monument

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British Settler John Parkin’s farm

This morning a quick Geocaching outing took me to a small park in Fernglen where I found an equally small monument located to the one side of the park.  The monument stated:IN MEMORY OF JOHN PARKIN1787 - 1856LEADER OF A PARTY OF SETTLERSFROM DEVON TO SOUTH AFRICA IN 1820,AND PROMINENT IN THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF PORT ELIZABETHTHE SUBURBS IN THIS AREASTAND ON WHAT WAS ONCEJOHN PARKIN'S FARM OF 1421 H.A.WHICH HE ACQUIRED IN 1826.I never knew this little monument was here not…

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05/01/2017
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The Riderless Horse Memorial

The Horse Memorial has always been one of my favorite monuments around Port Elizabeth.  Not just for what it looks like, but more importantly for what it stands for.  Port Elizabeth was the main port of entry for horses and mules used by the British forces during the Anglo Boar War (1899 - 1902).  During the war more than 300 000 horses died in British service.  The people of Port Elizabeth was very much aware of the plight of the…

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04/02/2016
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Moth Memorial – walled off

In January I did a post about the Grave of Joseph Crowe at the Moth Memorial Hall in Uitenhage.  Last week I was in town for a meeting at the NMB Science Centre nearby and drove past the Moth Memorial Hall just to find a vebracrete wall has been erected behind the little boundary wall that looks like sand bags.  How thoroughly disappointing that the public can't see this anymore.

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07/12/2015
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The guy who built the 3rd Avenue Dip

As one drives through the 3rd Avenue Dip from Mangold Park side through towards Newton Park, there is a parking area to the right just after the bridge from where the Lower Guinea Fowl Trail starts.  On the edge of this open space is a stone bench with plaque on it.  The bench and plaque is a little "monument" to David Baillie Lovemore (1926 - 1994) who pioneered this crossing of the Baakens Valley in 1955.  The road itself was built by…

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10/09/2015
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The Great Gale Memorial in South End Cemetery

"Never before in its history has this port suffered under such overwhelming disaster as we record today. On Sunday morning some 38 craft rode at anchor under the leaden sky. Heavy rains had fallen and the wind gradually rose until, as the shadows of evening hid the shipping from view, a fresh gale was blowing in from the south-east, which, as the midnight hour was reached, had developed in to a hurricane. As the turmoil of wind and wave continued,…

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23/02/2015
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Bashoto War Memorial in Uitenhage

In Magennis Park just off Church Road (Graaff-Reinet Road) in Uitenhage is a monument that seems kinda out of place in this part of the province.  It's a memorial commemorating those who died in the  Morosi Mountain and Basuto Campaigns of 1879 and 1880-1882. Morosi's Mountain was the name given to a fortified mountain in the Drakensberg mountain range on the banks of the Orange River in southern Basutoland (modern day Lesotho).  This was the site of a siege during the Gun War, also known…

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17/02/2015
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Prince Alfred’s Guard sergeant-major

On top of the Prince Alfred's Guard Memorial in St Georges Park stands a guy with a gun.  Who or what is he? Not to leave the question open ended and you all wondering what the answer is, here it is.  He is a life-size figure of a sergeant-major of Prince Alfred's Guard, in full dress and standing at the "charge".

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03/02/2015
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View of Uitenhage from Canon Hill

I don't get to go to Uitenhage that often.  Don't always have a reason to go but if I do and have somebody with me who hasn't been there before, I like to stop by Canon Hill to show them the view of the town.

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25/01/2015
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The Grave of Joseph Crowe in Uitenhage

Making my rounds through Uitenhage on a Geocaching expedition a week or so ago I got to visit the MOTH garden for the first time.  The garden is where the grave of Joseph Crow is located.Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Petrus Hendrik Crowe VC (12 January 1826 – 12 April 1876) was the first South African-born recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and…

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21/01/2015
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The lions’ heads at Prince Alfred Guard Memorial

It's surprising how few Port Elizabethans know that the Prince Alfred Guard Memorial in St Georges Park stands on top of one of the city's oldest reservoirs.  The 2 million gallon reservoir was completed between 1906 and 1907 at a cost of  £15 525 back in the day.  This memorial actually forms the central ornamental feature of the Service Reservoir.  On each side of the memorial is a lion's head and it turns out that these were fountains with jets of…

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14/01/2015