Chapman’s Peak Drive celebrates a century of feats

• Author: Yolande Du Preez yolande.dupreez@inl.co.za
• Published date: 06 May 2022
• Publication title: Sentinel News

It was nominated, in March 2020, by Big 7, an online travel website, as the 40th most scenic route in the world on their list of 50 Epic Drives

To celebrate its centenary, a large frame was put up at the big picnic site overlooking Hout Bay. In the 100 days running up to its centenary, visitors were encouraged to take a photo of themselves in the frame and share it on social media to win “great prizes.”

The winding road, which has 114 curves and stretches from Noordhoek to Hout Bay, is 9km long and was built over a seven-year period at a cost of £20 000, according to the Chapman’s Peak website.

Making use of convict labour supplied by the newly formed Union Government, construction began at the Hout Bay end in 1915 followed by construction of the Noordhoek side in 1916.

The road, which is carved into the mountainside along the Atlantic coastline, was completed in 1922 and officially opened on May 6 of that year by the Governor of the Union of South Africa, His Royal Highness Prince Arthur of Connaught.

Construction of the road was ordered by Sir Frederic de Waal, the first administrator of the Cape, in the early 1900s.

Although the cliffs and ravines along the proposed route were steep and...