Page 250 - Bulletin 8 2004

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Jager Walk after Mr. H. S. Jager who was the first and only chairman of the VMB and in
1940 became the first Mayor of the new municipality.

As always, the south-easters blew sand continually onto the rail tracks and so during the

late 1920s the SAR & H ran special trains to remove it. At the same time as the sand was

taken away the double row of old wooden sleepers was put in all along the beach and it
worked very well as sand barrier. (Fig. 5.11). By 1973-4 this barrier had deteriorated as

the sleepers disintegrated, allowing sand to be washed out from behind. A new sea-wall
was needed and the subways at the south end needed re-building. Plans were drawn up

for the catwalk to be extended to the front of the restaurant and then continued as a
pathway behind the new sea-wall. This caused a lot of dispute – longshore erosion was

expected, together with associated flooding of the restaurant by the waves, and some said

that strong currents would form making bathing dangerous. But it has been a very
successful improvement. It was designed by Mr. Hedderwick, the Town Engineer, and

built with municipal labour.

Conclusion

When we started the Fish Hoek Valley Museum someone said to me, “but Fish Hoek has

no history, the first plots were only sold in 1918.” Which, perhaps, proves that we need
our museum to let people know that although the town is relatively young the Fish Hoek

Valley has had a long and varied history.