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KALK BAY AND HOLY TRINITY CHURCH 1874 TO 2001

Talk to the AGM of the Kalk Bay Historical Association on 27 March 2001

Robin Burnett

Introduction

What is history? “Continuous methodical record of public events”, says the Oxford

dictionary. One edition adds: “study of formation and growth of communities and nations.”

Collins dictionary says: “a person’s history is the set of facts that are known about their
past.” Carlyle, the historian of the Romans, wrote:

“History (ever, more or less, the written epitomised synopsis of rumour)

knows so little that were not as well unknown … Happy the people whose
annals are vacant.”

I am trained as a theologian which is a field where there is no certainty, though I have a
suspicion that the study of history raises as many questions as it answers. By choice I am a

pastor, and my concern is people. I want to focus on people and their interaction with one
another in this village over the years. Probably you will recognise that my interest is in “the

study and formation of communities”. I try to be methodical and accurate. Please question
where I am not.

First impressions of Kalk Bay

My first contact with Kalk Bay was in 1980. That was a very tense time in South Africa. As a

family we were then living in a community where I had often heard parents speaking about
the pain they felt when they passed a park, and had to explain to their children that they

couldn’t swing on the swings or slide down the slide. Imagine our surprise when we came
upon the park in Lever Street and saw black and white children playing together on the

swings and roundabout. Was this a dream? This place is different! My first impression of
Kalk Bay as a place where people interacted with one another has been strengthened after

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