Page 133 - KBHA BULLETIN 24

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Quarterdeck Road and Upper Quarterdeck Road

Neither of these roads existed in 1915. They first appeared in Archive records in 1933. Kimberley

Road was the only route running up-hill from Main Road and was just an unpaved track. (Fig.
3.39).

In the 1920s the extended Anderson, Murray and Molteno families decided to sell their huge
landholding in this area. In 1933 the land was surveyed and named Quarterdeck Township. The

township / estate took its name from Quarterdeck Cottage – owned by the Anderson and later

Murray and Molteno families for many years. (Figs. 3.40 & 3.41).

But the absence of road access to Main Road was a barrier to any sales and, in fact, Council blocked
sales until a road had been built. (Fig. 3.42). There was also a barrier to the construction of a road.

This was a thick sandstone shelf with ‘cliff-edge’ that formed the edge of the ‘Quarterdeck Plateau’
and abutted Main Road, separating Beaufort Villa and Kimberley House. Finally, in 1933, Council

received a letter confirming that ‘a gang of natives has now been employed during the past three
months cutting away the solid rock …’ On 3 March 1934 Council confirmed that Quarterdeck

Road from Main Road had now been ‘graded, cleared and formed sufficiently to give practicable

vehicular access’. Plots were subsequently advertised for sale. (Fig. 3.43).

While this was happening a road was constructed from the end of Gatesville Road to the newer,

far more expensive, homes ‘on the hill’, as the Quarterdeck end of Kalk Bay came to be known.

By 1940 a continuous road extended across Kalk Bay from Clairvaux Road, past the Mosque and
Holy Trinity, to the old Graveyard at the very end of the village. (Figs. 3.44 - 3.49). It was a major

work and was surfaced with concrete because of the War and shortages of oil based materials.

Manila Steps

Although not strictly speaking a road this is included for several reasons. The name is historically
important, commemorating the significant part played by the many Filipinos who settled in Kalk

Bay. The decision to motivate for the naming of the steps was taken by the KBHA who applied to
the City for this. In 2018 a joyous celebration was held attended by many Filipino descendants and

various VIPs. A commemorative board was also designed and erected by the KBHA. (Fig. 3.50).