Hangbrug, Oudtshoorn

As a child, a highlight of a trip to Oudtshoorn was to walk over the suspension bridge or “hangbrug” in Afrikaans.  So naturally when we visited Oudsthoorn in August 2013, I wanted to walk over the bridge.  


A bit of history about the suspension bridge:
Oudtshoorn developed on both sides of the Grobbelaars River.  In 1913 the town council approved the building of a suspension bridge at Church Street. It was constructed by Rowlay and Sons in London and it was completed in 1914.

The suspension bridge is 91 meters long with 9 meter high towers at each side. It was declared a National Monument in 1964.




H decided to keep his feet on solid ground but I decided to take a walk over the bridge.  The bridge is a lot longer than I remember but it was fun.  The swing of the bridge while walking was fine except for when a few young men decided to run over the bridge past me making the bridge swing. I will think I need to keep with tradition and walk over the bridge with each visit to Oudtshoorn.

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