by planting bushes and trees over the sand dunes. This process took 30 years. Apart from remnants of these dunes, none of this natural feature remains except the sandy soil. The consequences of tampering with nature always results in unintended consequences. In a separate blog I have addressed those negative effects on the ecological system.

This blog has been based upon an excellent article by Ivor Markman which was published in the Herald on Monday 20th July 2009

Main picture: Mule train used to deposit refuse on the drift sands

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Opening of St. George’s Park

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

Many of the visitors to Port Elizabeth in its formative years paint a deeply unflattering picture of the hamlet as being dull and dreary or more depressingly as “a parcel of miserable huts huddled together on the seashore”. By the 1860s that situation was being cast aside by numerous events amongst which was the opening of St. George’s Park and the erection of the majestic Town Hall.  

This blog is based almost exclusively upon an unpublished article by Tennyson S. Bodill on this event entitled Narrative of the Park on the Hill.

Main picture: The Pearson Conservatory in 1888

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: Ford Motor Company

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 4 Comments

Ford had a long association with Port Elizabeth until its relocation to Mamelodi, Pretoria after Ford’s disinvestment from South Africa during 1985. From its humble origins in its first factory located in an ex-woolstore in Grahamstown Road in November 1923, it was subsequently relocated to Harrower Road and then to Neave Township.

Main picture: This was the first factory of Ford Motor Company in Port Elizabeth in Grahamstown Road

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Beach at North End

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 2 Comments

The wide sandy beaches that once spread from the North Jetty, next to the landing beach, and continued all the way past the mouth of the Papenkuils River have long since been destroyed by progress. In this case its nemesis was the dual events being the advent of the railways and the harbour works. In essence, the desecration of this natural wonder was due to two man-made causes. The hinderance in the flow of sand due to the harbour works, resulting in the erosion of the beach, allowed the railways authorities to obtain the right to use these once pristine beaches for the laying of additional railway tracks. This option suited their purposes as it was cheaper than the expropriation of buildings close to the shore on which to lay these tracks.

In old reports the curve of the Bay towards North End is often referred to as the “bight”, an Old English word.

Main picture   North Beach, North End 1927

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: Runaway Tram in Russell Road

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

This incident has long since been forgotten by the residents of Port Elizabeth, yet it is often raised in discussions related to tax matters. In particular it is the term “in the production of income”. It is used extensively in tax law to determine what expenses are allowable as deductions. When doing so, the issue raised in the case of this runaway tram is pondered about.

This is the human story behind that tax case.

Main picture: The scene at the foot of Russell Road when a runaway train collided with the Masonic Hotel

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A Description of Port Elizabeth in 1874

By Dean McCleland in Opinion Pieces, Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

In his book A Descriptive Handbook of the Cape Colony, John Noble provides a description of all the major towns in the Cape Colony in 1874. His narrative about Port Elizabeth itself is glowing. However he concludes by stating that the “country about Port Elizabeth is very uninviting.” Included in the blog are the census figures for 1874 as well as a detailed description of the wool washing process which had by this time become more mechanised.

This is a verbatim transcription from Noble’s tome.

Main picture: View of Port Elizabeth in 1873

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Human Dimension of the 1908 Flood

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

Port Elizabeth was renowned for its severe floods having experienced periodic flooding with the most notable being in 1867 and  1897. Previous river floods had caused little damage in the valley and around the mouth of the Baaken’s Valley as there were no buildings on the flood plain. But this time it
was different. In the period subsequent to the previous floods, the lagoon had been systematically reclaimed and buildings had been injudiciously built on the flood plains. This was to exacerbate the effect of the flood waters.

The moniker for this catastrophe would forever be The Great Flood.

Main picture: Debris accumulated against the main bridge across the Baaken’s River forcing the water down Commerce Road to the Harbour Board building

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The Cussedness of Inanimate Objects: The Case of a Missing TV Remote

By Dean McCleland in Other Miscellaneous Topics 0 Comment

What a strange adage. More like the title of a PhD thesis in Philosophy than a high-falutin term for the seemingly intentional behaviours or happenings with non-sentient objects.

To pass time whilst jogging, runners often engage in inane conversations about the most frivolous topics. It was one such runner, Elbert Loubser, who introduced me to this concept.

Main picture: The remote that flumoxed the Loubser household

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