Visiting the Castle Of Good Hope
is usually something you do when
you are in primary school and then
never again.
I certainly haven’t been there for
more decades than can be mentioned
in polite company – except
for a Mother City Queer Project
once, but that’s another story.
It’s all very historical and
military orientated but if that kind
of thing lights your fuse it can be an
interesting way to pass a few hours.
Plus there is a great exhibition in
one of the three museums there
called Ghoema & Glitter, all about
our annual New Year carnival.
It took 13 years for the Dutch
East India Company aka the VOC
(Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie)
to build the castle, from 1666 to
1679. And contrary to legend, Jan
van Riebeeck never surveyed the
Cape from one of the castle’s five
bastions, having already left by the
time construction to replace his little
clay and timber fort began.
Built to defend the Cape from
European marauders who had
designs on it for its location as a
way station on the lucrative trade
route to the East, the castle has a
rich military heritage. Even so, not
once has a cannon been fired from
there in battle. Signal cannons, yes,
lots of those. Every day in fact.
At 10am and 12pm they re-enact
the key ceremony in which an NCO
accompanied by some soldiers
would retrieve the key to the main
entrance, the Simon van der Stel
gate, from the Governor’s quarters.
After making sure it was safe, they
would open up for business. After
that, a signal cannon would be fired.
Today, they use a teeny tiny one
that looks as if it would fit in one’s
handbag, but do not be deceived – it
makes a very respectable bang and
a decent cloud of smoke.
If you get as excited as I do about
large amounts of black powder, you
must be at the Castle on Saturday
when the Cannon Association Of
South Africa lets loose with all their
noisy toys. There will be cannon firings
on the hour from 10am till 3pm,
including single shot, three shot
reload, ripple fire and a broadside
reply to the noon gun.
There will also be blast demonstrations,
cannon displays with
their owners in attendance, model
cannons and construction drawings
(with “occasional” firings so perhaps
not for the nervous of disposition),
photographs, video and slide
show displays as well as guided
tours of the cannons at the castle.
It’s all rather thrilling, and you get
it all for the same bargain price as
a normal tour of the castle.
These take place at 11am, 12pm
and 2pm daily and last about 45
minutes. You can buy a map and
guide yourself, but where’s the fun
in that? Maybe a good idea if you
are Spanish, German, Dutch,
French or Italian, since the tour is
conducted in English and the maps
are available in all those languages.
The tour takes in the basic history
of the Castle and its interesting
features, like the pretty Dolphin
Pool, what the six flags on the Leerdam
bastion represent, the sun
dials and of course the dungeons,
torture chambers and jail cells. The
prisoners might have been
wretched but they apparently possessed
a dry wit; carved above one
door – in a rather ornate hand – is
this legend: “Miss Reece’s Hotel
Lodgeings For Single Gentle Men”.
The military museum is well
worth a look around. There are sections
covering the Anglo-Boer War,
the Frontier Wars and the general
military history of the Cape, both
Eastern and Western.
I loved the regimental displays,
where they have original costumes
and weaponry of most regiments
that have served at the castle. The
only thing not original, said artist
and model builder Jaco van Zyl, is
the recently taxidermied pony.
Even the big solid wooden horse
used by the Cape Field Artillery to
train its members saddling and harnessing
is an 1898 original, just
repainted and restored.
The museums are not included
in the guided tours. There is also
the William Fehr Collection, housed
in the Governor’s quarters, which
is all that dark, dusky old Dutch
stuff. I much preferred Ghoema &
Glitter in the Iziko museum next
door. You can’t miss it – the stairs
are festooned with ribbons.
Inside there are audio visual displays,
musical instruments,
enlarged newspaper cuttings papering
the walls, and a comprehensive
history of the New Year carnival on
large, easy-to-read posters. And
there are lots of those sparkly, glittering,
rainbow coloured silk suits,
hats and umbrellas.
If you have no idea what I am
talking about, you’ll find out all
about it on New Year’s Day if you’re
anywhere near the City Bowl. Or
you could just check out the exhibition
to learn more about a very
important and vibrant facet of our
multi-layered Cape culture.
. The Castle Of Good Hope is
open daily from 9am till 4pm with
guided tours at 11am, 12pm and
2pm. Cost: adults R25, children and
SA students R10, SA pensioners R15.
Call 021 787 1082/3/4 or go to
www.castleofgoodhope.co.za