Victorian dolls
Serendipity with Bev Young
THERE are so few intact Victorian houses left in Port Alfred.
On the east bank, in 1996, I counted 35 pure wood and iron homes. This year I could only see two left.
The east bank is such a vital link of our collective settler history, it seems criminal that, for all the reasons people concoct, these historical houses are allowed to be trashed.
If other “dorps” in South Africa, revere them, then why do we not collectively, embrace the history?
These homes were purchased from England, off a brochure, and erected on site, with instructions (flat pack houses). The particular house in our photo this week, seems to have conflicting stories – it could have been the harbourmaster’s home, or spinsters lived there. Whatever is true, it is intact and delightful.
