Gordon's Bay (Afrikaans: Gordonsbaai) is a harbour town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality Eastern Suburbs region (formerly called Helderberg Basin).[2] It is situated on the shores of Gordon's Bay in the northeastern corner of False Bay about 58 km from Cape Town to the south of the N2 national road and is named after Robert Jacob Gordon (1743–1795), the Dutch explorer of Scottish descent.[3]

Gordon's Bay
Gordonsbaai
Harbour Island, Gordon's Bay
Harbour Island, Gordon's Bay
Gordon's Bay is located in Western Cape
Gordon's Bay
Gordon's Bay
Gordon's Bay is located in South Africa
Gordon's Bay
Gordon's Bay
Coordinates: 34°10′00″S 18°52′00″E / 34.16667°S 18.86667°E / -34.16667; 18.86667
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceWestern Cape
MunicipalityCity of Cape Town
Area
 • Total9.67 km2 (3.73 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total16,776
 • Density1,700/km2 (4,500/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • Black African10.9%
 • Coloured19.8%
 • Indian/Asian1.5%
 • White65.6%
 • Other2.2%
First languages (2011)
 • Afrikaans59.1%
 • English32.6%
 • Xhosa2.1%
 • Other6.2%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)
7140
PO box
7151
Area code021
An aerial photograph of the beach at Gordons Bay.

Gordon's Bay is the smallest of three towns in the Helderberg region (Somerset West, Strand and Gordon's Bay), so named after the Helderberg Mountain which is part of the Hottentots-Holland Mountains which border the locality on two sides. Gordon's Bay was originally named "Fish Hoek", many years before the town of the same name, located on the western side of False Bay, was founded. Evidence of this can be seen on the outside wall of the local Post Office.

Gordon's Bay consists of the old village, situated around the old harbour and Bikini Beach, the mountainside on the lower slopes of the Hottentots-Holland mountains overlooking False Bay, and the low-lying suburbs close to the main beach, making up the most recent expansion of the town.

The older part of Gordon's Bay includes the South African Naval College, a junior officer training center adjacent to the old harbour and yacht marina. Above the harbour on the mountainside is an emblem of a giant anchor and the letters "GB" assembled from painted stones which stands for General Botha, the name of the earlier training base, SATS General Botha, which was also the original name of the naval station in the town. The Steenbras Dam, one of Cape Town's suppliers of drinking water, is located behind the mountain above the town.

Gordon's Bay has a blue flag beach, Bikini Beach, to the south of the harbour, which is generally popular, particularly with students from the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University.[4] The beach is funded by the City of Cape Town to properly maintain facilities that include public showers, changing rooms, bathrooms and a grassy promenade. The beach is considered safe and is regularly patrolled by a seasonal security guard.[5]

Coat of arms edit

Gordon's Bay was a municipality from 1961 to 1996. The town council assumed a coat of arms, designed by Schalk Pienaar, in July 1962,[6] and registered it with the Cape Provincial Administration in November 1962[7] and at the Bureau of Heraldry in November 1988.[8]

The arms were : Per chevron, the chief barry wavy Argent and Azure and the base Vert, in chief two anchors and in base a protea slipped and leaved, Or. In layman's terms, the shield was divided in two by a chevron-shaped line, the upper half displaying two golden anchors on a background of silver and blue wavy stripes, and the lower half a golden protea flower on a green background.

The crest was a yacht in full sail, and the motto Sol et salubritas.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "Main Place Gordon's Bay". Census 2011.
  2. ^ "Official planning suburbs". Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  3. ^ Robert Jacob Gordon 1743-1795: The Man and His Travels at the Cape - Patrick Cullinan Winchester Struik (1992)
  4. ^ "Blue Flag South Africa - Bikini beach, at Gordon's Bay in Cape Town". Archived from the original on 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  5. ^ "Gordon's Bay Security - Security Page". Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  6. ^ Western Cape Archives : Gordon's Bay Municipal Minutes (25 July 1962).
  7. ^ Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette 3161 (23 November 1962).
  8. ^ http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za[permanent dead link]

External links edit