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The All at Sea Abandoned and Derelict Gallery 
I found this oldie while out hunting down a war memorial in Roodepoort. It does seem as if the place is going to be renovated, but sadly I could not get inside to have a look around. An old photograph I found shows that there was massive ivy growth on the walls once, but its all been removed and that has left its mark on the structure. There is no real way of knowing when this building was built, but it probably predates 1950. However, what I found interesting was that the building was named "Willie Smith's Richmond Hotel". A bit of googleing discovered that Willie Smith, known as the Wavy Haired Master, won South Africa’s second Olympic Games gold medal when he was crowned bantamweight champion in Paris in 1924. Born William Alexander Smith in Johannesburg on July 19, 1904, the little orphan received his first boxing lessons in the St George's Home when he was 12 years old. After retiring from boxing he worked as a salesman and commercial traveller before he bought and ran the Richmond Hotel on the West Rand. He became one of South Africa’s best-known referees during the years after World War 11. Smith died of a heart attack in 1955, when he was 51. More information about Willie Smith. . In October 2011 I was contacted by Willie Smith’s son Billy who ran the hotel for 12 years. He said that the hotel was built in 1902, and that it may have been in use as a headquarters during the Rand Revolt of 1922. There was also a rumour that it was named The Richmond because it was built on ground that had been a brief campsite for the Duke of Richmond in 1901-1902 during the Boer War.
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