A view of Johannesburg’s rich and turbulent history and heritage.
Vreni arrives at Park Station Last Saturday, there was great excitement for small boys who are Thomas the Train addicts, as well as all big boys who have a secret (and sometimes not so secret) fascination with steam trains. My grandsons and their parents […]
Read More »From Joburg CBD, to the birth of humankind to Sandton glass status symbols – they saw it all Liz at Lancaster was delighted to host a wonderful couple from San Francisco in the States recently. It was their first time to South Africa, in fact to Africa and they were up for everything. Although they […]
Read More »The Casspir project – transformation from symbol of hate and fear to aesthetic object to be admired for its riot of colour, creativity and skill What is a Casspir? Did you know that Casspir is an anagram of the acronyms SAP (South African Police) and CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research)? The Casspir was a […]
Read More »Past Experiences and Joburg graffiti tours Over 2 years ago I joined a fascinating tour of graffiti in Newtown with Jo Buitendach of Past Experiences. Somehow life has a habit if getting in the way and I didn’t write about it at the time but got re-inspired after attending a recent talk on Joburg graffiti. […]
Read More »Following the prisoner with garlands of flowers He must have cut a strange figure. A small man in prison clothing surrounded by prison warders (having arrived by train from a Volksrust prison) being walked from Park Station to the Old Fort in Braamfontein. This vignette was made all the more unusual because of a following […]
Read More »How’s this for an AMAZING initiative. Not ONE free walk, but THIRTEEN … all over the week-end of the 24th and 25th June. #JoziWalks is a series of free walking tours initiated by the Johannesburg Development Agency in partnership with local community activists, tourism entrepreneurs, walking tour operators, and the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation. Because I suffer from […]
Read More »Linden: a little gem Linden, a little jewel of a suburb with an interesting history, is a mere 6km from Liz at Lancaster. Originally part of the farm Klipfontein, it was laid out in 1901 by Laurens Geledenhuys (who founded neighbouring Emmarentia) and Johannes Van der Linde. It was very much a rural area […]
Read More »Residential property Maboneng Precinct The development of residential accommodation in Maboneng has exploded exponentially. In 2008 Jonathan Liebmann bought the DF Corlett construction offices and so Arts on Main was born. While this led to further remarkable urban renewal projects, the downside is that the upgrading and refurbing of inner city buildings often displaces previously […]
Read More »Tour of Joburg with JDA arranged by Laurice Taitz I was delighted when Laurice Taitz, the mover and shaker behind Johannesburg In Your Pocket, and guru of all that’s happening in Jozi, asked me to join a Joburg tour. She arranged it with the Johannesburg Development Agency (thanks Nomalizo) to show various journalists, tourism professionals […]
Read More »By now followers will be getting to know that I am the QoG aka Queen of Grids. I make sense of things in overall summaries either through spider diagrams (initial creative explorations) or through grids (final arrangements). I’m also passionate about exploring Jozi in all its grittiness and made contrasts; and Jozi heritage is one of my many passions.
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