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| Picture Gallery |
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| Early Rietvlei -
Pictures from the past |
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This
gallery
contains
pictures
of
Rietvlei
from
years
gone
by.
We
would
welcome
any
pictures
of
Early
Rietvlei
to
add
to
this
gallery
as
it
quite
interesting
to
see
how
the
vlei
and
surrounding
area
has
changed
over
the
years. |
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The
first
group
of
pictures
are
old
black
and
white
aerial
photographs.
These
ortho-photos
(they
have
contour
lines
superimposed
on
them)
were
probably
taken
in
the
late
1950's
or
maybe
even
in
the
early
1960's;
but
anybody
who
can
help
us
out
with
more
exact
dates
must
please
let
us
know.
The
pictures
on
the
gallery
are
actually
photographs
taken
of
the
ortho-photographs
which
are
pasted
on
boards
and
are
stored
in
the
Rietvlei
Environmental
Education
Centre. |
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The
second
set
is
from
one
picture
sent
to
us
by
Axel
Adelbert,
this
is a
photograph
taken
from
a
small
plane
in
1982. |
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With
these
pictures
we
point
out
some
interesting
features,
if
you
can
see
any
other
features
of
interest,
please
bring
them
to
our
attention. |
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The
ortho-photos
of
the
Rietvlei
area
probably
date
from
the
late
1950's.
The
photos
are
pasted
on
boards,
and
this
picture
was
taken
of
two
boards
placed
alongside
each
other
(the
thick
white
line
across
the
picture
is
the
join
between
the
boards). |
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This
picture
shows
the
area
that
is
presently
known
as
North
Lake
(obviously
before
the
sand
was
pumped
out
in
1973/74).
Today
North
Lake
is
very
much
larger
than
the
water
area
shown
here.
An
interesting
feature
is a
low
area
in
the
dunes
(Arrow
1)
where
the
sand
is
dark
coloured
(probably
an
indication
of
wet
sand)
-
this
could
have
been
an
earlier
outflow
to
the
sea,
and
even
in
times
of
flooding
water
from
the
vlei
could
have
flowed
through
here.
This
appears
to
be
just
north
of
the
present
Dolphin
Beach
Hotel
building. |
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Central
Pan
was
at
the
time
a
large
open
area
separated
from
the
pans
to
the
west
(now
South
Lake
and
North
Lake)
by
natural
sand
berms
-
during
high
water
levels
in
winter
these
berms
were
probably
mostly
under
water.
To
the
south
(bottom
of
picture)
one
can
see
the
Diep
River
water
channels
towards
the
estuary
mouth. |
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This
picture
shows
the
lower
portion
of
Rietvlei
and
the
upper
estuary
(north
is
to
the
left
with
the
sea
at
the
bottom).
Royal
Ascot
Racecourse
at
Milnerton
can
clearly
be
seen.
A
large
number
of
Milnerton's
streets
were
laid
out,
but
most
buildings
were
closer
to
Centre
Point. |
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This
last
picture
in
this
series
shows
the
lower
estuary
(sea
at
bottom);
see
the
streets
grid
laid
out
on
Woodbridge
Island.
The
arrow
shows
the
position
of
the
wooden
bridge
which
is
unfortunately
not
very
clear
in
this
picture.
The
southern
part
of
Milnerton
was
already
fairly
well
developed.
At
the
time
this
picture
was
taken,
the
estuary
mouth
was
closed
off
from
the
sea
by a
sandbar. |
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Axel
Adelbert
sent
us
this
picture
taken
from
a
plane
by
his
father
in
1982.
There
are
some
interesting
features
on
this
photograph
which
are
highlighted
in
the
next
pages. |
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The
Milnerton
Aquatic
Club
was
established
in
1976,
the
picture
shows
a
building
which
is
MAC
clubhouse.
This
clubhouse
was
built
in
1978
and
the
club
moved
in
during
September
1978.
At
the
time
of
this
photograph
the
entrance
was
directly
from
the
club
to
Pentz
Drive,
this
entrance
was
between
where
No
22
and
No
24
Sandpiper
Crescent
is
now;
the
dogleg
entrance
from
Grey
Avenue
came
later. |
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Rietvlei
was
purchased
by
the
then
South
African
Railways
&
Harbours
in
1970
who
pumped
sand
out
of
the
north
basin
for
the
extension
of
the
Cape
Town
harbour
during
1973
and
1974.
Seawater
was
pumped
into
the
vlei
and
the
slurry
was
pumped
back
to
the
harbour. |
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This
picture
shows
the
piles
of
sand
heaped
in
the
area
now
known
as
the
Bird
Hide
block,
this
was
most
probably
sand
from
the
top
layers
that
was
unsuitable
for
the
harbour
construction
that
was
dumped
here.
Today
these
form
the
the
small
humps
and
hillocks
in
the
area
between
north
and
south
lakes. |
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Before
the
MAC
clubhouse
was
built,
boats
were
launched
from
Otto
du
Plessis
Drive
(single
lane
at
this
stage)
at
the
little
spit
of
land
between
north
vlei
and
south
vlei.
In
the
centre
of
this
picture
you
can
still
see
signs
of
the
launch
area
and
the
track
from
Otto
du
Plessis
Drive. |
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The
history
of
the
Milnerton
Aquatic
Club
was
recorded
and
published
in a
brochure
by
Pat
Downing.
Anybody
interested
can
contact
Pat
Downing
for
copies
of
this
most
interesting
brochure
(pat.mike@xsinet.co.za).
A
lot
of
the
information
given
here
was
kindly
provided
by
Pat. |
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