Tour Westcliff in jacaranda glory
With Summer nearly upon us, Johannesburg is once again robed in glorious jacaranda purple.
The Johannesburg Heritage Foundation will offer a walking tour of Westcliff, which will allow for breathtaking views of the city, Westcliff’s historic homes, and a climb down the famous stairs.
The tour will begin at Hope School, originally Pallinghurst, the home of Raymond and Hope Schumacher, and from there it will make its way down the Westcliff Stairs to Wexford Avenue, Westcliff Drive and Tyson Road.
There, the tour will take in the once stunningly modern houses of the 1930s, with their elegant simplistic geometric shapes, steel and concrete.
After a visit to Kanonkop, the tour party will climb the stairs up to Woolston Road for some fine architecture and news stories, before climbing down the last set of stairs to Pallinghurst Road before returning to Hope School.
The foundation’s Flo Bird said that among the highlights of the tour were the view sites on the Westcliff Stairs, the portraits of the Schumachers, and the house in which Nicholas Montserrat wrote his novel The Cruel Sea.
The tour will take place on 26 October at 2pm. Meet Brian McKechnie and Monique Jefferson at Hope School, Pallinghurst Road, Westcliff.
Details: 011-482-3349; mail@joburgheritage.co.za
