Page 39 - Bulletin 17 2013

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The Cape Town Guide,1897: 43.

At St. James there is no beach worth mentioning, a pool intended exclusively for ladies’
use has been formed by clearing the rocks away so as to leave a circular space with a
sand bottom, girdled round by protecting rocks. There are many other nooks and crannies
available for a dip, but the rough rocky bed beneath the bathers’ feet, makes the exercise
fatiguing and disagreeable. The same remarks in a measure apply to Kalk Bay.

Official Guide Book and Souvenir Cape Gala (1907 – 08) Season, 1907: 145

This is a sheltered spot beneath the mountain, which is liked better than the fashionable
Muizenberg by many owing to the absence of wind and the peacefulness of the place.
The railway station is close at hand, in fact the line runs almost next to the road from
Lakeside to Simon’s Town. Behind the station at St. James is a picturesque Roman
Catholic Church, in which the altar is especially magnificent; while on the beach side of
the railway station is a Marine Station, which was built for the convenient observation of
South African marine animal and plant life. Visitors can spend an instructive hour in this
cosy stone building; and the mountain is always attractive, close at hand and easily
accessible.

An additional attraction was St. James Hotel, built in 1897. “St. James Hotel is one of

those quiet and unostentatious establishments admirably conducted at which refreshments
can be obtained without the unseemly noise which sometimes characterises other popular

resorts. Those who wish for rest and retirement, and renewal of health and strength,

cannot do better than pay a visit to St. James Hotel.” (Cape Town Guide, 1904.)

By degrees a formal pool was constructed to replace the one that residents had shaped by
themselves by moving rocks aside. In 1911 W. P. Schreiner and 60 other residents

petitioned the KB-MM to construct a proper pool and Charles McGhie was contracted to
do this. Initially, he built a stone and cement north wall and piled up rocks at the deep

end. There was no south wall. Later, in 1913, the south wall was constructed and the

north wall was raised by adding a sandstone coping to give a water depth of 5 ft. at the
deep end, and an area of 13,000 sq ft. The Mayor’s Minute concluded that it was “now

one of the finest pools of the premier seaside resort.” (Figs. 1.36 – 1.39.)