Talk:Irene, Gauteng

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[edit] NPOV dispute

Really - it is JUST another suburb....

City dwellers are amazed to find the meadow-like environment and uncomplicated lifestyle in Irene, neighbours still know each other and find time to chat, all in an extremely relaxed and safe environment

Please read Wikipedia:NPOV --137.215.6.50 20:55, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

You've obviously never been in Irene. It's not Just another suburb. It is situated in the middle of a highly urbanised area and has numerous parks and large gardens with plenty of big trees. It also has a dairy farm that is very active. The friendly nature of the people living in Irene also help to make it such a wonderful area to live in. So,it does have a meadow-like enviroment, it does have a uncomplicated lifestyle, neighbours still know each other and chat to each other and the enviroment is extremely relaxed and safe. There's nothing POV about it, it is all NPOV Jediwannabe 07:47, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

I do, in fact, live in Irene. I have never seen a meadow. It is a suburb with houses and roads and fences. You can hardly call one sport oval a 'numerous parks". NPOV would say things like 'relatively safe'. Hijacking have been known to occur in Irene. So much for 'extremely'. A dairy farm is hardly notable. How can you prove people are "friendly" or that it is a "wonderful place to live"? If it cannot be proved it is merely fanboy gushing. How is life any less or more "uncomplicated" than any other suburb in the world? This article looks like the advertising one gets at traffic lights for security villages.137.215.9.20 12:27, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

My apologies, when i wrote my last comment i was a tad bit stressed and wasn't thinking quite straight. Now that I've had a chance to mull over things a bit I do agree with you. Irene is pretty much just another suburb (Granted, a nice to live in suburb with some beautiful gardens). As such, I've removed the

City dwellers are amazed to find the meadow-like environment and uncomplicated lifestyle in Irene, neighbours still know each other and find time to chat, all in an extremely relaxed and safe environment line as it does POV the article. I really think we need to do some serious work on this article. Jediwannabe 17:40, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

No stress - I like it there too. It is relatively nice and stuff :)137.215.9.20 08:22, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, it is relatively nice and safe and stuff. And the Scout troop is one of the few scout troops can can send their scouts out on the street with the knowledge that they'll be pretty safe. I'm sure you must have seen them running around (Like last year with a wheelbarrow full of fire) Jediwannabe 06:18, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Indeed - In my younger days I have been known to do some of that running around myself.137.215.9.20 08:18, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

This winter holidays I went to visit family in Irene. It was quite cool, because all the hovels look the same (made out of this type of brick) and it has like a big wall with gates around the whole suburb. It was interesting. --Scotteh 18:21, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

The brick is called "Irene Stone" (If thats what you're talking about). You're welcome to come visit us on a friday between 19h00 and 21h30 Jediwannabe 21:18, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Isn't "Hovel" an insult? I know I dont live in a hovel.137.215.9.20 09:50, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Some of those "hovels" are two-story wedding cakes with imported brick and reputedly designed by Sir Herbert Baker. The pastoral side of Irene has largely vanished over time, and milk deliveries to the doorstep by horse-cart ceased decades ago. One-acre stands are pretty much history as subdivision of properties became popular and very profitable. Likewise, all the streets and even the lanes were tarred many years back. Much of the farm was converted into hotel and seminar space, and many of the trees lining the roads were removed to widen them. A long time back it was true that Irene residents were relaxed and pretty much everybody knew everybody, but that hasn't really been true in over 30 years. The residents do however still own the town hall, and there is still a little of the art community still active - although I think the amateur dramatic society has evaporated. The rock is part of the dolomite-limestone formation that gave rise to the quarry and limeworks, and also to the caves under Irene. There were some wonderfull examples of rock walls built by skilled masons - don't know how many still exist. Most of Irene has only a few inches to a few feet of topsoil, then there are layers of pretty but incredibly hard dolorites. When sewerage lines were put into Irene, there was copious blasting required.

The Scout hall, just for interest's sake was located in an old water reservour.

The amateur dramatic society is still pretty active. The Scout Hall still is located in an old water reservoir, and the Scout Troop is still very active and the largest troop in Pretoria. "The concentration camp site was later converted into a dual-language primary school utilizing many of the original buildings, and is still in operation." -- this is not true, the only building from the concentration camp era used by the school is the old police station. Jediwannabe 04:05, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Ok, "converted" may be a misnomer. The school was contemporary with the concentration camp and presumably in the same location as it is now. Shared buildings or camp offices is conjecture on my part from apocryphal stories told about the school by old timers in the village.

Some quick references to the siting and coincidence of the camp and school are: http://www.ibiblio.org/istudio/03pretoria/research/OTHER_SAFRICAN_MONUMENTS.htm "The Irene Primary School adjacent to the camp’s cemetery began in September 1901 for the education of the Boer children in the concentration camp. The cemetery now serves as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the Irene concentration camp."

http://www.centurionet.co.za/centurionet_e/html/history.htm "During the Anglo-South African War the Irene Concentration Camp was established in 1901 on the farm Doornkloof, north of the Hennops River. The Irene Primary School was also established in the camp."

Are you talking about the police station that was just north of the post office, or the earlier one that was attached to Hack's Stores?

There are still plenty stone walls around. In fact my posie has some of those famed stone walls. When our pool was put in around 20 years ago, large amounts of dynamite were used. Awesome.137.215.9.20 07:14, 6 November 2006 (UTC)