As with any self-respecting heritage site visit, it began with research and preparation. This was the easy part for me as a former teacher – but it was still armchair tourism.
It was when I tried gathering the extended family troops that things took a sho’t left. Suddenly niece Bilquees was unavailable, and the twins Riyad and Nasir were closeted in a room with Bill Gates’s new box. That left Leila, 13 months, and me to explore the Castle of Good Hope together.
So we wandered toward the much-photographed main entrance, but via the unusual sideways approach of the imposing southern-most bastion. Here under the shadow of the 10m high hard slate walls, severe punishments such as hangings were performed. I tried to conjure up such hideous scenes of 350 years ago, but traffic sounds kept intruding.
Proceeding into the Castle we found the visitors’ centre. The most helpful double-sided A3 maps that fold into a pocket are available in a range of foreign languages and are sold for next to nothing. Perhaps publishing in more indigenous languages might help popularise the Castle more.
Next we roamed up and down the plethora of twisting stairways within the Castle walls. Narrow and worn by history, these led to the provost cells, the charming bell tower made of little yellow bricks imported from Holland and ultimately to one of the fortified bastions of the Castle’s famous five points. One can walk the entire Castle perimeter (just less than 1km) on top of these ramparts, enjoying the view into the Castle as well as outside on to the city.
I was 11 when I first visited the Castle. I’d been looking forward to the squeals of delighted horror from the twins when we entered the dank, barrel-vaulted dungeon, but even though they weren’t with us, my education continued.
Contrary to what I’d been told about this pitch-black space that one has to access down a claustrophobic corridor, it is not the dungeon. This Castle didn’t have one, despite it being called the donker gat (the dark hole). My helpful map told me that this room in block E was a gunpowder magazine until it was found to be too damp.
Nearby was the real torture chamber, and it was no less chilling. I couldn’t help associating it with apartheid interrogations and what is happening at Guantanamo Bay, and found the space creepy and spiritually ugly. Unlike those who fell foul of the special branch, prisoners in the Castle’s dungeon and torture chamber couldn’t be detained for longer than 24 hours. I found the aged graffiti on the walls and doors poignant.
There is a wide experience of art, cultural artefacts and militaria on offer in the several museum spaces in the Castle. The Fehr collection has a formidable array of Baines, Bowler, Angas and I’ons oil and watercolour paintings, oriental and Dutch ceramics and furniture. I was taken with an original ancient map of Monomotapa at the entrance to the vast upstairs banqueting room in the governor’s residence.
While this all too often had the tired and moth-eaten feel of partial neglect and underfunding, not to mention the worrying lack of climate control for these sensitive objects, it was the Military Museum that surprised me. The variety of display techniques was absorbing and a good model of modern museum practice. Its standard was at entirely a different level from other exhibits. What stands out is the signage, which facilitates an entertaining and informative visit.
Eurocentric and colonial as the Castle may be, there is something of great value here for even the most jaded or cynical of visitors. As I waited outside for my lift home there was one last history reflection for me. The granite kerb blocks on which I perched – indeed, which are found all over the city – were of the same ancient volcanic Malmesbury Intrusion rock that had been quarried for the Castle foundations.
The Castle is open from 9am to 4pm daily except public holidays. Entrance is R10. For guided tours call 021 787 1249 or email [email protected]. Book functions in the Castle on 021 787 1260. Book educational tours of or functions in the William Fehr Collection on 021 464 1264. Wheelchair access is ground floor only. The key ceremony and the firing of the signal cannon is at 10am and noon on weekdays