Cape Town in 1899
There are so many gems hidden in the neighbourhoods of Cape Town yet it’s easy to walk past, drive past or even live on top of something interesting without really knowing what’s there or what history it has. I’ve lived on such a spot since I was a teenager, and only this week learnt more about the Devil’s Peak quarry (named as one of Getaway Blog’s top ten abandoned sites in Southern Africa worth visiting) and its history.
Photo-bombing foundations
I got hold of a document created to check if there was any historical value to a number of old concrete pillars and blocks that are situated a short distance from the Murray & Stewart Quarry at the end of Chelmsford Road, and on which my grandfather built our house (The house that Koos built). We are right slap bang on 2 massive concrete blocks that spike through two floors of our house and also have an outside ‘shed’ inside another concrete behemoth in our back garden. Two neighbouring properties also have pillars, and it was for one of these that the document “Heritage Statement: Old Concrete Structures on Erf 2092” was drafted by ACO Associates as part of a demolition application to the City of Cape Town. Continue reading
Views of the City 