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HOMEPAGE TRUSTEES |
HISTORY & BACKGROUND |
FUTURE CONCERTS |
REPERTOIRE & DISCOGRAPHY |
MUSICAL DIR. ACCOMPANIST |
MAPS OF LOCATION |
POTENTIAL MEMBERS |
SOUTH AFRICA |
Some of the party then returned home while others, making use of the opportunity to see more of South Africa, continued for a further week's tour of the southern and eastern part of this beautiful country. A personal account of the second week, written by Suzie Bartle, daughter of John, is given as a seperate section-'The Young ones'.
The Waterfront site has been developed from former commercial docks and is now a modern tourist and shopping complex which some of us explored in the afternoon.
In the evening the a briefing was followed by a Group Dinner at the well appointed hotel.
From the cable car station we were taken on a coach tour of the Cape Peninsular, stopping at Hout Bay for a short cruise to the large seal colony where hundreds of these malodorous but rather friendly looking mammals lie about on low rocks just offshore and fish amongst the extensive kelp (a form of seaweed). we also saw seals in the waterfront area where some have colonised the docks, resting up on rubber fenders and frolicking in the somewhat oily waters.
From Hout Bay we were taken southwards via Constantia, one the first places in SA where wine was produced (17th.C) to the Cape Point nature reserve where some antelope, including Eland and Bontebok, Ostrich and troops of Baboon were seen. This and other areas has been recently been affected by bush fires but new green shoots are visible in the ash. At the southernmost point of the road there is an information/refrehment facility from where we walked to the okd Cape Point Lighthouse overlooking the actual Cape Point. A short ride away took us to the Cape of Good Hope for photos at this point. A troop of baboon have learnt that food is to be had at such areas and regularly ransack cars and food bags.
We returned northwards and stopped near Simonstown which is a naval facility on the east side of the Cape Peninsular and west side of False Bay. Near here is the Boulders Beach Penguin colony where several hundred jackass penguins have taken up residence and can be visited via a system of boardwalks.
After a snack in Simonstown we were back at the hotel by 4pm for a brief rest and preparation for the evening concert.
This evening's concert (with the Hermanus Choir) was held at Panorama Primary School about 30 mins east from central CT in an affluent mainly Afrikaner, suburb. The concert was well attended mainly by parents of this 1200 pupil school and featured several pieces sweetly sung by the school choir, some by Hermanus, and a majority by ourselves and Donna. Our singing of the new SA anthem was a surprise to some of the audience! We were very kindly received by the Headmaster, Mr Zimmerman, who had arranged a post concert reception for us and his guests in the staffroom. To mark our visit we presented a plate bearing the City of Nottingham Arms.
After lunch we travelled through the hills to Stellenbosch, a University town and center of the wine industry. The tree lined streets, easy atmosphere and numerous coffee shops and bars hopefully make for a good learning environment. We returned to CT via the commercial suburb of Belleville where Martin C. collected some pre-ordered geological literature from the Geological Survey office there.
The evening concert was held at St Micheal's Church in Roddenbosch, near the Newlands rugby ground. The audience were very appreciative and Donna gave a spendid performance, her rapport with accompanist Pat Bennett being obvious. This and the next night's concert were convened by John Badminton, one of the several very helpful contacts made by John Bartle which ensured the success of this tour.
The ladies had organised their own outing this evening - to an african theme restaurant complete with maidens singing, dancing and drumming. They in turn were entertained by our ladies who gave a rendition of Si ya Hamba complete with Mrs. Judy Pratt on the Bongos.
Later, back at the hotel a convivial and singing evening ensued.
This picture shows the entrance to the former maximum security complex. Some of the ex-detainees and former warders act now as guides, we had Patrick Matajane who had done 20 years on the island. We were first taken on a bus tour of the place with its leper graves, schoolhouse and warders pub and the house of Robert Subukwe, detained here without trial for many years. Most striking was to see and enter the cells where Nelson Mandela and his fellows spent so long. We also visited the lime quarry where they worked for exercise and were able to converse and learn. In the latter years they had almost unlimited access to books and a number gained degrees in law and politics.
Patrick Matajane seemed to enjoy and be proud of his role as educator and survivor. He shows little outward bitterness but still has some fire. He had lost his youth and young manhood through fighting apartheid.
This visit was over too soon as we had to return on a certain ferry, but gave one a vivid feeling of the immense changes that have occurred in South Africa.
The afternoon was free and some rested and others went on another pilgrimage, this time to the hallowed Newlands Rugby Stadium.
The concert this evening was in a mixedrace community area in Witteboom at a fine church hall. The community were very enthusiastic and included Father Andrew and Father Kevin, Catholic Clerics who seemed to have a great rapport with their flock. The concert was very well received and the interval featured large supplies of freshly made Doughnuts, washed down with tea, just the refreshment to inspire our MD!
We were then transported to Langa Township, a location reserved purely for black people under the apartheid regime. Here migrant labour was housed 6 to a room in very spartan conditions.
Since then a whole spectrum of housing has been developed ranging from lower middle class detached houses to roughly built shanty houses with no facilities what ever. Our guides, who mainly lived in this area, were very informative but the complexities of the local housing deveopment schemes were too much to comprehend on a short visit such as ours. Nevertheless to walk freely in these streets, drink some of the local beer and observe the, often very poor, living conditions at close quarters was, as during the visit to District Six, to be reminded of the realities and problems of the modern South Africa.
The most stiking visit for most of our party was that paid to the Chris Hani School, a collection of concrete block classrooms augmented by steel containers which house a quite thriving primary school under the firm guidence of Mrs Maureen Taylor a tough black lady who's mission, along with that of her fellow teachers, is to equip the children of immigrants (those folk entering the towns from the rural areas) with sufficient basic education that they may enter the state system. The school is named after one of the leaders of the black anti apartheid activists shot by white supremacists in the latter part of the era which lead up to Nelson Mandela's release and subsequent Presidency.
The children have exercise books and pencils and the classrooms are equipped with desks and blackboards. They are reasonably well dressed and some have a form of tribal dress - these are singers and dancers which we were entertained by during the school singing lesson. We in turn sang a couple of numbers and Donna one. Martin Macgilvray then presented the school readers which we had brought with us and these were well received. The final, quite touching, scene was the childern chanting and each holding the hand of a visitor while conducting them to the coach.
Following this days most interesting insights into aspects of South Africa not always considered by the casual tourist, we had, in the evening, to try to focus on our singing. Todays event had been arranged by the Cape Male Voice Choir at the Alexandra Hospital, Maitland, as a joint concert. Some pieces were sung en masse and those plus Donna's contribution were greatly appreciated by the audience. An afterconcert social with complimentary refreshments was hosted by these expatriate Welshmen in the Hospital's Harmony Hall which has been leased them as a clubhouse by the hospital. Presentations were exchanged and tribal, mainly Welsh, singing followed til quite late.
After the concert we were taken to the Attie Bishop Rugby Clubhouse for sponsored wine and food. Beer was on sale at the club's bar and a fine "afterglow" ensued. There was much informal singing including "The Old Transvaal" by our hosts and good renditions by both choirs separately and sometimes together. By 1am it was time to return to a various host's homes after what had been a very enjoyable and successful day and especially evening.
The day was spent with our individual hosts and the writers experience is recored here as an example. Our hosts lived about 20km east of Hermanus in a village called Stanford. They had a fine old verandered house and a pretty guest cottage about 200 meters away. The plan had been to go on a small boat birdwatching cruise with Champagne picnic brunch on the river and lagoon which is a big feature of this area. However the first rain for two months started and it was decided to take the supplies to the bar of the local pub/guesthouse, set in beautiful gardens with many water features. So we two couples from Radcliffe together with our kind hosts, Basil and Bea Whittaker, enjoyed a leisurely repaste in pleasant surroundings before returning via a tour of tranquil Stanford to their house to pack.
We were due to rendevous with the rest of our group at 4pm so had time for a stroll around the front and environs of Hermanus before then. We also walked on the low cliffs where during the whale watching season (may to november) these huge mammals come very close in shore, see follwing image. During the season the population of Hermanus triples as it is one of the best places in the world for land based whale watching.
After a visit to the market and a sample of locally brewed beer it was time to return to the Wine Shop Complex to say our final farewells and board the buses to the Airport. En route back to CT we went via the Sir Lowrey's Pass and had fine views of the northern part of False Bay with CT and Table Mtn. in the background.
Flight SA 220 departed on time at 2120 and we had an uneventful flight back to a grey and overcast UK, arriving at about 7am on Sunday 27th., to find the coach waiting to transport us back to Radcliffe which we reached by 1130.
AT THIS POINT THE WRITER WISHES TO RECORD A VERY LARGE VOTE OF THANKS TO OUR HON.SEC., JOHN BARTLE, FOR THE TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WORK AND TIME HE PUT IN OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS IN ORDER TO MAKE THIS TOUR A SUCCESS.
For an account of the second week see Suzie Bartle's 'The Young Ones'.
The village/town of Hermanus is a very well known seaside resort some 50 miles east of Cape Town and famous, inter alia, for the large number of whales which congregate close offshore at certain times of the year. This very interesting centre's rather jumbled, but informative, website can be accessed at HERMANUS.
A fourday outline weather forecast for Cape Town and other South African cities can be accessed at WEATHER.
Turning to the 2nd week of the tour which will include visits to several wildlife reserves, the S.A. Tourist authorities have set up a network of video cameras, some manned, some unmanned, which record activities of wildlife at waterholes or other strategic locations. Still images (pictures) from these sites are regularly transferred to the net and the whole incorporated into what they somewhat fancifully call a "virtual safari". A description of the system and links to these "webcams" can be found at website address www.safricam.co.za. We have found these sites slow to download but if you have some time and interest try our link to WILDLIFEWEBCAMS.
The following image of a "White" Rhino in the Hluehue reserve in Natal was downloaded from that website midday wednesday, 26th Feb., and was only taken on the 25th.
