Mowbray | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 33°56′46″S18°28′34″E / 33.94611°S 18.47611°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Western Cape |
Municipality | City of Cape Town |
Area | |
• Total | 2.76 km2 (1.07 sq mi) |
Population (2011) [1] | |
• Total | 4,726 |
• Density | 1,700/km2 (4,400/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• Black African | 44.2% |
• Coloured | 11.3% |
• Indian/Asian | 4.0% |
• White | 36.1% |
• Other | 4.3% |
First languages (2011) | |
• English | 68.0% |
• Afrikaans | 8.0% |
• Xhosa | 7.4% |
• Zulu | 2.1% |
• Other | 14.5% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 7700 |
PO box | 7705 |
Mowbray is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa and lies on the slopes of Devil's Peak. Mowbray is at a junction of several major Cape Town highways and has an important multi-modal public transport interchange at Mowbray railway station. Its original name was Driekoppen ("Three heads" in Dutch).
Mowbray is bounded on the west by the M3 freeway, beyond which lies Devil's Peak, and on the north by the N2 freeway, beyond which lies the suburb of Observatory. Towards the east, the built-up area of Mowbray ends at the M5 freeway, beyond which lies the Black River and the suburb of Pinelands; however, the official boundaries of Mowbray also include the Rondebosch and Mowbray golf courses, which lie beyond the M5, towards Sybrand Park and Pinelands respectively. On the south, Mowbray borders on the suburb of Rosebank with a less well-defined boundary.
The Liesbeeck River flows from south to north through Mowbray, and separates the suburb into two distinct sections. The western section lies on the lower slopes of Devil's Peak, and contains most of the commercial development in the suburb. The eastern section, known as "Little Mowbray", lies on the low hill between the Liesbeeck and Black Rivers.
The well-known Quaker Peace Centre has its offices in Mowbray.
Mowbray is well-connected to the road network, being bounded (as described above) by the M3, M5 and N2 freeways. Apart from the freeways, the main roads in the suburb are Main Road (M4) and Liesbeeck Parkway (M57), which run north-south; Victoria Road/St. Peter's Road/Durban Road/Klipfontein Road (M18) which runs west-east; and Raapenberg Road (M52) which runs to the north-east towards Pinelands.
For public transport, Mowbray is served by a station on the Metrorail Southern Suburbs railway line. Next to the station is a large Golden Arrow bus station with routes running out all over Cape Town, and a minibus taxi rank.
State-funded Mowbray Maternity Hospital, the only of its kind in Cape Town, is located on Hornsey Road near Mowbray railway station. [2] Mowbray Maternity Hospital is a referral hospital and provides comprehensive specialised maternity services spanning the three main stages of childbirth; Antenatal care, labour and delivery, and postnatal care. [3]
Rhodes Memorial, built in memory of Cecil John Rhodes, lies on the slopes of Devil's Peak west of Mowbray near the M3 Highway. A national landmark, Rhodes Memorial lies within the Table Mountain National Park and was built with granite from the rock bases on which the mountain rests. [4] The memorial site offers panoramic day time and night time views of the Cape Peninsula and Cape Town and is popular amongst tourists and locals.
The Mowbray Golf Course, adjacent to the N2 Highway, was established in 1910 and is recognised for being amongst the best in South Africa. It is an 18-hole golf course with a combination of links and parklands. The course has hosted the South African Open several times. [5]
The only complete windmill in South Africa was Mostert's Mill. It was built in 1796 and worked until the 1860s. It was restored in 1935 and again in 1995 and was open to the public one Saturday a month. It was destroyed in a fire in April 2021.
Devil's Peak is part of the mountainous backdrop to Cape Town, South Africa. When looking at Table Mountain from the city centre, or when looking towards the city across Table Bay, the skyline from left to right consists of Devil's Peak, the flat summit of Table Mountain, the peak of Lion's Head, and Signal Hill.
Groote Schuur Hospital is a large, government-funded, teaching hospital situated on the slopes of Devil's Peak in the city of Cape Town, South Africa. It was founded in 1938 and is famous for being the institution where the first human-to-human heart transplant took place, conducted by University of Cape Town-educated surgeon Christiaan Barnard on the patient Louis Washkansky.
The N21 is a proposed national route in the City of Cape Town, South Africa. It is also known as the Peninsula Expressway ring road. Once complete, it will link the northern suburbs on the Atlantic seaboard with the southern suburbs on False Bay (Muizenberg). The R300 freeway is entirely part of the proposed route.
Rondebosch is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. It is primarily a residential suburb, with shopping and business districts as well as the main campus of the University of Cape Town. The area is noted for its beautiful views of Table Mountain, its convent location to the rest of the city of Cape Town, and its proximity to the University of Cape Town.
Mount Edgecombe or Mt Edgecombe is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, situated just north of Durban, which forms part of eThekwini, the Greater Durban Metropolitan area. Much of the suburb is cordoned off as a gated settlement comprising resorts, golf courses and a retirement home. It was previously a sugar growing area. The population increased by 89% between 2001 and 2011 from 3,874 to 7,323. Its name is derived from the Earl of Mount Edgecombe in Cornwall, United Kingdom.
The N2 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Cape Town through George, Gqeberha, East London, Mthatha, Port Shepstone and Durban to Ermelo. It is the main highway along the Indian Ocean coast of the country. Its current length of 2,255 kilometres (1,401 mi) makes it the longest numbered route in South Africa.
Muizenberg is a beach-side town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated where the shore of the Cape Peninsula curves round to the east on the False Bay coast. It is considered to be the main surfing spot in Cape Town and is currently home to a surfing community, centered on the popular 'Surfer's Corner'.
The M5 is an expressway in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. It connects Milnerton on the Western Seaboard in the north to Muizenberg in the south, and crosses both the N1 and the N2. For part of its length, from the N1 interchange to Plumstead, it is a limited-access freeway (motorway). From Mowbray to Muizenberg it is parallel to the M4 Main Road.
The M3 is an expressway in Cape Town, South Africa, connecting the upper part of the City Bowl to the Southern Suburbs and ending in Tokai. For most of its route it parallels - though further to the south and west - the M4, which was the original road connecting central Cape Town with the settlements to the south.
The Liesbeek River is a river in Cape Town in South Africa. It is named after a small river in the Netherlands. The first "free burghers" of the Dutch East India Company were granted land to farm along the river in 1657, shortly after the first Dutch settlers arrived in the Cape. The river was originally called the Amstel or Versse Rivier. It is the first river that Jan van Riebeeck named.
The Southern Suburbs are a group of Anglophone suburbs in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. This group includes, among others, Observatory, Mowbray, Pinelands, Rosebank, Rondebosch, Rondebosch East, Newlands, Claremont, Lansdowne, Kenilworth, Bishopscourt, Constantia, Wynberg, Ottery, Plumstead, Diep River, Bergvliet and Tokai. The area is also commonly referred to as the Cape Peninsula, often including the towns further South such as Fish Hoek.
Observatory is a suburb in Cape Town, South Africa, colloquially known as Obs. Bordered by Mowbray to the south and Salt River to the northwest, the area is best known as a student neighbourhood associated with the nearby University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital. It takes its name from the South African Astronomical Observatory headquarters, built in 1829 by the Royal Observatory.
Rosebank is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa, located between the suburbs of Mowbray and Rondebosch.
University Estate is a mainly residential suburb of Cape Town located at the foot of Devil's Peak to the east of the city. University Estate has the postcode 7925.
The 2009Table Mountain fire was a large fire in and around the Table Mountain National Park in Cape Town, South Africa. It broke out at approximately 20:30 on 17 March 2009 in the vicinity of Rhodes Memorial and initial fears were that the fire would spread to UCT's Upper Campus. The Table Mountain National Park quickly deployed firefighting personnel on the mountain, but the fire spread due to the strong winds. At around 23:20 on Tuesday evening, the fire started moving up Devil's Peak and by 00:00 was at the tip and making its way around the mountain to the suburbs of Tamboerskloof, Oranjezicht, Vredehoek and Gardens on the north side. The flames were engulfing the mountain and the huge amounts of smoke made it hard for rescue and fire-fighting helicopters making their way to the fire. By 00:30, people from the aforementioned areas were told to evacuate due to the strong winds pushing the fire around the mountain. By this time, Fire & Rescue Services had deployed 29 fire engines and 90 firefighters who were assisted by 45 firefighters from the South African National Parks and volunteers of Disaster Management
Hospital Bend is a major freeway junction, located to the east of the central business district of Cape Town, South Africa. It is the junction between the N2 national route and the M3 metropolitan expressway. Its unusual design led to notoriety as a traffic bottleneck and a frequent accident location; between March 2008 and early 2010 it underwent major roadworks to address these issues. It takes its name from it curving around the grounds of Groote Schuur Hospital.
Rondebosch East is a residential suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south-east of the city centre. As the name suggests, it is located to the east of the neighbouring suburb of Rondebosch. As of 2001 it had a population of approximately 4,600 people in an area of just over 1 square kilometre (0.4 sq mi). A large common, similar to but smaller than Rondebosch Common, is located in the center of the suburb.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cape Town:
The M4 is a long metropolitan route in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa. It connects the Cape Town CBD with the Cape of Good Hope via Wynberg, Muizenberg and Fish Hoek. Originally, it was the main route connecting the Cape Town CBD with the Southern Suburbs and is thus named Main Road for much of its length. From the CBD to Kirstenhof, it is parallel to the M3 Freeway.
The M9 is a long metropolitan route in the City of Cape Town, South Africa. It connects Sir Lowry's Pass Village with Wynberg via Somerset West, Firgrove, Macassar, Khayelitsha and Nyanga.