THE CANON
“a windswept huddle of seaside shacks”
Kanon is more than a windswept huddle of shacks. There would appear to be nothing but rocks and the sea. On first sighting, no immediate beach or surf, just sand dunes covered with exotic Port Jackson or some nondescript type of coastal vegetation that could or could not be classified as fynbos, actually untouched for 300 years and kept jealously alien free for the past 60 years.
The local farmers of the past on the adjoining farms had no need for sheltered permanence near the beach. They could – as they still do to this day – come down from the farms to fish or enjoy the solitude of the beach. The Johnsons had arrived at Voelvlei in 1888 the patriarch of the family a part shop owner, part blacksmith. One of the daughters of the family Anne married John van Rensburg in 1912 and by 1918 the family had moved from the northern end of Voelvlei to a second house on the farm “Die Eiland”. It is from this house that John McKenzie Johnson opened a shop that eventually became Johnson’s Post.
Holidays would have included family gatherings at the beach. The need for shelter would have necessitated some kind of tent structures. Some of the earliest structures on record include Shell Catcher built circa 1896. This could have been a cooking area or even some form of hut in which the woman and the servants could prepare meals. Soon it became necessary to ensure somewhat better facilities and the van Rensburgs would have allowed some form of semi-permanent structures to be erected. With the inception of the vehicular transport families would have had cars and these would have needed shelter.
The name Kanon comes from the retrieval of the cannon from the wrecked French Man ‘o War La Fortune. The wreck of this ship is well documented but the finding and transportation of the cannon to the present site is shrouded in family folklore.
The story is tied closely to the families of the Johnson’s who owned the shop at Johnson’s post and the van Rensburgs who farm at “Die Eiland”.
John McKenzie Johnson and his large family were frequent visitors to the beach sacked on the Misgund Farm. John gathered his sons and his son-in-laws together to collect the cannon from their resting places along the beach. The original locations have never been defined. These cannon were either loaded onto wagons or dragged by donkeys from the original wreck site. The one story has it that the intention was to fire the “nuwejaarskoot” to celebrate the annual new year celebration in the best of Johnson traditions.
The men however became inebriated and the wagon overturned leaving the cannon stranded along the beach to lie there for many a year. U
Using a team of mules and donkeys, one single cannon was initially brought up by Rev. Martin Johnson before 1926. The second was put into position in front of his house in 1930.
In 1963 the third cannon came up from the beach. The three cannon graced the front of three homes until they were moved to their present site in 1978.
It is from these cannon that the name Kanon became accepted and the subsequent houses and homes to become known collectively as Kanon.
Immediately post World War Two circumstances changed and growing families required more suitable homes. Land was changing hands, parts of the original farm Misgund were being sold off.
Mostert was negotiating to buy the point, Fanie Naude was talking of buying land nearby and some of the men talked of buying Kanon.
John McKenzie Johnson’s grandson (2) (also John McKenzie Johnson), bought the land in 1960 and major changes started to take place.
From about 1960 owners started to acquire small petrol driven machines to provide lighting and eventually power for some of the more sophisticated kitchen needs.
The small individual machines gave way to a co-operative 8 man enterprise called Kanonkom. Eskom was installed in 1984, and other suitable machines have been acquired over the years.
Power enabled water which in turn enable flush sanitation and thus the way of life was forever changed at Kanon.
From the earliest of days one of the major considerations of all residents at the Kanon has been the provision of water.
When the earliest houses appeared water was gathered from the rooftops and stored in a variety of tanks.
This is still practiced to this day.
Roger Johnson, son of John (2), installed a dual reverse osmosis water purification plant in 2005, capable of producing 45 000 liters of potable drinking water per day.
There had been for many years speculation about the ground that Mostert had acquired, known as the point. In 1997 John (2) acquired the land, and his son Roger was able to realize his dream of turning the entire property into a private nature reserve.
Negotiations with Cape Nature Conservation commenced early in 2001 with Dave Pepler and Kobus Jooste being chosen to bring the dream to fruition.
Management plans were submitted and in 2003 it was gazetted that the Kanon Private Nature Reserve would be established. The reserve is clearly demarcated and a home has been erected on the point, named Periwinkel.
