Page 168 - Bulletin 7 2003

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of the Library Association) and among those at the first function was an elderly non-
resident of Kommetjie, unknown to the organizers but accompanied by members of the

Maree family. While paging through a copy of our “hot-off-the press” publication she
squealed with delight upon seeing a photograph of herself as a toddler in 1915, seated

on her mother’s lap in the sidecar of a cycle ridden by her father, William Andrew. Bill

Andrew began his career as a Morse code expert at the Slangkop radio station in 1911
and continued to operate until his retirement in 1956, at the age of 70, after 45 years of

“sparking”.

The book also makes mention of the first-ever bus service on the Cape Peninsula and,
once again, Anton Benning’s name appears as one of the directors of the company.

Thanks to information supplied by Mike Walker from his book “Coastal Memories”,

we were able to advise readers that the journey from St. James to Kommetjie took one-
and-a-quarter hours to complete, and that all too often passengers had to push the bus

through the soft sands of Fish Hoek. They were, understandably, reluctant to pay their

fares after such efforts and the high costs for continual repairs resulted in financial
disaster. After little more than three years, the service was discontinued in 1905 and

transport reverted to ox-wagon and horse-cart, until roads were improved to allow
regular traffic. A proposal that the railway line be extended from Fish Hoek to the

Slangkop Lighthouse, in the hope that this would establish Kommetjie as a holiday
resort, never materialized, despite land being set aside along Lighthouse Road for this

purpose.

The Lighthouse was erected in 1914 and is reputed to be the tallest tower of its kind on

the South African coast at 134 feet above sea level. (Fig. 5.1). It is also the only cast
iron lighthouse in South Africa. Owing to the hostilities during World War 1, it was not

commissioned until 1919. The actual light is visible for a distance of 33 miles to
seaward and guards a very dangerous stretch of coastline between Cape Town and

Cape Point. The cost of building the lighthouse amounted to £14,358-9-1d! Our current

lighthouse keeper, Peter Dennett, is passionate about both his job and accommodating
the growing number of overseas tourists who travel around the world looking at

lighthouses. Organised tours are already being catered for and I am told that the view