Blaze calls time on heritage building

[caption id="attachment_139739" align="aligncenter" width="500"] HISTORY ERASED: Firefighters tend a blaze engulfing the former Anchor building[/caption]

Spirit(s) of past lost after former ‘Anchor’ goes up in smoke

THE classic Edwardian house that was once home to one of Port Elizabeth’s most popular watering holes, The Anchor pub and eatery, was gutted at the weekend.

The Pier Street building, which is part of a group of derelict Edwardian former homes which overlook the Port Elizabeth harbour from opposite the South End Museum on Beach Road, caught fire early on Sunday morning.

The fire was doused and prevented from spreading to the neighbouring historic buildings by members of the nearby South End fire station.

The legendary Anchor was first established in the 1980s in Eastbourne Road, Mount Croix, and relocated to the Humerail building in the ’90s.

The Humerail-based Anchor offered patrons not only a striking period building with elevated views from the first floor, but also an ornately wooded interior which oozed character and, according to staff and customers alike, spirits of the ghostly kind.

A sad former Anchor owner Eddie Falconer said yesterday the building’s deterioration over the past few years had been shocking.