The Casual Observer

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Living Conditions during the First Decades

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 18 April 2020 0 Comment

Initially there were 4000 Settlers camped in tents amongst the sand dunes without running water or ablution facilities. Upon their departure, those who, for whatever reason remained, would have faced the nightmarish twin plights of erecting a shelter and eking out a living. Both were daunting. Nothing was uncomplicated. Everything was a challenge. Nothing could have prepared them for what they had to face.

At best the living conditions in this undeveloped land must have been primitive and at worst squalid. JJ Redgrave in this book, Port Elizabeth in Bygone Days, provides a peak into this unknown world.

Main picture: Examples of Settlers’ Homes

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Captain Moresby of the HMS Menai

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

Normally when critical civic events occur, it is highly unusual for lower ranking military officers to not only offer their services but also to willingly partake in those activities. In the case of Port Elizabeth, it was the actions of two Captains, one a military officer, Captain Francis Evatt, and the other a naval officer who expedited the disembarkation of the 1820 Settlers.

This blog will deal with the selfless actions of the latter, Captain Fairfax Moresby of HMS Menai.

Main picture: Captain Sir Fairfax Moresby

Nigel’s Chicken Stir Fry in Pictures

By Nigel Asprey in Other Miscellaneous Topics 14 April 2020 0 Comment

These receipes are designed for the person who don’t know their saucepan from their coliander. One of my other recipes to try during lockdown. You can use the McCain’s Stir Fry mix if that’s easier.

The Root of Good and Evil

By Siegfried Hannig in Other Opinion Pieces 14 April 2020 1 Comment

History did not end with the fall of Berlin’s “Schandmauer”, the “Wall of Shame” which brought down the shabby, rusted “Iron Curtain” of Communism upheld by outrageous “Stasi” and KGB violations of the most fundamental human right: Security defined as “Freedom from Fear”.

No! History is being perpetuated with daily human rights violations by over-grown school bullies running purported democracies with the support of anti-social voters who were mal-conditioned by parents, peers and majority electorates to believe that “might is right” and security must be sought from the worst bully they could possibly vote for.

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Worst Plane Crash in PE

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 13 April 2020 3 Comments

Technically one cannot classify the crash of the Rietbok as the worst crash in Port Elizabeth. Even though it departed from Port Elizabeth, it crashed just off the coast at Kidd’s Beach, East London.

On Friday 4th December 1959, a PV1 Ventura crashed with the loss of the crew of 5, making it the worst air crash in Port Elizabeth.

Main picture: Lockheed PV1 Ventura painting by Ron Belling in VIP Transport Colours

Port Elizabeth of Yore: From the Herald Chambers to Cleghorns on Market Square

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 12 April 2020 0 Comment

The building on the northern corner of White’s Road opposite Market Square was originally built in 1861 by Paterson, the owner of the Eastern Province Herald. In 1864, just after the construction of the grand Town Hall was completed, he named the building the Herald Chambers”, and relocated his newspaper there.

In March 1884, the department store, Cleghorn and Harris, was opened in “Herald Chambers” in the Market Square. A decade later, in January 1894, they purchased the building.

This store was located in a prime location overlooking the pivotal point in Port Elizabeth. It was not the hoi polloi and the down-at-the-heel who were attracted to the restaurant with its view of the Town Hall but the elite.

Main picture: Cleghorn’s Building burnt down on the 6th May 1896

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Artillery Piece in the Market Square

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 12 April 2020 0 Comment

Since 1863, the obelisk had occupied pride of place in Market Square. After 58 years, it had almost become synonymous with the centre of Port Elizabeth with its water troughs serving as a vital drinking place for thirsty horses. On 4 March 1921 the obelisk was be dethroned to be replaced by the S.A. Heavy Artillery memorial in the form of a howitzer.

Would this memorial gain the cachet of the obelisk or would it be ignominiously removed unlamented? Only time would tell.

Main picture: The howitzer on a granite plinth in Market Square in 1926

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

Bridges over the Baakens River and its Mouth

By Blaine McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 10 April 2020 0 Comment

This blog does not represent the story of these bridges. Rather it represents an attempt to link every photo of a bridge to the correct bridge mentioned by Margaret Harradine. This was more difficult that it seems as many bridges were destroyed multiple times. The original caption on a photo never identifies whether the bridge was in fact the second or even third bridge at that location. Blaine McCleland, the technical advisor on this series of blogs undertook this tedious exercise and has produced this report.

Main picture: Possibly the Folley Bridge (looks like South End side in the background with Lower Valley Road)

Personal Experiences of the Provincial Hospital: The Unkindest Cut

By Blaine McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 6 April 2020 0 Comment

Like the overwhelming majority of Europeans of my generation in PE I was born in the Provincial Hospital – Sandford Block to be precise. Not for us the home births in a Tepee with a dreamcatcher gently twirling in the breeze while a Mother Earth midwife rocks on her haunches as she chants incomprehensible jargon. No, for all the talk about being tougher, my parent’s generation for once were wusses and did not do it au naturel like their mothers – sterile hospital birth it was.

Main picture: Parking lot exit into Buckingham Road – the scene of my denouement in early 1975 while on a mercy mission to visit a friend.