Dear Editor,
Settlers Dam is overflowing! Having dams that are 100% full will, sadly, not guarantee the citizens of Makhanda water on a daily basis. Our Municipality must still purify the water and pump it to us, something it is struggling to do. Nonetheless, with the dams having been empty just a few years ago, being full again is still something to celebrate.
There is a long historical tradition of ringing church bells at times of both peril and celebration. When in the 1970s Makhanda experienced a particularly severe drought, the Dean of the Cathedral announced that when Settlers Dam overflowed the Cathedral bells would be rung in celebration. He noted that churches are full when services are held to pray for rain, but little happens to celebrate when the rains come. Eventually, we had days of rain and the people of Makhanda (then Grahamstown) woke in the middle of the night to the sound of the Cathedral bells ringing in celebration.
In 2010 Settlers Dam was again empty. In 2011 the rains came and Settlers overflowed. At midday the following Saturday the Cathedral bells were again rung in celebration and St Andrew’s and Kingswood rang their chapel bells simultaneously. Readers of Grocott’s were told this would happen the previous day (see this link https://grocotts.ru.ac.za/2011/07/28/let-the-bells-ring/).
Sadly, this time the Cathedral bells will be unable to ring out because there are no longer any skilled bell ringers to ring the bells. On Sunday at 12:00 St Andrew’s DSG, Kingswood and the NG Church will ring their bells 100 times and anybody with a bell can join in and ring their bells in celebration.
Regards,
Gavin Keeton
