No. It’s not mine. Incoming from the etv guy:
Have you seen this?
And a link to a photo on HiltonT’s photostream. For the record, this was the photo in question, and no, I hadn’t seen it:
Apparently, it’s a regatta at Kalk Bay in 1905. It’s interesting for a number of reasons: the transport, the clothing, the frankly disappointing lack of any sort of water craft for a regatta, the additional lack of any breakwater wall or railway, and that business on the building at the back: Kalk Bay Fish and Land Co. Ltd.
– Let’s start a business in Kalk Bay.
– OK, sounds like a good plan. What sort of business?
– Hmm… Fish?
– Excellent. But…
– But what?
– Well, don’t you think that’s a bit niche?
– Ja, good point. We need something more diverse.
– How about… How about Fish… and Land?
– Brilliant. But what are we going to call it?
– No idea, mate. Maybe let’s just leave it, hey.
But of course, they didn’t. And thus the Kalk Bay Fish and Land Co Ltd was born.
That’s exactly how it all happened.
Probably.
Anyway, I digress. Often. The real reason that this post is happening to to advise you about the rest of HiltonT’s Flickr account. There’s quite a lot of history, quite a lot of South Africa, quite a lot of photographs of documents, some local (pre-1994) football and other… stuff.
If you’re in the right frame of mind, you could get lost in there for literally hours.
Go, do it. (And then, when you’re done, there’s this one as well.)
N.B. The Kalk Bay Fish and Land Company Limited should not be confused with the Kalk Bay Land and Sea Company (which is obviously a completely different enterprise), which went on to become Irvin and Johnson (I&J) Fisheries.
Thanks Adam
There is a railway signal there which indicates the presence of a railway. It does look as though that was the end of the line at that time.
“KALK BAY
The lime kilns which operated here in the 17th Century gave the bay its name. Always a fishing ground, it was a busy whaling station at the beginning of the 19th century. the line reached Kalk Bay in 1883 and was the end of the line until 1889. A turntable for the locomotive was built at the north end of the station building, originally a private house. the present-day Brass Bell was the site of the old pavilion. It was only in 1913 that work began on the little fishing harbour and life was made marginally easier for the fisher folk.” http://www.atlanticrail.co.za/stations_history.php
“The extension to Muizenberg opened on 15 December 1882, and a further extension to Kalk Bay on 5 May 1883. The final extension, to the naval base at Simon’s Town, opened on 1 December 1890. The line was electrified with overhead catenary in 1928.[2]” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Line_%28Cape_Town%29
So if the line is shown to end here and I can’t see where it goes between those houses or over the dune the photo must have been taken between 1882 and 1890 before the Simonstown extension was added.
David Rogers > Ahahaha. Good point. Yes. I can see the signal now. But almost too obvious to be obvious. (I saw the pole, but lost the paraphernalia on the top against the rocks in the background.)
The photo is listed as a Regatta in Kalk Bay on the King’s Birthday 1905. If it was before the Simonstown extension was built, and was within those dates, then… well… there wasn’t a King to have a birthday.
The Kalk Bay Fish and Land Co. Ltd. (unless you want to buy fish and/or Land). I can’t only find one reference to it going into liquidation in 1907.
The mystery (such as it is) deepens. The plot thi… meh, you know the rest.
Well, if there are no boats visible in the water, it could be that there was no regatta and so the issue of a King having a birthday is moot.
The type of regatta that would have been likely at that time would involve pulling whalers – something that may have been a precursor to the “Cock of the Fleet” races much loved by the Royal Navy. However the whalers are up on the hard and not racing. So it may have been some other attraction at Kalk Bay at a different time to the King’s Birthday. Possible before 1890? Do you have dates for the operation of the Fish and Land Co?
Cecil John Rhodes lived very near to Kalk Bay, just a little way up the line towards Muizenberg. He died in 1902. Was he involved in the Fish and Land Co? (Doesn’t it sound like something he would do?) Could the event be linked to him in some way?
Amazing what one photo can lead to…
David Rogers > I only have the title of the photo to go on. I have no reason to disbelieve it, but no proof it’s correct either. As I say, all the info I have on the KBFAL co. is that it was around until 1907. That doesn’t assist. As for CJ Rhodes’ involvement – no idea.
I think that all we can do now is wait til I’ve sorted my time machine out (flux capacitor issues that I didn’t get chance to fix this weekend) and I’ll pop back and ask. Or maybe I’ve done that already, and I just don’t know it yet.