A hike up Table Mountain with AWOL Tours always offers something different and unique. A lovely option is to hike up Kasteel`s Poort (Castle`s Gate), offers picturesque views of the Atlantic Seaboard. You also have the option to take a walk in history along the Old Railway path, the Woodhead and Hely -Hutchinson Dams, as well as the Waterworks Museum.
It was the presence of pure, life-giving water streaming off Table Mountain that first attracted human inhabitants to the area. Camissa or “place of sweet waters” is what the Khoekoe named Cape Town. Despite various small canals and reservoirs built in the city area and fed from the stream in Platteklip Gorge, by the late 19th century, Cape Town had expanded so quickly, that the need for more water became imminent.
In 1890, work started on the Woodhead Reservoir across the Disa River on the Back Table. In 1893, an aerial cableway was strung up Kasteel`s Poort to get construction material to the top – the remains of the upper station are still visible at Postern Butress. From this station, a railway line was laid to the dam site two kilometres away, and a small steam engine, carried in pieces up the mountain, was used to haul material. The last stone of the Woodhead Reservoir, was laid by Sir John Wodhead in 1897, but within a year of its completion, there was an even greater demand for water and a second dam was constructed above it. The Hely-Hutchinson Reservoir, named after Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson, was opened in March 1904.
Wynberg, then an independent municipality, also constructed a series of reservoirs on the Back Table. The Victoria Reservoir, completed in 1896, finished in 1903 and the De Villiers Reservoir, overlooking Orangekloof, was built in 1907.
A comprehensive history is found in the Waterworks museum, located on the north corner of the Hely-Hutchinson Reservoir. Allow AWOL Tours to take you on this amazing, historical hike on Table Mountain.