A sad old building

We don't always show the nicer side of Port Elizabeth and sometimes let the social conscience kick in.A sad relic from the past is the Victoria Hotel, an art decor style building that has been allowed to decay to such an extent that it has become an uninhabitable shell. Like most of the buildings in Victoria Street its doors have been bricked up to keep out the vagrants and squatters.Let's hope that its owner starts doing something about the urban…

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Leather Lane

Looking down Leather Lane from Municipality Road, towards the Russell Road Cemetary and the Dutch Reformed Church, in Campbell Street. The grave of James Langley Dalton, who was awarded Victoria Cross, after the battle of Rorkes Drift, can be seen at this cemetary. I will feature his grave in the new year.

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St Phillips Guest House

The St Phillips Guest House is one of the more upmarket guest houses in Richmond Hill. It was built in 1912, as the rectory for the St Phillips Church. It is situated in St Phillips Street, alongside the historic St Phillips Church.

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Old Port Elizabeth #3

This well maintained settler cottage was built circa 1863 in Ivy Street, Central. It along with many other cottages of the time, can be seen on the Donkin Heritage Trail.

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Old Port Elizabeth #1

Looking down on some of the older buildings in Govan Mbeki Avenue (formerly Main Street), built in the days when this section was still known as Queen Street. These buildings stood on the beachfront in the old days and everything behind them is reclaimed land.

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Green Piece!

Yay Yippee Yay!! It is appropriate to feature a photo from Central today, because last night saw the inaugural meeting of the Central Sector Crime Forum. It was well organised and a strong and committed committee was chosen, with the aim of eradicating crime and grime in the area. The Chairperson is Ken Denton, who owns the majority of the buildings in the area. We are really optimistic about this initiative, and wish them all the best in their endeavours…

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World War II Bunker

One of the many bunkers built along the South African coast World during War II. This one was photographed at Schoenmakerskop. Others can be seen at Bluewater Bay and Cape Recife.

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Bygones…..

One of the old landmark historic shops in Central, this has housed an antique and old bookshop as long as we can remember. The simple unpretentious architecture is typical of many of the colonial buildings that went up in the 1800s in PE.

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