Manganese mine, Hout Bay

Another first for me today as we set off from the East Fort on Chapman's Peak to scale the heights of the Hout Bay side of Constantiaberg - our mission: the old manganese mine. Although ore was discovered in the 19th century, it was only mined between May 1910 and May 1911, with just over 5000 tons of ore being sent down a chute to the jetty below (the pillars remain as a monument to Man's folly) for shipping to Britain and Belgium. As we clambered higher and higher up the slope on the way to the mine, it was incredible to imagine how they even went about hacking the ore from the mountainside and getting it to the chute - I wonder how much ore is lying at the foot of the mountain on the seabed? The narrow path, slippery after yesterday's abundant rain, had a sheer drop both up and down, and I thought it might be a mule track for transporting the ore, but I suspect that the Indian miners who toiled up there would have carried the ore themselves. We crossed heaps of ore dumps and it was interesting to see how different the manganese is from the surrounding geology. It runs in a narrow vertical seam and must have been a physical nightmare for those involved. Today you can go in a little way (it's not extensive) and look up at the old beams overhead, but otherwise it could just be a tall, narrow cave. If it had been gold, you can be sure that mountain would have been excavated to sea level by now, so we'll be thankful for small mercies. Of course, the property values in the area have made up for the lack of gold!
After the rain, a cold northwester and heavy cloud cover ensured that we didn't work up a sweat on our strenuous climb. We went further up to the ridge overlooking Baviaanskloof on the other side of the mountain, at about 350m, where the upper shaft exits, and it was not a walk for the faint-hearted, particularly as a large part of the trail consists of loose rocks, and walking with two sticks is not a sign of old age or infirmity, but rather a sensible hiker! I couldn't have managed without them, and there is also the added benefit of an upper body and arm workout, so a fine morning on the mountain!