BY THE TIME WE GOT TO WOODSTOCK

By the Time we got to Woodstock 

A vibrant, historical mess of a suburb, sandwiched between Devil’s Peak and the distant blue of a crane-filled, container laden, Table Bay. Home of the Coloured community of Cape Town and the first place Jewish immigrants settled, once they got off the ships from Europe

Woodstock today - a hodge podge of Africa's refugees from every corner of the continent, 
and a diverse range of indigenes with some serious local colour

"Primary portal into the Mother City, an eclectic melting potjie of old and new, cultural and creative, where heritage and cutting edge design meet – and play! "
so says -

http://www.ilovewoodstock.co.za

Situated just beyond the city limits and the brooding mass of the Castle, 
home of colonial Dutch, English and bad old days South African administrators -

Omnipresent Coke signs against a background of decaying former industrial buildings, 
ripe for redevelopment

Refugees from African countries, pour into the Cape in search of pastures new.
 Pastors follow their flocks from Nigeria,  DRC - the Democratic Republic of Congo - and poor benighted Zimbabwe, to create spaces where music and faith make oases of solace for the displaced

 Decay and regeneration exist in odd co-existence enlivened by searching heads and a rash of graffiti

 Every dilapidated building speaks of a hidden past and volatile future

 
Woodstock has churches, mosques and disused synagogues aplenty


The oldest Jewish cemetery in the city, lies behind these gates, hinting at a past almost obliterated by the move to more salubrious suburbs and immigration much further afield...

A faded and evocative sign of the first Cape Town Hebrew Congregation's Old Albert Road Cemetery 1848-1887

Forlorn graves visible through the cracks of the ancient wooden swing doors, tell tales of death by drowning, smallpox and simple old age

Baltic Timber juxtaposed with a quirky modern security kiosk

Madeira Cash and Carry tells of Portuguese immigration

Pool hall and African cuisine indicate Woodstock's contemporary demographic

The Lovell Photographer's Gallery at 139 Albert Road

Coca Cola Facade and old lady on a bus

The famous Biscuit Mill - best Saturday organic food market in town

Omnipresent security and incongruous bubble-gum pink doors

African vernacular - colourful brights, sour worms - yes, really!?

Renovation in earthy reds, evocative of the raw materials of mud brick and baked clay of the early Cape

Woodstock Foundry - a melting pot literally - with doves of peace and security fence

A lone bird of prey wheels in the blue above an incongruously cheery car wash

The yellow and grey building of the Woodstock Exchange