Signal Hill
On a daily basis most Capetonians pass or see Signal Hill from wherever they are in the city. It always fascinates me to hear why Capetonians think the hill is called as such. Most say that it is because the noon gun fires a signal from hill. This answer would be incorrect.
The reason why the hill is called Signal Hill is because in bygone years a signalman was permanently stationed on the mountainside which has a great vantage point over the whole of Table Bay. The signalman's duty was to warn the castle of the approaching ships that were coming into the harbour. When ships were sighted a coded system of flags and cannon shots were used to provide the relevant information about the ship as well as it nationality. Amongst others a shot was fired for every ship that was spotted and a flag was hoisted at the same time of the shot being fired. When the ship was visually identifiable a red flag was hoisted if it was an
enemy vessel attacking the harbour. This signal brought every man to the harbour so as to defend the shoreline.
No comments:
Post a Comment