The road to Grahamstown
It has been a blazing hot weekend, I went along to Kelly's Beach on Saturday for a swim but decided to head inland on Sunday. Following the reason for the building of the wharf in my last post I decided to follow the trail of the settlers in 1820 who proceeded inland and created Grahamstown some 60 km inland. It took me about one hour to drive there following a narrow road which winds through the hills and valleys. It must have been a daunting task on dirt tracks using an ox-cart.
It must have been at least 30 degrees under a clear blue sky as I alighted from the truck to wander around the amazingly spacious main streets. The architecture leaps straight out of the founding era with elaborate wrought ironwork and ornate architecture reminiscent of 'home'. There appears to be a church on practically every street corner and there is also the Cathedral of St Michael and St George. This imposing building looks down the high street at the clock tower of Rhodes University (I didn't manage to take a photograph in the opposite direction this trip). I was struck by the monument to those who died in WWI which you would expect to find but also the monument to those who gave their lives in the Boer War which is not so common. There is an Observatory Museum here which is open during the week and another museum near the campus. Unfortunately the Odeon cinema had fallen into disuse – no change there!
After wandering around I drove down to the University. This has occupied many buildings used by the British Army Garrison and is, therefore, very much a mix of the old and the new. The main building, now a male dormitory, and clock tower look down through an imposing entrance arch at the Cathedral at the other end of the high street. I couldn't get a photograph due to traffic at the time. The corrugated iron sheet roofs on some of the buildings here are very representative of construction throughout in the region and possibly across South Africa and beyond. I had noticed this first on my trip to Bathurst and this served to reinforce my observation. I explored the campus a little before taking mid-afternoon tea in the Provost Prison. This is a very interesting building and very much ahead of its time. It was designed as a 'panopticon' prison, inspired by Jeremy Bentham, an English prison reformer in 1791.
Before heading to the top of the hill for a look at Fort Sykes and the Monument to the Settlers of1820, I headed into the Botanical Gardens. Leafy walks amongst plants and trees of all description and, lo and behold, a 'Dragon Tree' had followed me from Icod del Vino in Tenerife!
Feeling a little cooler I set of for the Fort. I was pleased I did. This commanded the highest point in the area with magnificent views of the Garrison and town below. It was one of a chain of signal forts which relayed information via semaphore arms to other similar forts and garrisons. The Semaphore arm is is still intact and must have taken considerable skill to operate effectively.Stopping of to by some drinking water I had a leasurly drive back to Port Alfred the way I had come, there is only one way! The scenery is magnificent, hills and valleys alternatively covered in scrub land and forest with farms dotted around when you can spot them. I had my first view of South African wildlife and managed to get some photos of Ibex and Zebra grazing. I was told later that there are snakes in the long grass but I think they were too tired to bother with me. I saw a magnificent red sunset over the bush and mountains further north and west. Another interesting day out here in South Africa.
Comments
Post a Comment