Grahamstown in the Spotlight Facts #31-40

#31The oldest fossil land animal, from the Gondwana supercontinent, has been discovered in 2013 outside Grahamstown.  The fossil is a new species of scorpion that lived here 360 million years ago before the dinosaurs roamed the earth.

#32 Grahamstown is the only place where the South African parliament has sat outside of Cape Town - in 1864. 

#32 The South African Library of the Blind is in Grahamstown. 96 years old in South Africa.

#33 Rhodes University, where a number of famous media people ( radio and television) attended. Andre Brink was also a lecturer at the university for many years, was opened in 1904.

#34 The Cock House, where Andre Brink lived and where Nelson Mandela visited on three occasion. It is now a restaurant and a guest house.

#35 The Oldenburgia hiking trail, Grahamstown’s own hiking trail, is a two-day circular trail starting and ending in the city, and there are another two shorter walking trails in town - the Dassie Krantz and Gowie Kloof.

#36 Mio went to school in Grahamstown, St Andrew`s Prep and St Andrew`s College

#37 The international Library of African Music in Prince Alfred Street in Grahamstown with over 200 traditional African instruments on display.

#38 one of the old post boxes in the country can be found in Grahamstown. It has been a national monument since 1989, only 20 of these left in the world. Originally supplied in 1857, Its still in use at the corner at Worcester and Somerset Street.

#39 Winged Figure of Peace, inscription by Rudyard Kipling, to ‘the Men of Albany’ who lost their lives during the South African War of 1899 – 1902. The bronze sculpture of a Winged figure of Peace bending over a dead soldier is by Stanley Nicholson Babb. It is also referred to as the ‘Memorial to the fallen men of Albany and Grahamstown’ on a traffic island in High Street

#40  There are 8 tower clocks in Grahamstown with 4 of them in working order including one at St Andrew`s College overlooking upper field.