FOR HISTORY BUFFS

EAST FORT, HOUT BAY

Park on Chapman’s Peak Drive and walk down to the battery of cannons and powder magazine. This fort complex harks back to an era when Hout Bay was of great strategic significance to the Cape. Early settlers realised that the bay could serve not only as an alternative anchorage to Table Bay, but also as a possible landing place for invaders.

Consequently, the area saw the building of a number of defences. Initial fort construction took place after 1775 when Holland supported the newly independent American colonies and declared war on England. Some of the guns, with their VOC markings, are still in place and are fired on ceremonial occasions. The fortifications are above and below Chapman’s Peak Drive, less than a kilometre south of Hout Bay Beach.

PRESTWICH MEMORIAL

This memorial commemorates the forgotten citizens who helped build the Mother City. It’s a curious-looking structure with a facade of Robben Island slate. The building houses an ossuary and several interpretive displays, including a copy of the 360-degree panorama of Table Bay painted by Robert Gordon in 1778. The ossuary is the final resting place of more than 2 500 people whose skeletons were exhumed from a nearby building site. The unmarked graves include everyone from slaves and washerwomen to sailors and those executed by the colonial government between the mid-18th and late-19th centuries. Corner of Somerset Road and Buitengracht Street (free entry). Open until 5pm, weekends until

2pm. 021-418-0073

HERITAGE MUSEUM, SIMON’S TOWN

This quaint museum on King George Way occupies the ground floor of Amlay House, built in 1858. The building belonged to the Amlay family until they were forcibly removed after the town was declared a ‘white area’ under the Group Areas Act. They were among the first to return in 1995 and created a heritage museum as a reminder of the long trajectory of Muslim culture in the area. Displays include old photographs and family trees, a bridal room and handwritten kitab books. There are exhibits depicting Islamic culture at the Cape, including a pilgrimage room with hajj attire. The forced removals and trauma of that dark period are also represented. 021-786-2302

JUST NUISANCE’S GRAVE

The famous Great Dane is the only dog to have been officially enlisted in the Royal Navy. During WWII, he became popular with patrons of the United Services Institute, where sailors fed him nibbles and walked him. The dog would often follow them back to their ships and plonk himself at the top of the gangplank where he presented a considerable obstacle … hence the nickname ‘Nuisance’. He became a morale booster for naval personnel during the war. Upon his death in 1944, his body was borne to Klaver Camp on Red Hill, draped with a Royal Navy ensign and buried with full naval honours, which included a gun salute and sounding of the ‘Last Post’. Find it signposted on Red Hill Road (M66) between Simon’s Town and Scarborough.

SOUTH AFRICAN AIR FORCE MUSEUM

Dedicated to the history of military aviation, exhibits cover the entire period of the SAAF’s existence since its inception in 1920, ranging from aircraft, models and weapons to engines and uniforms. Displays focus on South Africa’s involvement in WW II, the Berlin Blockade, Korean War and Bush War. Vintage planes are kept in hangars and include a Dakota, Ventura, Shackleton, Mirages and a De Havilland Vampire (the first jet to cross the Atlantic). The museum is inside Ysterplaat Air Force Base, at the end of Piet Grobler Street in Brooklyn. Entry free. Open Wednesday to Friday until 3.30pm and until noon on Saturday. 021-508-6576

RMS Athens wreck

The most notable wreck in the shadow of Mouille Point Lighthouse was the Royal Mail Ship Athens, lost with all hands during the great gale of 1865. The ship’s engine block protrudes above the waves 50 metres off the parking lot at the intersection of Beach and Fritz Sonnenberg roads.

MOUILLE POINT’S ‘OTHER’ LIGHTHOUSE

Completed in 1842, SA’s second lighthouse operated until 1908. All that remains of the elegant 11-metre red-andwhite tower is its four-metre high, brick-and-slate base. A hollow foundation in the bedrock provided for oil storage (its lamp used about 730 gallons of sheep-tail oil per year). The lighthouse failed to meet stringent maritime requirements and ships’ captains complained that it was easily confused with shore lights. Indeed, during its watch a number of vessels ran aground on the rocks below. Find it in the parking lot of the CPUT Hotel School at 3 Beach Road.

Rhodes Cottage

The room on your left as you enter this museum is where Cecil John Rhodes died of heart failure in 1902 at the age of 48. It’s a humble space with a small iron bedstead – hardly the deathbed you’d expect of one of the world’s richest men. Rhodes bought this simple, three-bedroom cottage in Muizenberg in 1899, when his health was already failing and he sought the rejuvenating influence of sea breezes. He preferred this home to all his others, including the Groote Schuur mansion. Entry R20 donation. Open 9am to 3pm in season. 246 Main Road, Muizenberg. Find it on Facebook.