Milnerton, oh Milnerton, I still hear your sea winds blowing
(With apologies to Jimmy Webb, the composer of Galveston, oh Galveston)
When my family moved to Milnerton in January 1960, I was six years old. It was still a seaside village back then, and the only formal housing development along the northern shores of Table Bay. There were just over 3,000 residents and many of the plots were still vacant.
There were no tower blocks, no shopping centres, no restaurants, and no fast-food outlets. There was only one general dealer, the Lorna Doone Cafe on Koeberg Road, between Jansen and Knysna Roads, which is remarkably still there. Here you could buy everything from American comics to zinc tubs. We'd spend our tickey pocket money on Chappies (4 for a penny), Stars (3 for a penny) and Wicks bubble gum (2 for a penny). These sweets were bigger than they are today.
The back section of the cafe, fitted out with small tables and chairs, was patronised by leather-jacketed 'Teddy Boys', their hair slicked back with Brylcream, and their flared-skirted 'dolly birds', bopping to the latest Rock 'n' Roll hits blaring from the Wurlitzer jukebox. I was fascinated by the way its mechanical arm could miraculously select the requested 7-single and flip it on to the turntable.
Milnerton, of course, developed along with horse racing at Ascot Racecourse, which was located where the Paddocks shopping centre now stands. The well-known racehorse trainer Bob Prestage had his stables in Greyton Road and the stables of another leading trainer, Leslie Cawcutt, were at the top of Firgrove Road. I'd sometimes be woken in the middle of the night by the hoof beats of runaways galloping along Park Avenue. We even found a horse in our front garden one morning! Early each day, grooms rode strings of horses past our house on their way down to the beach, where they exercised the horses in the shallows.
There was no freeway cutting the village off from the lagoon, but there was a remnant of the railway line that had once linked Milnerton to Cape Town from 1904 until the mid-1950s. The derelict station still stood opposite the park in Union Avenue, the windows of the ticket office bleared with dust and grime.
The platform was demolished when the Otto du Plessis Drive was constructed a few years later. A small monument was erected on the site, but it has since been moved to accommodate the MyCiti bus lanes.
The only means of crossing the lagoon back then was via the old wooden bridge, built of Australian jarrah wood by Royal Engineers in 1901. When we cycled across, we had to keep to a single beam to prevent our tyres from wedging in the narrow gaps between them and catapulting us over the handlebars. It was only later that bitumen sheeting was laid over these beams, and only much later that a new concrete bridge was built.
There were no buildings on the other side of the lagoon, besides the lighthouse, the golf and bowling club, and the Graaff mansion Zonnekus. The rest of what is now the densely populated Woodbridge Island was covered with Port Jackson trees.
At that time, there were only three state schools in Milnerton: Zonnekus Primary (now called Woodbridge Primary), Milnerton Primary, and Milnerton High. They'd all been built during the closing years of the 1950s, so they were still in their formative stages. I entered Sub B (Grade 2) at Zonnekus Primary in 1960.
Alarmingly, there was no fire station. Milnerton was served by the Goodwood Fire Brigade. There was a small police station, situated on a double plot at the corner of Koeberg and Dordrecht Roads, with separate entrances for 'Europeans' and 'Non-Europeans' and a couple of holding cells out back.
This, more than anything, illustrates how much the suburb has changed since then, both for the better and the worse. Progress is inevitable, of course, but there was something pleasingly quaint and peaceful about Milnerton in the early Sixties. We were lucky to have lived there then.
If you've enjoyed reading this introductory blog, you'll be pleased to know that I'll be writing a new blog on aspects of Milnerton's history every week. These will alternate between personal reminiscences and straight historical articles. Please keep a record of the site: milnertonian.blogspot.com
When my family moved to Milnerton in January 1960, I was six years old. It was still a seaside village back then, and the only formal housing development along the northern shores of Table Bay. There were just over 3,000 residents and many of the plots were still vacant.
There were no tower blocks, no shopping centres, no restaurants, and no fast-food outlets. There was only one general dealer, the Lorna Doone Cafe on Koeberg Road, between Jansen and Knysna Roads, which is remarkably still there. Here you could buy everything from American comics to zinc tubs. We'd spend our tickey pocket money on Chappies (4 for a penny), Stars (3 for a penny) and Wicks bubble gum (2 for a penny). These sweets were bigger than they are today.
The back section of the cafe, fitted out with small tables and chairs, was patronised by leather-jacketed 'Teddy Boys', their hair slicked back with Brylcream, and their flared-skirted 'dolly birds', bopping to the latest Rock 'n' Roll hits blaring from the Wurlitzer jukebox. I was fascinated by the way its mechanical arm could miraculously select the requested 7-single and flip it on to the turntable.
Milnerton, of course, developed along with horse racing at Ascot Racecourse, which was located where the Paddocks shopping centre now stands. The well-known racehorse trainer Bob Prestage had his stables in Greyton Road and the stables of another leading trainer, Leslie Cawcutt, were at the top of Firgrove Road. I'd sometimes be woken in the middle of the night by the hoof beats of runaways galloping along Park Avenue. We even found a horse in our front garden one morning! Early each day, grooms rode strings of horses past our house on their way down to the beach, where they exercised the horses in the shallows.
There was no freeway cutting the village off from the lagoon, but there was a remnant of the railway line that had once linked Milnerton to Cape Town from 1904 until the mid-1950s. The derelict station still stood opposite the park in Union Avenue, the windows of the ticket office bleared with dust and grime.
The platform was demolished when the Otto du Plessis Drive was constructed a few years later. A small monument was erected on the site, but it has since been moved to accommodate the MyCiti bus lanes.
The only means of crossing the lagoon back then was via the old wooden bridge, built of Australian jarrah wood by Royal Engineers in 1901. When we cycled across, we had to keep to a single beam to prevent our tyres from wedging in the narrow gaps between them and catapulting us over the handlebars. It was only later that bitumen sheeting was laid over these beams, and only much later that a new concrete bridge was built.
There were no buildings on the other side of the lagoon, besides the lighthouse, the golf and bowling club, and the Graaff mansion Zonnekus. The rest of what is now the densely populated Woodbridge Island was covered with Port Jackson trees.
At that time, there were only three state schools in Milnerton: Zonnekus Primary (now called Woodbridge Primary), Milnerton Primary, and Milnerton High. They'd all been built during the closing years of the 1950s, so they were still in their formative stages. I entered Sub B (Grade 2) at Zonnekus Primary in 1960.
Alarmingly, there was no fire station. Milnerton was served by the Goodwood Fire Brigade. There was a small police station, situated on a double plot at the corner of Koeberg and Dordrecht Roads, with separate entrances for 'Europeans' and 'Non-Europeans' and a couple of holding cells out back.
This, more than anything, illustrates how much the suburb has changed since then, both for the better and the worse. Progress is inevitable, of course, but there was something pleasingly quaint and peaceful about Milnerton in the early Sixties. We were lucky to have lived there then.
If you've enjoyed reading this introductory blog, you'll be pleased to know that I'll be writing a new blog on aspects of Milnerton's history every week. These will alternate between personal reminiscences and straight historical articles. Please keep a record of the site: milnertonian.blogspot.com
You mentioned Leslie Cawcutt. When I attended the old two roomed school down by the lagoon he was also a pupil there. I had the misfortune of breaking my leg one play period and Leslie and a boy named Pieter Kuhn carried me home. About two or three KMs. I also remember his father Woolfie Cawcutt, when he had a good horse in a race he would he would let everyone know "Cawcutt will Walk it"
ReplyDeleteI started school at Milnerton Primary School in Sub A in. 1960. Mrs. Sher was my teacher. My dad, Stanley Wileman, was a volunteer firefighter at the Milnerton Fire Brigade. I remember the railway station between Otto Du Plessis Drive and Union Road. We walked past it every Sunday to Sunday School. My aunt, Mrs. Muriel Barlow, was my teacher. One very hot day I decided to go down to the beach without my shoes. I had to cross the little wooden bridge. Oh my gosh was that tar hot. I ran at full speed across to the other side. I have lovely memories of Milnerton. I got married and then moved to Johannesburg and now Ireland. Thank you for your very interesting blogs, they are much appreciated. Anne Wileman Butler.
ReplyDeleteWonderful memories! I grew up in Milnerton, living in Vaal Road. I started school at Milnerton Primary and matriculated in 1971 at Milnerton High. The wooden bridge is so much part of my childhood and I was heartbroken when it was in a serious state of repair. I really am delighted that it has been restored to its former glory! Lorna Doone, Cambridge Hotel, the horses.... oh my gosh... so many memories! Thank you for your blogs!!
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