Some fabulous images of old Cape Town

Cape Town : Waterfront

Rights to this picture are owned by the Western Cape Provincial Archives

Cape Town: Adderley Street

Rights to this picture are owned by the Western Cape Provincial Archives

Flower Sellers in Adderley Street

Rights to this picture are owned by the Western Cape Provincial Archives.

These photos are hanging in my place of work. During meetings, especially the dull ones in one particular boardroom, I find myself staring at them, trying to imagine myself back into that time. It is a wonderful exercise. I still have not quite worked out, after having lived in Cape Town for 2 years now, how they managed to reclaim quite as much of the land back from the sea that they have. When you are in Woodstock, it really doesn't look as though people could have been swimming on a beach nearby! Similarly, when you note that one of the main streets in Cape Town city is called Strand (Beach) Street - there isn't a beach anywhere vaguely near it!

But the flower sellers are still on Adderley street. I think they are having a really rough time of it in these times of economic recession - but they are still there!