A new Welcome to Despatch

The waterwheel at the PE side entrance to Despatch has recently been taken away and renovated.  A few weeks ago an old photo of mine was reposted by somebody on Facebook and my sister messaged me asking if it was a picture of the old or new one as it didn't look the same.  So the other day I was heading to Uitenhage and did a quick detour into Despatch to go and take an updated photo to share with…

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The town of Despatch

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is made up of Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage, Despatch and the surrounding area.  But how much do you really know of Despatch?The Despatch area was originally occupied by a flourishing brick industry based here due to the rich clay soil you find in the district.  It got its name from the fact that bricks got dispatched form the original railway siding that connected to the main line running to Port Elizabeth from Uitenhage.  Many of the…

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Winter is back… or still here

Just yesterday I asked somebody if they also thought that we didn't have a very cold winter this year as I stood sweating in the sun outside the lodge at Mount Camdeboo Game Reserve outside Graaff-Reinet.  This morning we woke up to a freezing wind and snow on the mountains in the area.  On my way back this afternoon I heard it hailed in some parts of Port Elizabeth. I pulled off the freeway and made a quick stop in…

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Despatch at sunset from the air

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SKAymZxmm4&w=500&h=400]It's not often that you find much about Despatch on the internet and definitely not many videos.  So I was quite surprised to find this one done by Renaldo Gouws featuring some aerial footage he shot with his drone over the town at sunset.

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Despatch’s second entrance

Coming from Port Elizabeth side there are two entrances to Despatch.  At the first entrance there is a waterwheel while the second entrance, the lesser used of the two, there is a sundial.

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Welcome to Despatch

Originally developed in 1942, Despatch is regarded as a relatively young town and only officially obtained municipal status in 1945. The name of the town was derived from the brick industry, as it was from a railway siding (later known as “Hitler’s Halt”) in the late 1800’s near Uitenhage, that bricks were “dispatched” or rather, “despatched’. Many of the older buildings and houses in Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage were built with these very bricks. Sadly, the brick business is now…

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Brick work chimney

Talk about a structure standing out like a sore thumb.  In this case looks more than one of the other fingers though.  The Despatch brick works chimney was built in 1882 and was once part of a flourishing brick works. Bricks were "dispatched" or rather "despatched" from here along a railway siding (later known as "Hitler's Halt") to Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth. Many of the older buildings in PE and Uitenhage were built with these bricks. Guess where the town's…

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Hanging (tomato) gardens

This is the last post in this short series featuring the UDDI's Despatch Eco-Hub.  Part of their vegetable garden project is a very innovative hanging tomato garden.  The tomato seeds were first planted  together before its going to be replanted into cut off plastic two liters cold drink bottles.  These containers will then be hung on the fence with wire creating a tomato "hedge".  Very good idea if you are short of space.

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Tyre veggie garden

One of the main projects at the UDDI's Despatch Eco-Hub is a very innovative tyre garden.  Two tyres are fixed onto of each other, filled with soil and veggies planted in them.  It a great way to recycle tyres as well as establish a veggie garden where the soil may be of bad quality or there may not be enough space for a garden.  They can quite easily be moved around as well.  The other thing tyres are used for at the…

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Despatch Eco-Hub Recycling

The Uitenhage Despatch Development Initiative (UDDI) recently established their first Eco-Hub as a pilot project in the Despatch township of Khayamnandi.  The project is about "transforming hot spots into green spots" and involves the empowerment of members from the local community to do something for themselves, their community as well as the environment.  One of the components of the project is a recycle station where residents can separate glass, paper, plastic and cans with a fifth bin for grass cuttings…

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