Sometimes it's a good thing if an item goes unused. St Clair has a shark bell and I would be very happy if I went my entire life and never heard it rung! This is a big change from the mid 1960’s where in the space of seven years, there were five great white attacks, three fatal, off the Dunedin coast.The attacks resulted in the deaths of Les Jordan at St Clair in 1964, Bill Black at St Kilda in 1967 and Graham Hitt at Aramoana in 1968. These attacks gave the city the unenviable record of having the worst shark attack fatality record in the country. I would imagine that for some residents of Dunedin, Steven Spielberg’s 1975 hit movie Jaws would have been incredibly hard to watch given the devastation, trauma, and hysteria that surrounded the attacks. Which brings me back to St Clair’s shark bell. I shall be very happy if I never hear it rung! John's Blog https://blog.caswellimages.com/ The latest print price guide: https://bit.ly/3oLw9OI
Further along the Esplanade from the Shark Bell is the St Clair Salt Water Pool. First dug out by the Caversham Council in 1883, the baths proved so popular with school children and families, the pool was enlarged and officially opened by the mayor the following year. As the pool continued to grow in popularity, a few years later a petition was presented to have the baths enlarged and to provide better facilities for females. Following this petition a discussion group was formed, and after looking into the requirements for men and women (who had to bathe separately) two options were suggested. One, restricting women’s bathing hours, or two, ladies bathing in a different place. The ladies of course weren’t moved to a different location, however decency laws meant that men and women had to use the baths at separate times. Over the next 100 years, the pool was lengthened, deepened, concrete was added, it was repaired, facilities added, facilities were upgraded, heating was added and men, women and children were all allowed to use the pool at the same time. Today the pool is an iconic feature of Dunedin and the Esplanade which is opened yearly from October to March. To think, it all started from a hole in the ground. John's Blog https://blog.caswellimages.com/ The latest print price guide: https://bit.ly/3oLw9OI
Below both the St Clair Shark Bell and Heated Salt Water Pool is the St Clair seawall. It stretches from the Surfing Living club along to the point where the heated pool is. In between you’ll find a surf club, park, restaurants, shops and numerous bars. In front of these sits the seawall, a barrier stopping the power and ferocity of the ocean reaching the suburbs behind. If there’s one consistency with the sea wall, it’s that coastal erosion and damage caused by the sea have long been a problem. Dating back to the early 1870’s when the first wall was constructed. Since then, the constructions that the seawall has undergone have been almost countless yet the only consistency has been the rhythmic coming and going of the tide. John's Blog https://blog.caswellimages.com/ The latest print price guide: https://bit.ly/3oLw9OI
