memorials

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Langa Memorial

Most South Africans are familiar with the 1960 Sharpeville massacre where the South African Police opened fire on a protesting crowd, killing 69 people.  Very few people know though that on the 25th anniversary of Sharpeville, something similar happened in Langa township in Uitenhage when the Police opened fire on a crowd of mourners on their way to a banned funeral.  Twenty people were killed in the incident on 21 March 1985 and it became known as the Langa Massacre.  The incident was followed by…

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28/10/2013
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St George and the dragon

Most people who have been to or driven past St Georges Park know the Cenotaph (war memorial) in front of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum.  I wonder though how many people know that one of the figures forming part of the Cenotaph is St George himself,  sheathing his sword moments after killing the dragon. St George's dragon slaying story is told as follow on Wikipedia: "...a dragon or crocodile makes its nest at the spring that provides water for the city of "Silene"…

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13/10/2013
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The Arc of the 30th Meridian

Someone once sent me an email asking if I've ever been to the trig beacon on Lovemore Heights along with all the information about the beacon.  I'd never even heard of it and decided to drive up there, coming up against a closed gate and filing it away for future exploration.  After I took up Geocaching I noticed that there was a cache hidden close to the trig beacon and grabbed the opportunity to try and find it again, this time with…

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29/04/2013
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War Memorial plaque

There are a couple of war memorials around St Georges Park commemorating those from Port Elizabeth who have died in various wars over the years.  A number of them refer to the two World Wars with the most prominent one being the Cenotaph in front of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum.  One of the lesser known ones is a plaque on the front wall of the art museum.

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11/02/2013
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Mother and children

Yesterday's post I did about the Port Elizabeth Cenotaph wasn't the first featuring this great memorial.  A little while ago I received a comment on a previous post featuring the Cenotaph from Andy Gardner in Durban.  Andy's father was James Gardner who designed the memorial and also did the sculptures which are part of it.  On two sides of the memorial are sculptures, one representing a mother and child and the other St George, placed so for the purpose of symmetry.  The woman…

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23/02/2012
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Cenotaph and art gallery

One of the prominent memorials in Port Elizabeth is the Cenotaph standing in front of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Gallery.  The city's war memorial was unveiled by former mayoress Mrs WF Savage on 10 November 1929.  The memorial was the work of James Gardner of the Art School and was originally erected to the memory of the men from Port Elizabeth that fell during the Great War.  After the Second World War memorial panels were added to the walls behind the…

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22/02/2012
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Walmer War Memorial

Last Thursday, 11 November, was Remembrance Day, also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day or Veterans Day.  It is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries to remember the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and civilians in times of war, specifically since the First World War.  Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the official end of World War I on that date in 1918, as the major hostilities of World War I were formally ended "at…

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16/11/2010
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Horse Memorial sillouette

If there is something I have a soft spot for as a photographer then its a sunset. You can never get tired of the sun disappearing over the horizon with its coinciding oranges, yellows, blues and purples along with a beautiful afterglow. Even better is when you can find a nice subject to put in the foreground to compliment the sunset. In this case the Horse Memorial here in Port Elizabeth.For more sunsets and other sky related photos, visit Skywatch.

19 Comments
02/09/2010
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War Memorial

Standing in front of the Uitenhage town hall is this war memorial erected in rememberence of the men from the town who died during the two World Wars.

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21/08/2010
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1000 posts

Today is Port Elizabeth Daily Photo's 1000th post and exactly 500 posts since I took over from Sue and Max. Port Elizabeth is such a magnificent place that I struggle most days to select a photo out of my collection to post. I just want to take this opportunity to thank all the regular PEDP visitors as well as those who only pop in every now and then, doesn't matter if you comment on the pics on not, for taking…

10 Comments
01/08/2010