When the Hermanus history bug bites you

Writer Elaine Davie

Today is tomorrow’s yesterday is an old adage which indicates the fluidity of history. It is not an event, a time-span, an era; rather, it’s an ever-turning wheel connecting people and places, repeating itself in predictable patterns through time and place. And this, of course, is what makes it so fascinating to historians. It becomes a treasure hunt, a tracking of connections by following clues; predicting the future through the events of the past.

Angela Heslop and Dr Robin Lee, founders of the Hermanus History Society. Robin's latest book, For Keeps: articles on Hermanus history worth keeping will appear in November.

PHOTO: Taylum Meyer

It was this passion for history which brought two Hermanus residents together in 2012 to start a history so ciety. Angela Heslop, a former nurse, who had lived most of her adult life in the UK and Dr Robin Lee, with a PhD in Literature and many years of community service in the NGO sector in Johannesburg, had both come to Hermanus to retire, but had been long-time visitors to the town before that. They wanted to know more about the origins of this village by the sea: why had it attracted such a diversity of people either to stay or to visit?

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