And so it came to pass on 3 November 2020 that the Orange Jesus was hung out to dry. First Georgia, then Arizona denied him his divine right to rule until Jesus comes. All the while King Biden and Pontius Harris lorded it over him. He was cross and he couldn’t bear it. He had been beaten by a barely sentient Zimmer frame. He did however have his faithful dogs, the only ones allowed into his House, Rudi Giuliani and Sidney Powell, to fight for him amidst his deniers and enemies.
Continue readingPort Elizabeth of Yore: St Croix as an Isolation “Hospital”
In his book, East to the Isles, Colin Urquhart, details the history of the islands in Algoa Bay. Amongst the numerous stories of death, destruction, progress, and growth, Urquhart narrates the saga of the Canadian brig, RLT of 444 tons en route from Mauritius to Europe. This event commenced on the 23rd of December 1891 when the RLT’s master, Captain W Thompson, informed the Harbour Master, Captain Young that he suspected that 10 passengers and crew were infected with smallpox.
To say that the town erupted in consternation would be an understatement.
Main picture: St. Croix Island seen from the nearest landfall at Hougham Park, just east of the Coega harbour development.
Continue readingPort Elizabeth of Yore: The Wreck of the Lyngenfjord
The Gale of 1902 in which a dozen ships were driven onto North End beach and wrecked, would be the last such mass destruction of vessels in a gale. The conversion from sailing vessels to steam powered ships was driven by productivity considerations but as an ancillary benefit, they would eradicate weather-related disasters. The Lyngenfjord was one of the sparse diet of wrecks over the next century.
Main picture: The Lyngenfjord taken by George Wood. Tins of petrol had just offloaded onto the cliff edge when the disaster occurred.
Continue readingPort Elizabeth of Yore: A Lighter Meets its End at Chelsea Point
Prior to the opening of the first quay, the Charl Malan, in 1933, most freight was unloaded from a cargo ship in the roadstead onto a lighter which would transport the cargo to one of the jetties protruding into the Bay. As North Jetty was used predominantly to offload passengers from tugs & lighters, the jetties that were used to offload cargo were the South and the Dom Pedro Jetties. There the cargo was again manhandled being offloaded from the lighter onto the jetty from which it was loaded onto a train as the age of the truck had not yet arrived.
Main picture: Lighter aground at Chelsea Point
Continue readingPort Elizabeth of Yore: Mount Pleasant & its First School
With few exceptions, most whites at the turn of the 20th century received a minimal education especially if they lived in outlying areas such as Draaifontein / De Stades area which both of my grandparents did. Most residents of Port Elizabeth assume that as both the Grey Institute and Collegiate Girls’ School had been operational for at least 25 years that most children would have attended them or alternatively that other schools of similar ability were readily available.
I would hate to disabuse you but taking the McCleland family as an exemplar, that idyll is far from reality. This is the story of one family, one school and one village.
Main picture: The Mount Pleasant Primary School in 1904
Continue readingA SMAC in the Face #51: The DNA of the ANC
Inside every living cell is the key to life, the template. This is the DNA and it defines all the characteristics of the organism in which it is embedded. It is surprisingly simple in concept. It consists of two helical antiparallel strands, each of which have a sequence of bases namely T, A, C and G. The two helices are intertwined and crosslinked but only T can link to A and C can link to G. This unique structure can be unzipped and replicated to form two new DNA molecules and, in that way, the complete organism is built up.
Continue readingThe Saga of the Generator
Having been told by an employee at Coastal Hire that I had won a generator for hiring a submersible pump to remove the flood waters from my property, I was naturally elated. Finding the persistent load-shedding debilitating when one depends upon constant power, I had resolved to purchase a fairly sizable one to overcome this annoyance factor. As the generator would of sizable proportions being an 8 kVA, I arranged with the builder who was on site repairing all my flood damage to provide me with a quote for a generator room.
I was the most fortunate person alive as I was receiving an expensive present. Not only was it exactly what I wanted but it would save me at least R26,000.
Continue readingPort Elizabeth of Today: The Future of No. 7 Castle Hill
Perhaps I should have titled this blog “Quo Vadis” or maybe something more apocalyptic such as the End of No. 7. Whatever it should be will never encompass my dread more for its future. When I left PE on 11th February 1980 to seek my fame & (mis) fortune in the City of Gold, the future of No. 7 was sanguine. For the most part, its future now, like many other historical buildings, is precarious at best.
Why do I anticipate such a gloomy future?
Main picture: Painting of Port Elizabeth by W.A. Harriers showing No 7 Castle Hill at the crescent [or is that the brow] of the hill
Continue readingPort Elizabeth of Yore: The Congregational Church in Pearson Street
Before the end of the 19th century, the central areas of Port Elizabeth could proudly boast of at least a dozen churches with certain denominations having multiple churches. The Anglicans are a case in point represented by three separate churches being St. Mary’s, the Holy Trinity and St. Paul’s. This is probably indicative of not only the head count of Anglicans but also the need for a church to be in close proximity to their residences due to the lack of transport.
This blog is largely based upon the excellent book by A.D. Herholdt entitled Eight Beautiful Gothic Revival Churches of Port Elizabeth.
Main picture: The Pearson Street Congregational Church
Continue readingPort Elizabeth of Yore: Dunning’s Memoirs of Bagshaw Gibaud
Prior to Bagshaw Gibaud’s closure at the rapacious hands of asset strippers in 1973, it was a prominent producer of shoes in South Africa. Like most of the foremost companies commencing operations in the 1800s, at the helm were visionaries and entrepreneurial men. The duo of Gibaud and Bagshaw were no exception.
Main picture: Original buildings of Bagshaw & Gibaud
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