Page 82 - KBHA Bulletin 16

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ways. Large families and little money meant a strong sense of community with a

helping hand given to families when times were hard. In these years the street was
alive with small shops, the bar, the cobblers and the many children of the families

living there.

Windsor Road started its long decline in the late 1940s. Most of the properties were
let as accommodation and the street directories of the period, and onwards, indicate

that many were empty. This may have been because of the war, but into the 1950s the

street continued its decline. Kalk Bay was unattractive to many outsiders, being a
‘mixed’ area, and this view was reinforced by apartheid laws and specifically the

Group Areas Act which saw many families who rented in Windsor Road being forced

to leave. Rent control legislation made matters worse as landlords could not afford to
maintain their properties.

Since 1994, the boom in tourism and property has led new people to discover what

was there all the time: an attractive street, in a village of real people. Much has
changed in 100 years but, equally, much has stayed the same.

References

Western Cape Archives & Rescords: various Family Files.

Personal communication with numerous families.