Monday, May 20, 2013

The lake on Lakeside Road

After all the rain we had in Port Elizabeth the lake on Lakeside Road flooded its banks and closed the road for quite some time.  I took a drive past there the other day to see how high it still was but it seems to have dropped back to its normal level.  The lake is the biggest natural fresh water lake in Port Elizabeth.  Just one problem.  I can't really find what the lake's proper name is other than the area being called Lake Farm. Anybody knows? 

10 comments:

  1. On the 8th of June there is a trail run on the Royalston Reserve which borders this lake..... determined to get you on a trail :-)
    And no, sorry I don't know the lake's real name.

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    1. I'm still very unfit but will slowly get into things from here on, starting with the Muck Run

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  2. Is the lake open to the Public for picnics etc?

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    1. Unfortunately the lake is on private property and you need to get a key and permission to get in.

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  3. The Surveyor General Diagram Map of 1860 has the lake/vlei named as "Landman's Lake".

    The farm Cragga Kamma was granted to Adolph Landman on the 20th June 1816.

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    1. Thanks for the email Grant. I think I will post the map as a follow up

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  4. PE seems to have quite a reserve of fresh water underneath, counting also the North End Lake, Korsten Dry Lake and now also Landman's Lake. Is their a natural aquifer or is it all just random geography? We also hav emany rivers all across the Bay, from the dribbling shark, the Baakens, Kragga Kamma, Papankuils right up to the big boys like the Swartkops and Sundays Rivers.

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    1. I have heard them say that there is a lot of water under Port Elizabeth. That's why there are so many boreholes around areas like Walmer.

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    2. North End Lake is an artificial lake. It was dug-out/built for a power station on Mount Road. The power station was built in the 1920s and demolished in the 1980s.
      Some details here: http://heritage.eskom.co.za/heritage/swartkops/swartkops.htm

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  5. Thank you, Grant. I always thought is was just a lake, i.e. a normal/natural lake. I've never liked the name "North End Lake"and think "Lake Sydenham" gives a nicer, albeit misleading, image of the lake.

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