It could be a rare beauty spot in the town. A place where families could gather for picnics and enjoy the abundant bird life that gathers around a wetland area.
Instead, this piece of natural heaven is a rubbish dump. Locals, like Graham Morgan, who have been visiting the area since childhood, call it The Steps, from the large rocks that pave the area around the wetland.
From the badly potholed ArgyleStreet, take a short-left (or right, depending on which direction you are coming from) to behind the concrete palisade fencing which marks Dundee town’s first cemetery.
One has to walk now because the rubbish-strewn trail is too tough for any car other than a rugged 4×4. Peculiar ranges of household goods have been dumped here: toilet seats, car bumpers, building rubble and general domestic trash.
Wild-looking goats prowl around along with the odd cow. The stench of leaking sewage fills one’s nostrils as effluent continues to run from at least one manhole. Ironically, this has helped to keep the area watered during the current drought much to the delight of the bird life.

The rock paving could make for a natural picnic spot if the powers-that-be use their initiative. The place is also historical – local historian and author, Pat Rundgren, says the British camped in the vicinity just before the battle of Talana.

A check on the nearby Steenkoolspruit, flowing slightly better after the recent storms, shows that it is heavily polluted with plastic bags hanging from small trees overhanging the river.
The water around the wetland is very green – probably due to the lack of an inflow – yet the bird life is quite startling. The rock paving could make for a natural picnic spot if the powers-that-be use their initiative. The place is also historical – local historian and author, Pat Rundgren, says the British camped in the vicinity just before the battle of Talana.
Mounds in the earth could indicate possible military involvement from shells and/or defences.
Sadly, neglect and dumping have steadily impacted on this environment which is simply trying to defend itself from man’s folly.