OPINION: Barge is an important piece of Port Shepstone’s history

DEAR Editor; 

In last week’s Herald readers submitted their reminiscences of the river boats, Wally Archer from Perth in Australia was spot-on with his identification of our newly-found treasure.

This boat is a barge and was one of the team of three barges that carried cargoes up and down the river between South Wharf, the Sugar Mill and the Lime quarries.

It is an integral part of Port Shepstone’s history as it was involved in the early business life of the Port Shepstone settlement that developed at Batstone’s Drift and the only road through the area was the wagon route to Durban that crossed the river at that point.

The main industries of early years were the Sugar Mills and the Limestone quarries and they were in isolated areas in rough country and there were no roads to serve them.

This historical relic needs to be preserved at all costs .

Its story appears in the histories of the River Road, lime kilns at North Shepstone, sea-going vessels loading sugar at Batstone’s Drift and of the 1959 flood that buried the limeworks and whatever else it could.

But whatever you do save the barge!

Until professional work is done on the relic, keep it wet with unsalted water or it might crumble before your eyes.

This is our ‘Mary Rose’.

MARY NEETHLING

HAVE YOUR SAY

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