Rhodes Memorial

Rhodes Memorial on Devil's Peak in Cape Town, South Africa, is a memorial to English-born South African politician Cecil John Rhodes (1853–1902).

 

Sir Herbert Baker was the architect of this memorial and he allegedly modelled  it after the Greek temple at Segesta. It consists of a massive staircase with 49 steps (one for each year of Rhodes's life) leading from a semi-circular terrace up to a rectangular U-shaped monument formed of pillars. The memorial is built of Cape granite quarried on Table Mountain.

At the bottom of the steps is a bronze statue of a horseman, Energy by George Frederic Watts. Eight bronze lions by John Macallan Swan flank the steps leading up to the memorial, with a bust of Rhodes (also by JM Swan). The inscription on the monument is "To the spirit and life work of Cecil John Rhodes who loved and served South Africa." Inscribed below the bust of Rhodes are the last four lines of the last stanza from the 1902 poem Burial by Rudyard Kipling in honour of Rhodes:

The immense and brooding spirit still

Shall quicken and control.

Living he was the land, and dead,

His soul shall be her soul!

The monument was completed and dedicated in 1912.

Rhodes Memorial

The magnificent view from the memorial

Cecil John Rhodes

Energy by George Frederic Watts

Bronze lion by John Macallan Swan

Pillars of a Greek temple?

Encounter at Groenvlei - 10th August 1901

I was fortunate enough to spend the weekend at Nylsvley Nature Reserve presenting a Nature Photographic Workshop when I came across this small monument at the side of the railway line. My hosts explained the events of the fateful day to me so I shot a few pics and on my arrival home, I Googled the event. It is quite a long but interesting story and I thought I would share it.

This from an unknown source on the internet:-

Along the road to Vogelfontein, 3.8 km from the Boekenhout Station railway crossing, there is a gate on the left-hand side that gives access to the railway line. On the other side of the tracks stands a monument that is barely visible from the road when the grass is high. It is within this area that a battle royal took place led by Capt. Jack Hindon of the Boer commandos.

Three simultaneous explosions shattered the quietness of the winter bushveld, during the midday siesta, over 100 years ago. The first and third were explosives derailing a train on the Nylstroom-Naboomspruit Railway connection and the second was the sound of thousands of water birds disturbed by the noise and taking flight over the Vogelfontein area at Nylsvlei. The date was 10th August 1901 and the attack was carried out by Capt. Jack Hindon and a commando of 60 men trained specifically to wreck the railway lines during the last phases of the Anglo-Boer War. Pretoria had fallen to the British on 5th June 1900 and peace negotiations broke down when, on hearing of the success of Gen. De Wet’s forces against the British on 7th June, Botha with his men moved fifteen miles out of Pretoria to prepare a position above the hills at Pienaarspoort. It was here at what was to become known as the Battle of Donkerhoek (Diamond Hill) that the new strategy of the Boer forces was formulated and the guerrilla format of the war came into existence. Men like Hindon, Trigaardt and Brand were instructed in the art of train wrecking specifically to obtain supplies and arms that had been denied them which, ultimately, led to the encounter at Groenvlei (Nylsvlei). 

 

Hindon and his men arrived in the area of Naboomspruit Station on 9th August and camped around the fountain and, that evening, made their way to Hartbeesspruit (Groenvlei) near the railway line. Hendrik Slegtkamp and Carl Cremer began preparing the explosives for derailing the train. The target had to be specifically a train carrying provisions, so the usual mine, which automatically exploded on contact, had to be discarded. As many trains used the line, an apparatus that could be manually triggered was required and this they devised by using a long length of copper wire that could be pulled, at the right moment, to detonate the mine. Half a mile from the railway line was a deep gully covered with trees and shrubs and the horses were hidden here. This gully extended to 30 yards from the line, directly in front of the point where the explosives were to be placed, and Slegtkamp and thirty of his men hid behind the undergrowth at this point. Hindon positioned himself with a group of men to the left of Slegtkamp and a small group led by Lt. van Rensburghid under the culvert below the rails. The most exposed position was that of Cremer and Jordaan who were crouched behind a dense thicket of bushes 20 yards from the explosives on the railway line, holding the copper wire that would detonate the mine. The first train to arrive after daybreak was an empty goods train and was left alone Then followed a procession of armoured trains from both directions and the frequency gave Hindon and Slegtkamp the impression that the British were expecting an ambush as twice they stopped in the vicinity of theBoers. The ‘bonanza’ train arrived in the early afternoon and the ‘Encounter at Groenvlei’ had begun. The explosion lifted the locomotive off the tracks and the train bumped to a standstill, eight trucks went over the low embankment while the engine and some other trucks remained upright, although derailed. The second mine which had exploded simultaneously, failed to move the armoured truck off the line and the Gordon Highlander escort opened up with a deadly hail of bullets which killed both Cremer and Jordaan, as Hindon and his men stormed the train. Frans Schmidt was the next to be killed. A quick retreat was made and as the Boers were regrouping, an armoured train with an Elswick canon and maxims arrived on the scene. A hail of bullets from both the armoured car and train forced a further hasty retreat by Hindon and Slegtkamp. Lombaard, Pos, Swart and Van Niekerk were killed and seven other Boers wounded. In his book recounting the battle, E.J. Webster describes the scene where they left the horses as ‘afgryslik’ (horrible). Wherever you looked lay dead and dying horses caught in the exchange of rifle and maxim fire and shrapnel from the exploding shells of the Elswick Canon. Jack Hindon eventually surrendered himself to the British on 16th May 1902. On 9th August 1930 the monument to those who perished at the Battle of Groenvlei was unveiled. The then Minister of Justice, Oswald Pirow, performed the ceremony on behalf of the Dingaansfees Committee of Nylstroom. 

 

The inscription on the stone panels reads as follows:

 

Van Vryheid en Vaderl and Deze burgers zyn gesneuveld te Groenvlei 10 Aug 1901

Carl Cremer geb. 29 Nov 1867 in Ostonnen Westfalen, Duitsland

Gerhardus Jordaan van Middelburg geb.6 Julie 1882

Cornelius Lombaard van Middelburg geb. 2 Aug. 1852

Cornelius Post van Middelburg geb. 7 Okt. 1864 in Hilversun, Holland

Frans Schmidt van Harrismith, OVS geb. 26 Okt. 1876

Petrus Swart van Bethal geb. 23 Junie 1876

Johannes van Niekerk van Bethal geb. 1868

The morning sunrise... slightly ominous...

Monument to those that died - unveiled 9th August 1930. Slightly neglected.

Coat of arms on the monument

The train line with the monument almost hidden on the far right hand side.

A long clear view to see when the trains come.

SAA Museum Society - Rand Airport

The South African Airways Museum Society was founded in 1986 by individuals within South African Airways and interested outside parties with the aim of preserving the history of South African Airways as well as that of general civil aviation in South Africa. The Museum is based at the Transvaal Aviation Club at Rand Airport in Germiston. Historic items such as photographs, aircraft instruments, timetables and other important documentation are on display in the society's display hall. This is open to the public and the society regularly participates in open days to encourage particularly the younger generation of South Africans to take an interest in aviation as a potential career. 

The museum has a static display of aircraft including the Boeing 747-244B "Lebombo", 747-SP "Maluti", two Skymaster DC-4's, a Douglas DC-3, a Lockheed Lodestar, de Havilland Dove and even 2 simulators.

As per usual in the recent while, the time of day that I visited presented very harsh light and I was shooting into the sun a lot. This resulted in bright sun flares in some of the images but I wasn't really unhappy with the results. I was also shooting with an ultra wide angle lens to fit the aircraft into the frame so some traditional lines may of been slightly distorted.

This massive "chamber" is the compartment where one set of wheels of the Jumbo lifts up into.

They may not look big but wait until you stand next to a Jumbo's wheels!

The air sucking blades of the Jumbo's engine.

Douglas C-54D-15-DC

de Havilland DH 104

The B747 Simulator

Airbus A300 Simulator 

In memory of all those that have served and answered the call of the sunset.

Sunset Calls

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun,and in the morning.

We will remember them 

Today would of been my fathers birthday. Born on the 9th July 1920 in Tarkastad in the Cape province, he lived through many advances and changes that the world has experienced over the last century. The most profound event that influenced and shaped his adult life was his military service during the 2nd World War. From the scorching North African Desert to the bitter cold climate of Europe under most pressing circumstances, these events would dominate his life to the extent that even many years after his discharge, he was still a soldier at heart. I grew up hearing war stories and experiences that he had gone through that I must admit, must of been terrifying for any young man. Things like lying in a bed in a tent on a temporary airforce base whilst the Stuka bombers are dive bombing the base, not knowing if the next bomb will land on you or not. Many different events like this that I fortunately never had to experience and I wish for my son to never have to live through.

Driving home I wondered what image I could capture that could serve as a worthy image that I could dedicate to my father on what would of been his 93rd birthday. It suddenly dawned on me... the memorial at the M.O.T.H.'s Dickie Fritz Shellhole in Edenvale. They have a Lockheed Ventura and a Puma helicoptor as well as some canons and a tank.

When a soldier passes, it is referred to as the sunset call and what a more appropriate image would it be if I could capture the Ventura with the sun setting close by. I raced down to the Shellhole, quickly obtained permission to shoot some images and managed a few shots before the light was gone.

In memory of you on your birthday dad. Happy Birthday.

A quick visit to the Voortrekker Monument and Fort Schanscop

I had some business to attend to in Pretoria today and on my way back I popped in to the Voortrekker Monument for a quick visit.

Photographing the monument presents a few challenges. There are always visitors in the frame, the light is bad and there are conflicting sources of light causing crazy colour casts in certain images. You also need very wide lenses and these themselves give distortions which can be arty, but not always liked by all.

The idea of building the Voortrekker Monument  in honour of the Voortrekkers was first discussed on 16 December 1888 when President Paul Kruger of the South African Republic attended the Day of the Covenant celebrations at Blood River in Natal. However, the movement to actually build such a monument only started in 1931 when the Sentrale Volksmonumentekomitee (SVK) (Central People's Monuments Committee) was formed to bring this idea to fruition.

Construction started on 13 July 1937 with a sod turning ceremony performed by chairman of the SVK, Advocate Ernest George Jansen, on what later became known as Monument Hill. On 16 December 1938 the cornerstone was laid by three descendants of some of the Voortrekker leaders: Mrs. J.C. Muller (granddaughter of Andries Pretorius), Mrs. K.F. Ackerman (great-granddaughter of Hendrik Potgieter) and Mrs. J.C. Preller (great-granddaughter of Piet Retief).

The Monument was inaugurated on 16 December 1949 by the then-prime minister D. F. Malan. The total construction cost of the Monument was about £ 360,000, most of which was contributed by the South African government. Physically, the Voortrekker Monument is 40 metres high, with a base of 40 metres by 40 metres.

A large amphitheatre, which seats approximately 20,000 people, was erected to the north-east of the Monument in 1949.

The Cenotaph, situated in the centre of the Cenotaph Hall, is the central focus of the monument. In addition to being viewable from the Hall of Heroes it can also be seen from the dome at the top of the building, from where much of the interior of the monument can be viewed. Through an opening in this dome a ray of sunlight shines at twelve o'clock on 16 December annually, falling onto the centre of the Cenotaph, striking the words 'Ons vir Jou, Suid-Afrika'. The ray of light is said to symbolise God's blessing on the lives and endeavours of the Voortrekkers. 16 December 1838 was the date of the Battle of Blood River, commemorated in South Africa before 1994 as the Day of the Vow.

The Cenotaph Hall is decorated with the flags of the different Voortrekker Republics and contains wall tapestries depicting the Voortrekkers as well as several display cases with artefacts from the Great Trek.

A different from the norm view of the monument.

Mother and Children statue - Anton van Wouw's bronze sculpture of a Voortrekker woman and her two children, paying homage to the strength and courage of the Voortrekker women.

The traditional view.

Inside the main chamber with the open center looking down on the cenotaph.

A unique marble Frieze circles the inside walls of the Voortrekker Monument. In bas-relief, 27 panels depict the story of the Great Trek from 1835 to 1852.

The Cenotaph chamber with the cenotaph in the center.

Looking up from the cenotaph one can see the hole in the roof where the sun shines through and falls onto the cenotaph on the 16th December every year at 12 noon.

One of the many beautiful tapestries, this one depicting the Battle of Blood River.

Looking down from the top of the monument onto the cenotaph. A chevron pattern on the floor of the Hall of Heroes radiates outwards like 32 sun rays.

Some lovely light and patterns over the staircase leading up to the top or the monument.

Patterned windows from the outside

The Promise.

The wall surrounding the monument depicts the 64 wagons in a circle (laager) like they were during the Battle of Blood River.

Fort Schanskop

Fort Schanskop is in the same complex as the Voortrekker Monument. It was built to protect Pretoria from an attack from Johannesburg. The fort was built at a cost of GBP £47,500 and was handed over to the government on 6 April 1897. It was supplied with a paraffin engine powered generator for electricity, electrical lighting and a search light. A telephone and telegraphic links were also installed. Water was supplied from a pump station in the Fountains Valley which was shared with the nearby Fort Klapperkop.

The garrison was initially armed with one officer and 30 men and was armed with 37 mm Maxim-Nordenfeldt cannon, Martini-Henry hand-cranked Maxim machine guns and a 155 mm Creusot gun. By October 1899, only 17 men were still stationed at the fort.

Both the garrison and the armaments were gradually reduced during the course of the Second Anglo-Boer war until there was only one man and no guns left over on 5 June 1900, the day on which British forces occupied Pretoria.

The view of Pretoria from the fort.

The 155 mm Creusot gun,

A sighting hole in the forts' wall.

The main gate to the fort.

The Franschoek Motor Museum

Whether you are a Petrol Head or simply just male, this is one place that you should visit at least once in a while. This is the most comprehensive collection of motor vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles and memorabilia that I have seen in one place. It is to be found in the magnificent setting of L’Ormarins which is in Franschoek in the wine valley of the Western Cape.

The collection pieces are immaculate and must be worth many millions of ZAR. Shot with my Sony A99 and CZ16-35. No flash used.

The Entrance leads you past this wonderful large painting.

The collection is housed in these large buildings

What a beautiful setting