Just a few hundred metres from the Sandton Gautrain Station is a little piece of history... the 'Little Church in the Pines', one of Sandton's oldest buildings. Below are a few passages outlining the Church's history taken from the 1992 Sandton Historical Association magazine. The author? None other than the legendary Juliet Marais Louw...
The monument honours Boer veterans of the Anglo-Boer / South African War, 1899-1902. Small plaques cover all four sides of the monument, a two metre-tall rectangular structure, spilling over onto the base. The memorial is crowded with inscriptions, set on a patchwork of small plates of different sizes and of various materials: sandstone, granite, slate, soapstone, etc. There are 41 small plaques to men who fought in the war. It stands on the crest of the ridge, on the south-eastern corner of the New Nation School, overlooking the old Gas Works.
[Originally published 31 August 2015] On Saturday morning we visited the award winning Drostdy Hotel in Graaff Reinet. We had been hoping to see the recently refurbished landmark for some time and a spontaneous stopover on the way back to Johannesburg from Port Elizabeth presented the perfect opportunity.
In 1941 the government printer of the Union of South Africa published the book, The Monuments of South Africa, edited by C van Riet Lowe. (174 pages, illustrated) First edition. The first edition is interesting as it included an account of the work of the Commission for the Preservation of Natural and Historical Monuments, relics and antiques during the period 1935 to 1940. The second point of interest is a pasted in map showing the 102 monuments, relics across the then 4 provinces (see image below).
In South Africa railway men do things big and it doesn't get bigger than the Sishen-Saldanha line. In 1989 the longest and heaviest train in the world made an historic trip down the line. The article below, compiled by Norman Chandler for The Star, tells the story of this record breaking feat. It appears as though a train in Australia broke the record in 2001.
When we visited the Eastern Cape in 2013 we were very sad to see the state of Grahamstown's second oldest building - the Old Gaol (pic above). There has been talk for some time of millions being invested and SAHRA using the site as a flagship heritage training facility. We certainly hope these plans come to fruition quickly. While digging in the archives we come across this short but fascinating piece on the restoration of the Old Gaol in 1984.
The captivating story below appeared in the 1982 issue of Restorica. It was compiled by Hymie Amoils and traces the origins, history and significance of the Poswohl Synagogue in Mooi Street Johannesburg. We visited this Provincial Heritage Site, now the Promise Land Pub and Restaurant, yesterday and noticed internal alterations taking place. It would be interesting to see if the necessary approvals from the Provincial Heritage Resources Authority Gauteng (PHRAG) have been secured.
[Originally published 2 September 2015] The Standard Bank Gallery has put on something incredibly special and you only have until 12 September 2015 to see it. This is, of course, the Pierneef Exhibition. Kathy Munro, Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Architecture and Planning at Wits, visited the exhibition recently and compiled this absorbing piece. Enjoy.
The Battles of Magersfontein and Modder River are two well known engagements that took place during the Anglo-Boer (South African) War. Below are excerpts from an incredibly moving article written by W. Westerman about his experiences ensuring many of the dead received an honourable farewell. The piece appeared in the March 1908 edition of the South African Railway Magazine. Thank you to the Heritage Office at Transnet for giving us access to their archives.
[Originally published 25 February 2013] In my opinion this past weekend could prove to be a watershed moment for tourism in Joburg's inner city. For the first time I can remember not only was every major commercial and non profit tour operator out on the streets but they were running at or near full capacity.
