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Gordon's Bay

Harbour town in South Africa

Gordon's Bay

Harbour town in South Africa

FieldValue
nameGordon's Bay
native_nameGordonsbaai
image_skylineHarbour Island, Gordon's Bay, South Africa.JPG
image_captionHarbour Island, Gordon's Bay
pushpin_mapSouth Africa Western Cape#South Africa
coordinates
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameSouth Africa
subdivision_type1Province
subdivision_name1Western Cape
subdivision_type2District
subdivision_type3Municipality
subdivision_name3City of Cape Town
subdivision_type4Main Place
established_titleEstablished
leader_titleCouncillor
area_footnotes
area_total_km29.67
population_footnotes
population_total16776
population_as_of2011
population_density_km2auto
demographics_type1Racial makeup (2011)
demographics1_footnotes
demographics1_title1Black African
demographics1_info110.9%
demographics1_title2Coloured
demographics1_info219.8%
demographics1_title3Indian/Asian
demographics1_info31.5%
demographics1_title4White
demographics1_info465.6%
demographics1_title5Other
demographics1_info52.2%
demographics_type2First languages (2011)
demographics2_footnotes
demographics2_title1Afrikaans
demographics2_info159.1%
demographics2_title2English
demographics2_info232.6%
demographics2_title3Xhosa
demographics2_info32.1%
demographics2_title5Other
demographics2_info56.2%
timezone1SAST
utc_offset1+2
postal_code_typePostal code (street)
postal_code7140
postal2_code_typePO box
postal2_code7151
area_code_typeArea code
area_code021
An aerial photograph of the beach at Gordons Bay.

Gordon's Bay () 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). 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.

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. 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.

Coat of arms

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, and registered it with the Cape Provincial Administration in November 1962 and at the Bureau of Heraldry in November 1988.

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.

Schools

The town does not have much educational opportunities, except for a couple daycares, and two primary schools, Gordon's Bay Primary School and Temperance Town Primary School. The town has no high school. Many children will either have to homeschool or attend other secondary institutions such as Hoërskool Strand, Parel Vallei High School, and Hottentots Holland High School.

References

References

  1. "Main Place Gordon's Bay". Census 2011.
  2. "Official planning suburbs".
  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".
  5. "Gordon's Bay Security - Security Page".
  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{{dead link. (March 2017)
  9. "Home - Gordon's Bay Primary School".
  10. "Gordon's Bay Primary School".
  11. "Temperance Town Primêre Skool -TTPS".
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