The De Smidt Street Steps are finally finished!

The De Smidt Street Steps are finally finished in De Waterkant. They have been working on these stairs since we moved to South Africa!

The exact age of the original steps is uncertain, but it is accepted that they were built in the late 19th century. The steps used to act as a walkway to the harbour for ship merchants. Ship owners who lived about the steps in De Waterkant would watch for the ships to come into the harbour from their homes. Once they had docked, the merchants would use the steps as their main access point to the harbour.

There are another set of stairs at the end of Bayview Terrace which also lead down to the V&A from De Waterkant, but the De Smidt Street stairs are much more convenient for us. Hooray!