As an adult, I spend time in St Georges Park either running around the Park, working at Mannville or playing hockey there. And although I have ‘visited’ and photographed this statue on many occasions, I never really knew why it had been erected. Turns out it was to honour the Anglo-Boer war to was fought from 1899 to 1902.
All work and no play? Once I had matriculated from Pearson High School in 1970, I started my time as an apprentice electrician with the now-defunct South African Railways and Harbours. Fondly known as the SAR&H our apprentice school was situated within a workshop that was in the large building on the left of this image. 6-months of my first year was spent at an existing facility in Uitenhage, about 42km from PE and that meant a train ride there and back every day. Luckily, my parents had friends who lived in Uitenhage and I was able to board with them from Monday to Friday and spend the weekends back in PE. It was during those early months that the apprentice school was constructed at the harbour in PE and all of us were transferred from Uitenhage back to PE. Excluding my National Service (June 1971- June 1972) I was indentured to the SAR&H from 1971-1975.
I worked here until I qualified as an electrician after a trade test at Olifantsfontein. After spending time in Cradock, Graaf Reinette and Naauwpoort, I decided that working for the Railways was not really what I wanted to do and resigned from the Railways in August 1975. This is a copy of my resignation letter and my final clock-card.
This ore berth is near Kings Beach and where I worked for some time. I do believe that it was a punishment and not to get work experience. When I returned home at night, the only parts of my face that were not covered by the ore dust were my teeth and eyeballs. As for my car, well that was another story. When I tried to wash the dust off my vehicle, it acted like sandpaper and was NOT very kind to the paintwork. Luckily, I was only stationed here for a short time and then returned to the main workshop on the harbour. I would like to believe that my time as an apprentice stood me in good stead, even though I no longer earn a living from that particular trade. Without exception, I have great memories of the people that I interacted with and learned from. I should imagine that all my tutors have long shuffled off this mortal coil, but I wonder what has become of my fellow apprentices?
The Opera House is built on the site of an old gallows. It is speculated that public hangings took place on this ground before the theatre was erected. The building has a long and colourful history in terms of sightings of ghosts and during my time there I heard footsteps coming down the flight of stairs from the balcony floor but never actually got to see a ghost. A night watchman was killed there during the ’70s and although the killer was never caught, he eventually gave himself up to the police about 6 years after the murder.
This was the re-opening of the Opera House after I left PE. I see that my parents were sitting front row, centre, for this gala event.
FYI. The theatre originally lit productions using gas as electricity was only installed in 1908! It is the oldest Victorian theatre on the continent of Africa and the Southern Hemisphere.
The Phoenix Hotel together with the Stage Door bar has been an institution in Port Elizabeth it was established in 1837. It was relocated to its current position in 1942 and was declared a National Monument in 1968, being described as one of the best examples of Art Nouveau architecture in South Africa.
Seeing that it was less than 100m from the stage door of the Opera House and the fact that it was owned by a family friend, I spent a fair amount of time there both during rehearsals and after shows. If walls could talk! It was only in the last year that I threw away a signed poster that I took down from the bar there and had kept for the past 43 years.
The first production at the Mannville theatre at St Georges Park was performed in 1972 and directed by British director Lesley French. It was established by well respected Port Elizabeth theatre doyens, Bruce and Helen Mann. Both my sister and I worked there and after we had both left PE, my parents continued to work in the ticket booth for many productions over the years.
One of the many statues that I walked past during my years in PE. The Horse Memorial was erected and dedicated to the horses killed during the South African War (1899-1902). It was unveiled on February 11, 1905, by the then Mayor, Mr A Fettes.
The inscription on the memorial reads “The greatness of a nation consists not so much in the number of its people or the extent of its territory as in the extent and justice of its compassion.”
In the recent past, the memorial has been vandalised and parts were stolen off it to sell as scrap. It was therefore decided to erect the fence around it to protect it from further attacks.
Mastertons has been brewing coffee since 1924 and is the oldest South Africa’s oldest operating Coffee Roastery in Port Elizabeth, if not South Africa. If you have never had a cup of their famous brew, then you have no idea what you are missing. The smell of the roasting could be smelled from a distance away and would bring customers flocking to their tiny shop.
Like many established shops in PE, in order to survive, they have had to leave their tiny, iconic shop and move to where it is more convenient for customers to have access to their product.
My Dad spent a lot of time here, I think that he was ‘collecting’ plant cuttings for the potted garden that he grew on the balcony of their flat after they had moved out of the house in Parsons Hill. This example of a Victorian Conservatory was opened in 1882, by the Honourable John X Merriman, the then Commissioner of Works for the Cape Colony at a cost of £3,800. It is named after Mr HW Pearson, the Mayor of Port Elizabeth at that time.
The Donkin Row Houses. To the best of my knowledge, there is still an ongoing battle here as unauthorised ‘restoration’ work was undertaken without permission. That was in 2015 and given the levels of ongoing corruption in my home town, I wonder if it will ever be resolved?
When I lived in Port Elizabeth, this used to be called Main Street. I have fond memories of many of the shops both in Main Street as well as down the side streets that ran off at right angles on the seaward side from this vantage point. Those shops included, OK Bazaars, CNA, The Grand Theatre, Cavaliers, Rubin’s the Mans Shop (where my Dad worked), Treasure Island( a toy shop), Greatermans, Kolnicks, Michael’s Record Bar, Sugar Bush Icecream Parlour and Alfords, amongst others. It was well after I moved to Johannesburg that it was renamed Govin Mbeki Avenue after one of the leading struggle icons and father of former South African President, Thabo Mbeki.
There are no doubt people still living in PE who remember buying clothing from my Dad The shop that he worked at for 36 years was in Main Street. Not to be confused by a clothing shop of a similar name in North End that was run by an ex-mayor of the city, Solly Rubin.
The King Edward Hotel was opened in 1904, not as a hotel, but as medical suites. It went on to become the go-to place for high tea on a weekend. A bit too expensive for a young apprentice, but I remember having to fetch dance legend Gary Burns from his room there while he was performing in a production at the Opera House that was not too far away. If memory serves, it was not a happy time for Gary OR the producers of the show and this sojourn in PE might have been his final professional performance.
Most of the lights in my home photographic studio in Port Elizabeth and later in my apartment in Johannesburg came from this Art Gallery after a renovation. There were 2 galleries, the first one(the Arts Hall) opened in 1927 and the second one(King George VI Art Gallery), opened in 1956 was to commemorate the Royal visit in 1947.
This particular landmark remained in this condition for all the years that I lived in Port Elizabeth. A number of grand plans have been mooted for this iconic Slipway, but none has come to fruition.
Construction commenced in 1899 with the intention to create a ship repair facility for large vessels. It was decommissioned in 1939 and much of the structure removed.
Built-in the 1960s, this iconic landmark was the site of many of my dates back in the early 70s once I had my own car. It was purportedly the finishing post for the many Submarine Races that I attended…I will leave that to the readers’ imagination. The original roadhouse was demolished but the locals complained so vocally that this replica was built and now houses a dive school.
Sometimes called the ‘Windy City‘ thanks to the South-Easter that blows along the Algoa Bay coastline. I prefer to think of it as the ‘Friendly City‘…
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