Donkin mosaic

Route 67 around the Donkin Reserve in Port Elizabeth has brought a new angle and attraction to urban tourism in the city.  The numbers 67 relate to the 67 years that Nelson Mandela spent in public and the whole project consists of 67 art pieces.  Most of these are public art pieces centred around the Donkin Reserve in the hearty of the city and forms an important part of urban renewal in the city.  One of the art pieces is a 470 square meter mosaic next to the Donkin Pyramid which celebrates the city and province's many cumtures, heritages, diverse histories and abundant fauna and flora.

Kidz Adventures - Exploring PE's history

During the school holidays its always a bit of a challenge to keep bored children busy.  Most parents end up taking them to the movies, for ice cream at Micky D's, playing putt putt and games or one of the party places with jungle gyms and trampolines.  Me? Well, I try to spend at least a day with the Kidz exploring Port Elizabeth or surrounding area for them to get to know the city better.  During the past holiday we headed out to discover some of the city's historic sights along with their friends AB and JB. 

The first stop of the day was the oldest building in Port Elizabeth.  Fort Frederick was built by the British in 1799 to protect Algoa Bay from French invasion but never fired a shot in anger.  In actual fact the fort was the first permanent stone structure built by the British in Africa south of the equator.  The fort is perched on top of the cliffs above the Baakens Valley has a magnificent view of the lower valley and Port Elizabeth Harbour.  The guns on the fort are ship cannons which were placed there symbolically since the original guns were removed.  JB wanted very badly to direct a salvo out to sea but there were no enemy ships in sight.

The next stop on our tour was just a couple of hundred meters down Belmont Terrace.  The Donkin Reserve with its historic lighthouse and pyramid is my favorite historic site in Port Elizabeth.  The Donkin is surrounded by a number of other historic sites and the new Route 67 development has blown new life into the area as an attraction.  The pyramid (Donkin Memorial) was built in 1820 by Sir Rufane Donkin as a monument to his late wife Lady Elizabeth Donkin after whom he also named the town.  The lighthouse was originally built in 1861 and the old lighthouse keeper's cottage is now a Visitor Information Centre run by Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism.  Some of the Route 67 art pieces like the untitled Anton Momberg conversation piece and the Voting line make for great pictures, with or without human subjects.

While walking around the Donkin with the Kidz I noticed their eyes kept going to the lighthouse so I decided it was time to climb.  Entrance to the lighthouse is only R5 per person payable at the NMBT office.  The climb up the lighthouse is done by a few sets of steps and ladders and even though Drama Princess was a bit hesitant at the start they all flew up there like a bunch of monkeys.  The view from the top of the lighthouse is breathtaking all around with the beachfront, harbour, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium as well as the surrounding area visible.  The Donkin Lighthouse is well worth the climb.

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From the Donkin we followed the winding Route 67 path down towards the city centre for a visit to the city's historic Public Library.  Stopping briefly for a quick pic with Queen Vic (made of Sicilian marble and erected in 1903 to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee) we headed inside with the Kidz under strict instructions to keep it quiet.  The Kidz were amazed with the library's interior with its balconies and stained glass windows.  They immediately went exploring and found their way up onto the balcony walkway where, not before long, they stood admiring the beautiful windows.  The Public Library was opened in 1902 with the front stone facade built in England before being shipped to Port Elizabeth in numbered block.  I remember how we roamed the library as kids and it was awesome to introduce the Kidz to a place from my childhood memories. 

The last stop of our outing was at St Georges Park to visit the newly restored Pearson Conservatory.  The conservatory is another of the places we roamed around in as kids on Art in the Park Sundays while my mom had her stall there.  Although the inside of the conservatory has changed a bit from how I remember it, its still well worth a visit.  By now I had used up my quota of good behaviour made available to me for the day and the four of them started to get a bit too active for my liking.  With St Georges' play area close by the four set off to play in the park and expend some built up energy before coming back complaining that they were getting hungry.  It just never stops, does it?

Skateboarding down the Donkin

One of the things that the redevelopment of the Donkin Reserve in Port Elizabeth has done was inadvertently create the ideal winding downhill skateboard (long board) coarse.  This has led to the first Donkin Downhill Dash taking place today.  The pathway, starting up at the historic lighthouse and pyramid with its crosses representing democratic votes past and future, makes its way down towards Chapel Street and are long enough for the top skaters to clock times of about 1 minute 22 seconds.

The turnout was quite good with over 50 skateboarders taking part and hundreds of people turning out to watch what is hopefully the first of many such competitions to come.  It was also the ideal opportunity for the photographers of the city to bring out their hardware and shoot the action with me starting to get some lens envy watching some of the guys click away with their big cameras and lenses.

After a couple of warm up runs the first heats took place with everybody getting a run.  It was a timed event which means a race against the clock and not against each other on the coarse.  During the lunch break the guys were doing free runs again before the second heat and it was nice to get a couple of photos with more than one skater in the picture.

This event and the venue has great potential to become very big and we will hopefully see both national and perhaps even international skaters here in future.

South End Museum Heritage Trail

The area of South End in Port Elizabeth used to be a vibrant multi cultural suburb until it was destroyed by the Apartheid Government when its people were displaced in 1965 following the implementation of the Groups Areas Act.  The South End Museum on the corner of Beach Road and Walmer Boulevard is housed in the old Seamans Institute Building and remembers the people and places of South End.  One of the initiatives that they started was the South End Museum Heritage Trail which links a number of historic sites in the area on a self guided (or guided if you prefer it) walk.

Across the road from the museum stands an old Wild Fig tree which is thought to be over 100 years old.  The tree stands next to the then Chase Street and back in the days the kids used to climb the tree while the older people sat in it's shade.  When the people were removed and the buildings in the area demolished, the fear was that the tree would also be chopped down or pushed over by a bulldozer. Luckily this didn't happen.

 

As you continue on the trail you pass two mosques that, due to international pressure on the Apartheid government, weren't demolished along with the other buildings in the area.  The one at the bottom of Walmer Boulavard is the Rudolph Street Mosque (Mosque of Righteousness) which was completed in 1894.

 One of the main attractions on the trail is the St Mary's Cemetery.  St Mary's is one of the oldest cemeteries in Port Elizabeth and a number of the graves belong to some of the original British Settlers that arrived in Algoa Bay in 1820.

 Overlooking the St Mary's Cemetery is the ruins of the St Peter's Anglican Church.  St Peter's was completed in 1877 and even though the congregation of the church were been removed to the other side of the city they still came back to worship in the church to the dismay of the Apartheid government. To stop them from doing so it was decided to demolish the church.

Although there are a couple of other sites on the route, the last one that I am posting about is the remains of the old Walmer Road.  Walmer Road used to be the main road running through South End between the city centre and the suburb of Walmer.  In those days the main hotels and businesses of the area were found along this road. Today only a small section of this old road is still visible at the top of Pier Street and is slowly being overgrown by the grass and other vegetation.

The women of the Donkin Reserve

Today  (9 August 2011) we celebrate National Women's Day here in South Africa.  In recognition of all the women of the world this post contains the symbolism dedicated to women on the Donkin Reserve in Port Elizabeth.

One of the new art pieces installed on the Donkin Reserve is a conversation piece by renowned sculpture Anton Momberg.  The sculpture is a dedication to all the women that have contributed and are contributing to the city.  She faces the pyramid towards the rising sun and offers a chair on the "Balcony of the City" to the international stage. 

The pyramid itself is also a monument to a woman.  In actual fact the woman after whom Port Elizabeth was named.  The pyramid, or Donkin Memorial as it is known, was erected by Sir Rufane Donkin in 1820 in memory of his wife, Lady Elizabeth Donkin, who died the year before of fever in India.  The plaque reads:

To the memory

of one of the most perfect

of human beings

who has given her name

to the Town below