Waterworks Museum, Engineering museum near Hely-Hutchinson Reservoir, Table Mountain, South Africa

The Waterworks Museum sits on the northern slope of Table Mountain between the Woodhead and Hely-Hutchinson Reservoirs. Its displays hold original equipment, hand tools, instruments and photographs from the building of the mountain dams, along with a restored narrow-gauge steam engine and the steam locomotive once used to haul equipment from the old cableway at Kasteelspoort.

The museum was founded in 1972 by Terence Timoney, a retired waterworks engineer, who gathered a collection on the city's water supply and interested the municipality in it. It sits between the Woodhead and Hely-Hutchinson Reservoirs on the northern side of Table Mountain and documents the construction of the mountain's dams.

The collection here shows how early water technology shaped life in South Africa. You can see the tools and methods that people used over a century ago to manage water in this region.

Visitors reach the museum on a hiking trail of about 6 km from Constantia Nek, where parking is available. The path climbs steeply, so bring plenty of water and wear sturdy shoes for the walk.

The museum keeps the original steam locomotive that hauled equipment from the old cableway at Kasteelspoort, on the mountain's northern side. Terence Timoney, a retired waterworks engineer, gathered the collection and interested the municipality in it before founding the museum in 1972.