52 Wale Street

If you ever are in the centre of Cape Town then go to 52 Wale Street and look up to the heavens. Why? Well in the pediment of the building at number 52 you will see the sculpture of a large horse's head protruding from the wall. Most Capetonians have never ever realised that the sculpture exists as it is so high up on the building. The significance of the head is that during the 1890's this building housed the L.J. Louw Livery Stables. The building itself was erected in 1862 and in 1977 it was named the Van Dyck's Carpet building, however the stable heritage of the building lingers on via the horse who oversees Wales Street.


Facts about Cape Town's Gun Run

Cape Town has an annual half marathon that takes place on a Sunday morning in September The race is organised with normal rules EXCEPTING for the fact that at exactly midday the gun on Signal Hill is fired to signal the end of the race and all those who don't beat the gun to the finish line do not qualify as finishers.

Funnilly enough the most important trophy of the race goes to a non qualifier. As soon as the end of the race has been signalled  by the cannon shot, the blank from the firing of the gun is brought down from Signal Hill to the finish line. This blank gets mounted and presented to the first person who crossed the line after the gun was fired and the relevant runner is presented with what is very aptly named The Good Afternoon Trophy.

Another interesting fact about the Gun Run is that the organisers of the race have to pay the militia a fee to fire the gun and the cost of this service has never changed since the race's inception. This fee comes to R82.50. It has been told to me by the organisers that every year when they do the accounting for the race it becomes a standard expression to comment "don't forget to add in the R82.50"


Newlands Cricket Ground

Many Capetonians watch cricket in the summer months. The home of cricket in Cape Town is Newlands Cricket Grounds. I am one of those Capetonians who has been watching cricket at Newlands regularly since the late fifties right up to today so you can imagine my joy when I uncovered the following piece of information.

The Newlands cricket grounds originally stood on a farm called Loevenstein. This land was owned by Jacob Letterstedt.  In 1886 he donated the ground to his daughter as a wedding present when she married Viscount de Montmarte. The Viscount in turn leased the ground to the Western Province Cricket Club at a rental of 100 Pounds per annum. The first match ever played on the grounds took place on 2 January 1888 and was played between Mother Country vs Colonial Born.


Rondebosch Fountain

In the suburb of Rondebosch near Cape Town University, we have a fountain
known as the Rondebosch Fountain. On or near the spot where this fountain is located, stood a clump of thorn trees named by Jan van Riebeeck, "'T Ronde Doornbosjen" from which Rondebosch took its name.

I wonder how many Capetonians know that it is in the vicinity of this fountain, on 1 March 1657, that 9 free burghers took permanent title to land and thus became the first "citizens" of South Africa.

Furthermore it is also interesting to note that the fountain itself has a lamp above it that apparently contained the first electric street light installed in Cape Town.


The Gentoo in Cape Town

If you are, or ever were a Capetonian, who could understand a sprinkling of local Afrikaans, you certainly would know what would be meant if you heard a local person calling a woman a "gentoo" or in even more crass style a "jintoe". If you do not understand the language, may I point out that this word is the local colloquialism for a prostitute. The question that is sometimes asked is where did the name originate from? The answer to this is that in 1846 a boat was shipwrecked off the Cape coast. Several women were cast ashore from the vessel and these ladies were allegedly suffering from venereal disease. The name of the boat was as you have probably guessed "The Gentoo".



Articles submitted by: Selwyn Davidowitz
Email:cptn@mail.com

SATOUR accredited tourguide with an immense passion for Cape Town and its surrounds. To see more about Selwyn's services as a tourguide please click here .