sunrise? what sunrise?

This is especially for those of you in chilly Northern Climes who have been accusing us of rubbing salt in the wound with all our sunny beach pix! Taken at 5am yesterday. When we do the last shift of neighbourhood watch patrol, we like to end it by checking out the sunrise, so we went to one of our favourite viewpoints, the Donkin Reserve. However, as you can see, there was very little chance that the sun was going to…

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rusty relics

Last week I went with a bunch of artist friends to the old Apple Express Depot which overlooks the harbour and "tank farm" along the beachfront. We had a ball rumaging around the steam train graveyard, and I could probably bore you into a coma for WEEKS with the pix I took of rusty old trains from every conceivable angle! Looking through the driver's window of one, the Donkin Lighthouse and Campanile can be seen peeping over the distant horizon.…

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Then and now….

Our friend Gaston from France sent this photo of his son at the Donkin Reserve in 1960. I don't know what the occasion was but it looks interesting, can you just hear the skirling of the pipes?and now, somewhat quieter recently, as the sun rose behind the monument.........

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Church on the Hill

The Hill Presbytarian Church, as seen from the Donkin Reserve, is one of the iconic symbols of Port Elizabeth. It features in many pictures of the city that have been taken from below the hill or from the sea, from the 19th century to current times.

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Donkin from the harbour

While we were visiting the beautiful ship Sagres, this unusual view of the Donkin Lighthouse presented itself, seen at sunset through an old metal warehouse structure.

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height restriction

In a city characterised by short sighted and often environmentally disastrous town planning policies for much of its history, it is almost a surprise to acknowledge one really good decision that was made in our past, and has largely been adhered to. A height restriction was imposed on all buildings at the bottom of the hill in front of the Donkin Reserve, so that from up there one can still enjoy views of the sea and harbour. As this is…

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Route Markers

Sometimes there are things that are unique to your town, but they are such a part of everyday life that you don't even realise it. One such example is the route markers on our roads. The green background image behind the route numbers depicts the Donkin lighthouse and Pyramid, which are such iconic symbols of our City, follow the link to read the historic background. (If you look at the profile picture on our sidebar, you will see the real…

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A different view of Donkin Lighthouse

This was taken in Richmond Hill one morning at sunrise, from the road that runs past the proposed block that was halted, which we told you about in Friday's Post. Because of its position on the brow of the Hill on which the first buildings in the city were developed, it is possible to get glimpses of this landmark from many angles.

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