There are a number of giant Wild Fig Trees in and around St George's Park, all well over 100 years old. The one in the centre of the park next to the Pearson Conservatory must be one of my favorite trees around Port Elizabeth. I always marvel at it's size and love walking over the sleeper bridge underneath it imagining that it could be the city's Mother Tree.
The Pearson Conservatory was originally built in 1882 and restored to its former glory between 2009 and 2011. The centre piece of the Pearson Conservatory is an ornamental fountain made by Andrew Handyside at the Duke Street Foundry "Britannia Iron Works" in Derby in the UK around the same year the Conservatory was built (1882). The Britannia Foundry's work was well known for its fine quality so these fountains can be found all over the globe. This particular design of…
The Victorian conservatory in St George's Park was completed and opened on 12 September 1882 and named the Pearson Conservatory after the then Mayor of Port Elizabeth, Mr HW Pearson. The conservatory cost £3,800 to put up and arrived in South Africa as a 'kit of parts' and was constructed in the park. This conservatory was imported from England and was the first of three such buildings in South Africa at the time. The double volume central atrium is flanked by two…
I took a walk around St George's Park the other day. Yes, alone and with my camera in hand. It really isn't as bad as so many people would like to make it out to be. It's just important to stay alert and observant but I didn't notice any unsavory characters hanging out in the park. I did notice that the water lilies on the central pond was beautiful though.
In 1861, Mayor William Smith planted an Oak tree at the spot in the then new St Georges Park to commemorate the visit in 1860 of His Royal Highness Prince Alfred. The tree unfortunately blew over in January 2001 with the original inscription then being moved to the Parks Division offices nearby. Today the spot is marked by a plaque.
The cricket season is in full swing and the Warriors were playing the Knights in a T20 match in PE tonight. Having a cricket mad daughter we headed over to St Georges for a bit of action and action we got. The Warriors totally outplayed the Knights on all fronts and we even got to see a one handed spectator catch off the last ball hit to the boundary. The next game in PE is next Friday, 9 December, against…
Two Saturdays ago I joined the local Geocaching community for a picnic event in St Georges Park. I just realised again what an amazing place we have right here in the city where we can go and picnic while the kids run around and play on the park equipment. Really something more people should do.
There is a number of Wild Fig trees in and around St Georges Park that is over a century old. This one stands between the PE Bowling Club and the Park Drive Bowling Club.
Do you know any of these two art galleries? The Ron Belling Art Gallery and the GFI Art Gallery. Perhaps the former sounds familiar. Not sure about the latter? Well, they are one and the same thing.The gallery is housed in a landmark Art Deco style building across from St Georges Park on Park Drive. The building, named "Ridgewood", was commissioned by Axel Stockelbach, then managing director of Ford South Africa, in 1936 and was designed by Gertruida Brinkman, the first woman Architect to qualify…
The iconic South African playwright, Athol Fugard, has very close links to Port Elizabeth. His famous play Master Harold and the Boys is set in St George's Park where his mother ran the St George's Park Tea Room. An important part of the play includes a kite which the character Sam makes Hally (Fugard). Here is my question for you today. Have you ever noticed the kite "art piece" across the entrance to the St George's Park swimming pool where the tea room used…