Page 93 - Bulletin 18 2014

90

Beach recreation

Once the boats had vacated Fishery Beach it became more fully a recreational area. Shortly
after harbour construction commenced a small pavilion had been built. The beach, being

increasingly sheltered from the force of the seas and currents, gradually expanded through
siltation in the quiet water, and the sands were cleaner because fish cleaning took place on

special slabs and the offal was vented into the sea through a pipe in the breakwater. (Figs.

2.47 – 2.52.)

Change

Railway doubling and electrification

Less than 40 years after Fishery Beach had been crossed by the first rail viaduct it was
invaded by the second one in 1927-28. This was unavoidable given the electrification,

doubling and straightening of the line. The new viaduct was to have been a solid wall
structure but local protests caused it to be re-designed as a procession of arches that opened

access to the beach while giving it a visual rhythm. (Figs. 2.53 & 2.54.)

North Mole and pier

As the years passed it became clear that a northern breakwater was necessary to provide

protection from the “easterly seas”. There were also demands for secure mooring space for

pleasure craft and yachts. The first plan produced by the Harbour Engineer, Table Bay
Harbour, in October 1937 showed a curved mole with two 300 ft. rail pile jetties leading off

at right-angles, reclamation in the corner, and rail sidings at the root. (Figs. 2.55 & 2.56.)
This was superseded in 1938 by a straight 658 ft. long mole with a 13 ft. wide walking

surface. The root consisted of two parallel walls formed of heavy concrete units founded on