Resource 2: A comparison of Hanover and King William’s Town

 Teacher resource for planning or adapting to use with pupils

Hanover

Hanover is a small town in the Northern Cape [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] (Accessed 2008) Province of South Africa (Accessed 2008). The town was established in 1854. Much of the farming in the area is with Merino (Accessed 2008) sheep. The Eye, a powerful spring in town, releases about 205,000 litres of water per day.

Hanover claims to be the country's most central place. It is equidistant from Cape Town and Johannesburg, centrally positioned between Cape Town and Durban as well as Port Elizabeth and Upington and it is the hub of an arc formed by Richmond, Middelburg and Colesberg.

Today the busy Karoo (Accessed 2008) N 1 route cuts through the veld between the town and its cemetery. But during the last century all roads converged in Hanover and all travellers passed through the town. It was on an important stop for stage coaches carrying passengers to the Diamond Fields, and the Free State (Accessed 2008) mail was carried through by post cart. Daily life bubbled with people ever on the move. In 1884, the advent of the railway deprived the town of much of its through traffic.

King William’s Town

King William's Town is a town in the Eastern Cape (Accessed 2008) province located on the Buffalo River (Accessed 2008).

‘King’, as the town is locally called, stands 389 m above the sea at the foot of the Amatola Mountains (Accessed 2008), and in the midst of a thickly populated agricultural district.

The town is well laid out and most of the public buildings and merchants' stores are built of stone. There are manufactories (Accessed 2008) of sweets and jams, candles, soap, matches and leather, and a large trade in wool, hides and grains is done with East London.