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the end of the Peninsula and 285 ft. above sea level and 525 ft. lower than the existing

light. His choice of site was not universally accepted but he persisted and his design was

accepted. The Member of the Legislative Assembly for Simon’s Town, Mr. J. M.
Runicman pushed for approval of the new scheme and £8 000 was put aside for the project.

Work began in 1913 under Cooper’s supervision with the dynamiting of a 50 ft. high

pinnacle of rock, known as Diaz Point, to create a level area for the base of the tower. The
site is at the end of a rocky ridge with steep, almost precipitous, sides falling to the sea on

both sides. Access to the site was a major problem and a narrow path and 18-inch trolley

track had to be built on top of the ridge, at one point requiring a wall twenty-five feet high
and sixty feet long so that a path 8 feet wide could be created. This first track ended at a

crane which lowered the material trolleys to a lower track which continued on to the site.

The gradient of the track was excessive, being generally 1 in 4 but at some points
steepening to 1 in 2 or worse, and a system for braking using rope tackles had to be

devised.

Stone for the construction of the walls and tower base was quarried and dressed below the
site, then lifted some 150 ft. into the trolleys and run to the site. Sand was excavated from a

cave at sea level and carried in bags some 280 ft. via a winding path up the steep

mountainside. Water was carried by trolley to the end of the top trolley track and then run
by pipe to the site. Other materials such as cement, other building materials, and the light

housing and apparatus, were transported by ox-wagon from Simon’s Town and transferred
to the trolley and crane system.

In spite of the blasting to remove Diaz Point the area cleared was still too small and

buttress supporting-walls had to be built to support two of the four corners of the building.

Because of the exposed position and the regularity of the strong, if not gale force south-

easters, work was very slow but eventually the foundation stone was laid by Sir Thomas

Price on 25 April 1914. He was accompanied by “a distinguished company representative
of the Railway and Harbours Service, the Admiralty, Parliament, etc. Ladies, too,

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