Capital of Midlands Province, and positioned on the Great Dyke, Gweru is an industrial city, an important Air Force training base and was once the centre of a highly productive agricultural area. There are two private game conservancies in the Midlands.

The city is attractively laid out with wide, tree-lined streets, lawns and a number of old graceful buildings.

Getting there. Gweru is on the main railway line and road between Harare and Bulawayo. A coach runs daily between the two cities. For further information Tel. 263 4 729514 / 8.
In addition good, tarred roads converge on Gweru from Masvingo, Kariba through Chinhoyi, Mutare via Rusape and Chivhu.

WHAT TO SEE

Boggie's Clock tower. This is a city-centre landmark raised in 1937 by Ms Jeannie Boggie in memory of her husband Major W. J. Boggie. The couple lived on a farm, the skies above which were frequented by pilots in training. Much to the annoyance of Ms Boggie, her chickens did not lay and the cows were discontent - she attributed both to the droning noise of pesky aircraft!

The Old Stock Exchange in Main Street is the city's oldest building (1898) and an example of early elegant architecture.

The Magistrate's Court built in 1905 on Lobengula Avenue is another tribute to colonial architecture.

The more modern Municipal Offices on Robert Mugabe Way has a stone from London's Waterloo Bridge in the garden. The London County Council presented it to the city fathers.

Zimbabwe's National Military Museum on Lobengula Avenue displays early jet fighters and bi-planes under hangars; a curious "pou de ciel" - Flying Flea - is there too. Aston Redrup built it in 1933 with a 540 cc two-stroke motorcycle engine.

The open air displays feature different generations of aircraft and ground armour: tanks, personnel carriers and field guns.

The Military History gallery details wars of freedom fought in Zimbabwe and honours martyrs and heroes in the struggle for independence. (2nd Chimurenga)

DAY TRIPS

Gwenoro Lake 12km south of Gweru is a boating and fishing resort. The Lake was built for the city's water supply.

Shurugwi about 32km south east of Gweru could be termed "little Nyanga". Hills rise to 1,500m creating beautiful scenery and lovely picnic spots. The Hills are part of the Great Dyke, and are rich in minerals. Chrome is mined there now, and gold in days gone by. In the 1920s a gold diviner, Mr. Alfred Ellenberger, rescued the Glen Rosa Mine from going into liquidation when he visited it with his divining rod. He told the mine manager to excavate another 2m. Within days of doing this rich gold deposits were found.

General Interest: The Great Dyke stretches diagonally across Zimbabwe for 500km from southwest to northeast. It was formed 700 million years ago by an upheaval in the earth's crust exposing rocks rich in minerals. In some places it is as narrow as 3km and others as wide as 11km and is the core of the Central Plateau.

Gold was panned from river sediment as long ago as the 7th Century AD while there is evidence of primitive excavations from the 12th Century. European exploitation of ancient mines began in the late 19th Century when prospectors flocked to peg claims.