Port Elizabeth’s Driftsands and Dune Fields: Nature’s Equilibrium Disturbed

Interfering with Mother Nature might not produce a Newtonian response i.e. an action is followed by an equal and opposite reaction. Rather it generates sometimes arbitrary unintended consequences but responses nevertheless. In the case of Port Elizabeth, there has been interference with nature on a vast scale in the southeast area relating to the driftsands and the dune fields. 

The ultimate consequence of these ill-conceived projects to redirect nature will result in the denuding of all the main beaches in Port Elizabeth, stripping Port Elizabeth of a potential lucrative tourist asset. 

Main picture: Map showing the dune field systems in 1890. Summerstrand and Humewood were just one big sand dune

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Day the Sky Impoded during November 1867

Port Elizabeth periodically experiences floods. Amongst the most devastating was the flood from Tuesday 19th November to Thursday 21st November 1867.  During 11 hours on the Wednesday and Thursday, 161.5 millimetres of rain fell bringing the total for the three days to 225.5 millimetres. While only two lives were lost, damage to roads and houses was estimated to be as much as £30,000. 

Perhaps its effect was exacerbated by the fact that the roads were not tarred and the flood waters gushed down the natural water courses, formally kloofs or streams, causing mayhem. But the most catastrophic effect was the silting up of the harbour. As a consequence, the recently completed breakwater had to be demolished.

Main picture: Rudolph Street, South End after the floods of November 1867

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Birth of South End

South End has experienced a tumultuous past. From devastating floods in 1867 to the destruction of a culturally diverse community through forced removals in terms of the Group Areas Act  in the 1960s, South End has experienced it all. 

The focus of this blog is the early beginnings when the Baakens River isolated South End from Port Elizabeth and its subsequent transformation from a huge farm into a residential area. 

Main picture: Port Elizabeth from an agrarian South End in 1830

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Criminal Justice System

Any criminal justice system, apart from the Wild West, comprises several independent components: the constabulary, the magistracy and the prisons. This chapter deals with all three elements during the early years of the town’s development.

Main picture: Commercial Hall which housed both the Magistrate’s Court and the Police Offices before their relocation. Ultimately this site became the public library.

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Disreputable Side in the Nascent Town

The sea wall from the jetty

Viewed through the sanguine eyes of nostalgia, Port Elizabeth in its formative years is naively seen as idyllic. This is not altogether true. Port Elizabeth not only exemplified a “frontier town” with all its attendant travails but it also bore the undesirable hallmarks of a busy, under-policed port. 

This blog exposes the seamy, sleazy underbelly of that era. 

Main picture: The sea wall from the north jetty in 1885. Beyond it was the Strand Street, the den of iniquity

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McWilliams of Rink Street

Written by Lynette McWilliams, daughter of Walter and Hazel McWilliam

It was in April 1949, five months before my fifth birthday when the family of four travelled from Port Elizabeth to seaside town of Hermanus, 350 miles west of Port Elizabeth and 50 miles miles east of Cape Town.  This journey was life changing, changing our lives in just about every way possible. The consequence; a credit to two wonderful people.

Main picture: Hazel and Walter McWilliams

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: Fischer’s Jewellers

Not only does Fischer’s Jewellers embody the essence of Port Elizabeth but also for many of its citizens, especially in prior generations, Fischer’s was their preferred choice for jewellery. Also, the building is one of the remaining structure built in the Art Nouveau style.

Apart from this obvious connection, my grandmother had another, more obtuse connection, to this iconic store. 

Main picture: One of the very earliest photos of the newly opened Fischer & Co building in Main Street circa 1914

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