Blasts from the past

Take a look at this photo, will you?
It shows two crumbling structures (hopefully I am not one of them!) that probably should be pulled down. But each played a role in Simon Town's rich history, and helped me to anchor my novel, The Girl from Simon's Bay, in a time and place that can still be seen.

In the foreground is the guardhouse that once marked the entrance to the Royal Naval Hospital where my heroine, Louise Ahrendts, served as a nurse. The glass in the windows is broken and the interior is festooned with spiders' webs but, during the war, it was in pristine condition and was the first sight of the hospital that thousands of patients would have had as they arrived. Like Louise, they no doubt received a cheerful greeting and perhaps even a salute from the serviceman on duty.

The metal pylon in the background is actually part of an aerial ropeway that was built in 1903 to take supplies - and passengers - to the Royal Naval Hospital and further up to the Sanatorium perched high above Simon's Bay.

The trip took 15 minutes in a small cable car and was therefore faster and easier than making the steep climb on foot. The ropeway even became quite a tourist attraction, as you can see.
I wonder how it coped in a strong southeaster?
And apparently, when the cable cars swung over St George's street, tall pedestrians were wise to duck!
The ropeway went out of service in the 1930s once a road was built up Red Hill but the pylons and landing stages remain to this day.
"I go off duty at four -thirty tomorrow. Would you like to take a walk?" Nurse Ahrendts asked, a faint blush staining her cheeks.
"Thank you. That's very generous."
She glanced around, clearly worried about being overheard.
"I'll be on the path by the old aerial ropeway," she said. "Meet me there?"