On the top of the central pedestal of the Prince Alfred Guard Memorial in St Georges Park is a life-size figure of a sergeant-major of Prince Alfred's Guard. He is dressed in full uniform and is always standing at the ready to "charge".
One of the things I've discovered since I've taken up geocaching is that even though I thought I knew everything there is to see in and around Port Elizabeth, I haven't. I've already been to at least three spots I've never visited before and I have another two new places lined up. One of those I haven't seen before was a corner of Settlers Park called Wellington Park which is quite popular for a short walk with the residents living in…
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…
The Grey Institute across the road from the Donkin Reserve was completed in 1859 and housed Grey High School until 1915 when they moved to their present site in Mill Park. Since then the building housed Pearson High School (now in Summerstrand) and then the Albert Jackson Primary School. Since it was bought by the Mediterranean Shipping Company the building has had extensive renovations done to it although the historic look and feel was kept. When I got to visit a little…
In my line of work I have taken tourists, tour operators, photographers and media from all over the world around this beautiful city I call home. This past week I got to do a different kind of group. A group of grade 6 schoolkids from St Dominic Priory in the city. At first I didn't really know what to expect and was slightly hesitant but as I was asked by a very good friend I decided to give it a…
With the fairly recent upgrade of the market square area in front of the Uitenhage town hall, the Anglo Boer War Memorial have been moved and is now positioned a bit more prominently. The monument was unveiled in 1904 and contains the names of Uitenhage citizens who died in the Anglo Boer War fought between 1899 and 1902. The interesting fact about the life-size soldier that forms part of the monument is that it was based on the likeness of an actual soldier…
A lot of people know where the Feather Market Centre is but I bet very few have seen the very impressive organ that adorns the front of the main hall. The concert hall pipe organ was inaugurated in June 1999 and cost R2,6m at the time. The organ stands 14 meters high, 10 meters wide and 4,5 meters deep, weighs 20 tons and has 5508 pipes. Pretty impressive. The organ was designed by Prof Albert Troskie, built by local organ builder…
I have a very good knowledge of Port Elizabeth and thanks to doing this blog I often discover new things and places while looking for something new to post. A little while ago Max asked me if I knew that there was a holocaust monument in Glendinningvale. Well, to tell the truth, I didn't. I had seen the monument before but I actually thought it was a modern art piece. The following information I got from the plaque in front of…
Behind the City Hall in the city centre stands a very unique monument. The Prester John Memorial is the only monument in the world dedicated to the mythical King-priest who was rumoured to live somewhere in Africa. While the Portuguese were looking for a sea way to the East around Africa, it was also their quest to find Prester John as a Christian ally in Africa as he was said to be a wise king living in a land with lots…