The Milnerton Lagoon: Part 2

The Wooden Bridge
In 1900-01, the Fortress Company of the Royal Engineers constructed a single-lane wooden bridge to give troops access to the “island” on the sea side of the lagoon, and thence up the coast. This bridge, made of jarrah (an Australian hardwood), was intended to be a temporary structure, but it is still standing to this day and is commonly known as “The Wooden Bridge”. The same Company built a similar bridge as a viaduct for the railway over the Salt River mouth, but this structure was demolished once the railway was no longer in operation.
                                                                                                 The wooden bridge c. 1903 (Photo: Ravenscroft Collection)
                                                                                   British soldiers exercising their horses near the newly completed bridge c.1902

 When I was a boy, I used to cycle across the wooden bridge, being careful to keep to one of the beams because the gaps between them were just wide enough for a tyre to slip through and catapult one over the handlebars. A layer of bitumen later covered these gaps. I'd also row my Indian canoe under the bridge, lying down as I inched under the cross beams.

                                                                                                   The wooden bridge in 1964 (Photo:Etienne du Plessis)

 In 2007, the old wooden bridge was declared unfit for public use after its condition had deteriorated over the years. The City of Cape Town has a legal obligation to restore the bridge as it is a declared national heritage site and the City's budget allocation makes provision for such expenditure. In 2016, the City announced plans to spend R27 million on a contract to restore the bridge, which is the only wooden structure of its kind in the country. The restoration work took over two years, with most of the wood having to be replaced as it could not be salvaged. Now that it has been restored, the bridge has re-opened for pedestrians and cyclists.

                                                                                                     My Mom, sisters and I on the old wooden bridge c. 1961

The Concrete Bridge
An award-winning concrete bridge, built at a cost of R1,4 million in 1984, now gives vehicular access to what is called Woodbridge Island. It was completed in a record time of four-and-a-half months from design to completion.


 The Weir
A newspaper published in December 1903 includes the following information furnished by the Board of Milnerton Estates: “Plans are now being prepared for the construction of retaining walls and a weir across the Diep River, with the object of maintaining the river at an average depth of about five feet.”

In 1904, the engineer received instructions “to devise some means whereby the mouth of the river and the backwater can be closed, in order to conserve water after high tide” and “to build a temporary bridge over the backwater for foot passengers, at the cost of about £20”. It seems that this weir was constructed shortly thereafter. It was certainly in use at the start of World War II because a report dated 17 June 1940 states that the military authorities “required to take across the weir two guns of say four tons each”. Ever since World War I the military authorities had owned a battery site in Milnerton, purchased in 1914 and transferred on 7 April 1915.
                                                                                                         A car crosses the weir from the "island" side of the lagoon
                                                                        The dark line indicates the location of the weir, directly opposite Weir Road, which still exists.

 The Flood
One unforeseen and potentially disastrous emergency confronted Milnerton in 1941 when, owing to some obstruction at the weir, the flood gates jammed and the entire area fronting on the lagoon was suddenly submerged, with the prospect of a real disaster to most of the town. Unable to cope with this unaided, the officials had to call in the army and the South African Engineering Corps appeared with praiseworthy speed. So urgent was the position that they were obliged to blow up the eastern section of the weir, and the accumulated waters escaped, saving Milnerton in the nick of time. The rest of the weir was subsequently removed. However, its existence is commemorated in the name Weir Road, which is in line with where the weir once stood.
                                                                                                       Water pours over the weir during the flood of 1941
                                                                                                                       The extent of the flooding in 1941
                                                                                                                       

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Racial Divide and Milnerton's Efforts to Bridge It.

Image
As early as 23 January 1907, the Cape Times Weekly carried an advertisement for Milnerton, which stated, inter alia: "MILNERTON The Popular Marine Suburb Reserved for European Residents…" This was long before the promulgation of the Group Areas Act, under which residential areas were racially segregated by law, so this decision to reserve the new township for whites only must have been that of the directors of Milnerton Estates. Significantly, too, sport was racially segregated, with the directors being "startled" in May that year by a request to permit "coloured" rugby teams to use the Milnerton Rugby Football and Athletics Ground. To their credit, they gave their consent, but with the proviso that "the [Western Province] Rugby Union is satisfied that the playing of Coloured matches and Union matches on the same ground at the same time will not be taken exception to." Later in the same year, there was a dispute between a Mr McGregor...
Read more

The Ysterplaat Air Force Base

Image
  Census records state that on 31 December 1810, one Willem Caesar and the widow Priem and her two children were resident at d’Yzere Plaat (Ysterplaat), a hay farm belonging to a Mr JP Eksteen. Later, as Cape Town expanded, the area became known as Maitland Common. It is suspected that from as early as 1915 civilian pilots were using this grassy area as an airfield. A manager’s house was erected in 1917 and occupied by Mr FAN Duk, who worked for Aero Services as a pilot and manager of the aerodrome. Next to it was erected the 1920 hangar that was subsequently moved to the museum. The original airport manager's house, built in 1917 The South African Air Force (SAAF) began using the aerodrome when the air force started what was then known as the SAAF Diamond Mail Service between Cape Town and Alexander Bay in 1925.  Union Air Gypsy Moths in 1929 In 1938, the Chief Instructor of the then very young SAAF chose Brooklyn Aerodrome as the most appropriate aerodrome in the Peni...
Read more

Shipwrecks and the Milnerton Lighthouse

Image
Besides the wrecks of the Nieuwe Haerlem , the Oosterland and De Jonge Thomas (already mentioned in previous blogs), there were two ships wrecked directly off Milnerton beach. A short walk north along Milnerton beach  reveals both shipwrecks in the surf zone. About a kilometre along the beach, you will come across the massive boilers of the Hermes  in the surf. The  Hermes  was a Houston liner of some 3,500 tons, built in 1899. Under the command of Captain Grose, she was en route from Argentina to Cape Town with a large cargo of livestock, forage and some government supplies. In addition to her crew complement, there were 11 passengers bound for South Africa. When she arrived in Table Bay on 12  May 1901, the harbour was full, and she was forced to drop anchor for the night. A north westerly gale came up, she dragged her anchors, and by 02h00, she was being driven towards the shore. It took a while for the captain to recognise the danger, but when he or...
Read more