Exploring the valley on a steam train

When we discovered that a tourism initiative proposed to introduce wine tasting on a steam train while travelling through the Robertson valley, we were keen to support this new initiative. At the first opportunity we booked a trip as a treat for a friend visiting from overseas.

Our trip was one of the first and the initiative, still in its baby shoes, did not go without some expected and unexpected hiccups. It was like being on a pioneering train trip, with tracks needing to be cleared to allow the steam locomotive to change direction from Langvlei and return to Robertson.

Having travelled on steam trains before, one was aware of all the details that could have been better, but like steam travellers of the past, the experience was nonetheless exciting, eclipsing all hiccups. The train tracks, long disused, were a bit overgrown. The sound of encroaching thorn tree branches scraping against the newly painted coaches made one feel sorry for them. One could not help but wonder how often the coaches might have to be repainted unless some track clearing was done.

The branches so close to the tracks meant that one needed to be cautious when sticking your head out of the window. Luckily, there were long stretches of track where one could look out at the beautiful landscapes of vineyards, orchards and fynbos appearing through the smoke billowing from the chimney of Amanda, the locomotive.

On the Bonnievale coach

The trip provided for a special experience with three coaches assigned to wine tasting. These coaches were each dedicated to a winery, namely, Bonnievale Winery, Robertson Winery and La Verne Wine Boutique. Another coach offered an onboard deli where one could buy delicious food and taste some craft beer.

A proud reminder when the train coaches were built in South Africa 

The four hours on the train passed too soon. We thoroughly enjoyed our steaming afternoon, discovering the familiar valley from a brand-new perspective, tasting wine, catching up with friends, and chatting with fellow travellers.

Close-up of Amanda and opening the tracks at Langvlei siding

The train experience operates under the historical name of the New Cape Central Railway. The original New Cape Central Railway (NCCR) operated from 1893 until 1925 when it was taken over by the South African Railways.

Robertson station circa 1887, Source: A Chronicle of the Cape Central Railway 

Front of Robertson station circa 1887, Source: A Chronicle of the Cape Central Railway 

The near identical station at Ashton, Source: A Chronicle of the Cape Central Railway

The new NCCR railway has the potential to give an economic boost to the valley, this time in tourism related industries.  In August 1883 the British company, the Cape Central Railway Limited was formed to build and operate the railway from Worcester via Robertson to Roodewal (Ashton today). This was after the Cape Parliament passed a resolution in June 1882, to build a branch line from Worcester to Roodewal to develop trade in Robertson, Montagu, Swellendam, Riversdale and part of Caledon.

Work on the line started in 1884 and was completed in 1887. It was opened to Robertson in April and to Roodewal in September that year. The locomotive engine workshops were in Roodewal (Ashton), which was the terminal point of the line at this stage.

The Cogmanskloof pass and Toll House between Ashton and Montagu circa 1936, Source: DRISA archive

The company only ran one train to and from Ashton twice a day. The main competition for the railway was the ox-wagon. Most of the freight of the Little Karoo was carried direct by ox-wagon to Worcester or beyond. The farmers in the region saw the railway as an attractive solution to open more markets for their produce. For the ox-wagon transport drivers it meant a loss of livelihood and the closing of an era.

Robertson station staff, 1911, Source: DRISA archive

On Monday, 26 January 1891 the following timetable was issued,

Leave Worcester 6am
Leave Robertson 7.45am
Arrive Ashton 8.30am
Leave Ashton 11.30am
Leave Robertson 12.15pm
Arrive Worcester 2pm

Road transport from Montagu station to Ashton station with an SAR truck, circa 1952, Source: DRISA archive

Passenger transport with SAR Mercedes bus no MT16379 in the Cogmanskloof pass, 1970, Source: DRISA archive

The proposal to extend the railway to Montagu posed a problem. The only route, to what was formerly known as Agter Cogmanskloof, was the newly built Cogman’s Kloof Pass engineered by Thomas Bain. If this route was used for the railway, it would mean that the new road pass would be lost to road-users. In 1883 the divisional council decided that they would support the proposition if the Cape Central Railway repaired the old road and improved its condition. Unfortunately, the railway could not accept this provision. Due to poor income figures, the Cape Central Railway was in financial difficulties and went insolvent in 1892. A new company, The New Cape Central Railway was formed, and took over the line in 1893. The new company abandoned the idea of a railway line into the Little Karoo and instead focused on building a line to Swellendam to the south-east of Roodewal (Ashton).

A portion of the Railway map dated 1901 showing the completed rail to Swellendam

The line to Swellendam was opened on 12 April 1899. This line was extended to Riversdale in 1903 and to Mossel Bay in 1907.  A Mr Fred Dawson was appointed as general manager in January 1902. One of the first actions he took was to build a proper locomotive engine repair shop at Robertson, in place of the rudimentary structure at Ashton. The headquarters of the railway was now established at Robertson. The easy access to markets brought new prosperity to the district and the town of Robertson responded by doubling in size. The New Cape Central railway flourished and was taken over by the South African Railways in 1925.

Steam train along Harry Hill Road outside Bonnievale, Source Flickr

There were no dining cars on the early railways but refreshment rooms at the stations. Bonnievale had no station but only a siding called Vale. That might have been the inspiration for the name of the town Bonnie Vale. In his prospectus for the Irrigation Colonisation Settlement on the farm “Bonnie Vale”, entitled, “New South Africa Under One Flag”, published in 1901, Christopher Forrest Rigg arranged with the Cape Central Railway Company to allow prospective new settlers to come and inspect the settlement with a first-class return ticket at the price of a third-class single fare. Settlers would have been entitled to the same privilege for the first six months of their residence in the settlement.

Bonnievale Station shortly before it was demolished in 2012, Source wikipedia

We could experience what it must have been like for settlers arriving at Vale siding when in the 1990s a friend planned to visit and took a train from Cape Town to Bonnievale. Keith had arranged to collect him at 11:30pm on the Friday night of his arrival. Although Bonnievale had a station and platform, the platform was not much longer than a single coach. The train having multiple coaches, Keith had to search for him in the vineyards with a torch when he arrived.

A portion of a regional map dated 1900, showing the incomplete railway line before it crossed the Steenboks Kloof river to where the future Vale siding would be. In the middle of the map one can see the Towerwater buildings indicated by the word Houses on the old road where the Steenboks Kloof river joins the Breede River.  

In the 25^th anniversary album of the local Dutch Reformed Church, Bonnievale tot vandag, 1922-1947, it is mentioned that Bonnievale station mostly handled manure. It is further recorded that in 1937 it handled 11 000 tonnes of manure. Clearly, there was extensive cattle farming in the area, reminiscent of a time when this area comprised mostly Loan Farms used by stock farmers from Stellenbosch for grazing their cattle.

Nearly a 100 years later, after the original New Cape Central Railway ceased to exist, we could enjoy a train ride through the valley like those early pioneers, but this time on the new New Cape Central Railway.

 

Sources:

Early railways at the Cape, Jose Burman,1984
A Chronicle of the Cape Central Railway, D.M. Rhind, 1995
Bonnievale tot Vandag, 1922–1947, 1947
New South Africa under one flag. C Forrest Rigg, 1901

A journey of 500 000km under a super blue moon

On 30 August 2023, a super blue moon was rising over the Langeberg mountain range as we were traveling from Cape Town to Towerwater. The significance of the lunar spectacle in the sky while we were keeping an eye on the speedometer of the Toyota bakkie that was approaching its 500 000km milestone, was not lost on us.

500000km and counting

Maybe it was a sign from the universe wanting to make this milestone extra special and memorable. We realized that the speedometer was going to click over to 500 000km at a random point on the R60 between the towns of Worcester and Robertson in the Western Cape. It happened on the bridge over the Nuy river and as we captured the event on camera after coming to a safe stop spot, the super blue moon was rising over the Breede River valley.

Once in a super blue moon

A super blue moon is quite a special lunar event. It is three lunar phenomena all occurring at once. A simultaneous full moon, a supermoon and a blue moon.

A road less traveled

A full moon occurs when the moon is directly opposite the sun with the Earth in between. When the moon is full, the sun reflects off the moon’s surface and beams to Earth.  It takes the moon about 27.3 days to complete a revolution around the Earth.

A vygie scattered track 

The moon does not orbit around the Earth in a perfect circle but does so in an elliptical fashion, which is always closer to one end of the ellipse, never directly in the middle. This means that at times the moon will be closer to the Earth on one end of the elongated circle than it is at the other side. When a full moon is at the closest point to Earth it is called a supermoon. The supermoon appears 14% larger and brighter in the sky.

Loading stones in the meadows

A blue moon is when two full moons occur in the same month. The moon is not actually blue, but the phrase does inform the idiom “once in a blue moon”, where an event happens very rarely. A blue moon occurs because the moon’s orbit is slightly less than a full month, and two full moons will occasionally take place within the same month.

Undiscovered horizons

It was quite prophetic that the bakkie should reach 500 000km once in a super blue moon. The more amazing thing is to try and recall our journey spanning four decades to reach the 500 000km milestone. The circumference of the earth is 40 075km that means that we traveled an astonishing 12.5 times around the world.

A gravel road to adventure

We bought the trusty bakkie as a new vehicle in July 1996, making it 27 years old this year. Most of the kilometers registered on the bakkie result from the process of restoring Towerwater. The bakkie really worked hard over the 27 years. Carting loads of bricks, stone, terracotta and slate floor tiles, wall tiles, wood, manure, broken pips, compost, plants, furniture, art, ceramics, appliances, and everything else required to make Towerwater what it is today.

The bakkie arriving at Towerwater with a load of fire wood

Without the bakkie it would have been impossible to do what we have done at Towerwater. Apart from bringing material to Towerwater we also regularly cart tons of garden refuse to the local municipal dump and recycling to the local recycle plant.

Wheat fields and big sky

Luckily, the trips in the bakkie were not all work and no play. We have taken time to explore the roads less traveled. We have studied maps and found gravel roads that take us to places that we have never before seen, finding architectural gems and charming complexes in the middle of nowhere. The robust bakkie allowed us to take any road that interested us.

Springbuck grazing in the veld 

Some trips gave us a glimpse of what William John Burchell must have experienced on his explorations of Southern Africa in 1811 and 1812. This was just one of the many travelers that came to explore what our amazing country had to offer in terms of fauna and flora.

Portion of a map circa 1781 

Owning a classic (Southern African Veteran and Vintage Association dating category Class G) Toyota bakkie allows one to meet a lot of people. Wherever we might go with the bakkie there will always be somebody that will admire and compliment the bakkie before enquiring if it might be for sale. Our make of bakkie is very popular and there will always be somebody hooting and giving a thumbs up as they drive past us on the road.

A pit stop on a road trip with the bakkie

Unfortunately, not everybody is polite enough to ask if they might buy. The bakkie has been stolen (or at least an attempt to steal) 17 times. But we got it back every time. We usually always found it immobilised within a kilometer radius from where it was stolen, patiently waiting for us to take it home. The furthest the thieves got away with it once was as far as a roadblock on the N2 (National Road) near Swellendam after it had been stolen in Cape Town. Clearly, there is a guardian angel looking out for us and the bakkie. Reaching 500 000km under the spectacle of a super blue moon as proof of it, did not go unnoticed.  

Days like this

After a week of crazy winds that blew out some of my recently planted gazanias and rain that did not want to rain but instead hung about undecided, damp but not wet, we finally awoke to a brilliant, bright winter’s day. With not a cloud to be seen in the sky, everything looked greener, bluer, and brighter.

Looking up at the African blue sky through the opening apricot blossoms, I am reminded of the series of paintings of almond blossoms that Vincent van Gogh painted in southern France. I can understand his inspiration to capture the lines, colours and textures of the dark branches edged with white blossoms on a bright blue background. 

Almond blossoms, Vincent van Gogh, 1890

We managed to change several things in the garden. Replacing the Bougainvilea hedge with a spekboom hedge, brought endless sunshine into the orchard. The new almond tree that was not happy growing in the shade of the Bougainvilea hedge, finally looks determined to follow in his sibling’s footsteps and become a larger tree. The two almond trees were planted at the same time. The one that was planted in a sunnier spot in the orchard has become a proper little tree in one season, whereas the one planted in the shadier spot in the bottom of the orchard has hardly showed any growth. The magic which sunshine brings to the garden.

We decided to re-plant potted hydrangeas directly into the soil on the old front side of the house. With four empty terracotta pots now available, we decided to replant the Veillchenblau rose in two of them and get them into the sun. Their original spot used to be very sunny, but the sprawling oak tree had increasingly eroded most of their afternoon sun. We hope that this move will give them a new lease on life.

The two remaining pots we moved to the stone stoep in front of the cottage. I planted two Cara Cara oranges in them. The Cara Cara oranges are a cousin of Blood Oranges, and we thought it might be interesting to introduce them into the garden.

The garden feels new and fresh. We replaced 37 roses in the rosarium and continued using Mycorrhizal granules in the re-planting of the roses. This year we are introducing guano into their feeding program in the hope that it will help them stay healthy and strong.

After about 25 years, we had to rescue the rosemary bush in front of the cottage by cutting out the deadwood and trimming it back to a more manageable size. The idea was to replace it with a new one but after we trimmed it back, we decided to give it another chance, this time as a Rosemary tree. Most of the lower branches were dead or dying and after we removed it the plant looked more like a miniature tree than a bush.

August is a time of renewal at Towerwater with constant changes and improvements in the garden. With the garden bursting into blossom and new growth, it is fitting that I celebrate the birth of this blog nine years ago. It is astonishing that so many years have passed since the first post. At the time, I thought recording country life in a traditional Cape farmhouse might interest a small group of people.

With more than 176 000 visits to the blog to date, it has proved that there is a larger audience who have an interest in traditional building maintenance, food and baking, gardening and nature, Cape furniture, art, and antiquity. I enjoy the interaction and the sharing of ideas with readers and through the posts I have met so many interesting people with interesting stories.

Enjoying this glorious winter’s day and reminiscing the time spent recording a country lifestyle, reminded me of the song “Days like This” by Van Morrison.

“When it's not always raining there'll be days like this

When there's no one complaining there'll be days like this

When everything falls into place like the flick of a switch

Well my mama told me there'll be days like this”

 

Happy ninth birthday Blog!

Previous birthday posts,

Our marmalade malady - 2022
Still life with oranges - 2021
Almond trees in August -2020
Of birthdays and blossoms - 2019
A life imagined - 2018
Looking back to the future - 2017
Reflections - 2016
Happy birthday blog - 2015
Heading for spring -2014

Inspirational picket fences

When we bought the property that we call Towerwater, 32 years ago, it was a remnant of several subdivisions of the original farm, Aan de Breede Rivier. The Towerwater portion was standing fenceless as part of the previous larger property. The informal way in which the property lived side by side with its new subdivisions, without formal fences to demarcate the new boundaries, was not an uncommon practice in a small town.

Respect for a neighbour’s property meant that one never crossed the invisible line of one’s own property borders. Unfortunately, not everybody adheres to the unspoken rule of respecting another’s property. We found that the uninhabited property had become a shortcut from one property to another for a neighbouring property.

To stop several bad habits from being perpetuated, we realised that we had to formalise the fence around the property before we could start restoring the buildings. With a clear idea how, and to which periods we would like to restore the buildings, the envisaged fencing posed a bit of a challenge.

Historic House with example of picket fence at Genadendal mission complex

With the property not adhering to the formal street grid of the town and the buildings not really town houses, but farm buildings, we had to look for inspiration a bit wider for an appropriate fencing solution. It was important for us that the fences respected the historical architecture and character of the buildings and region.

Historic house with an example of a picket fence at Elim

We looked at historical vernacular town complexes and individual buildings in the Overberg region and surrounds for guidance and inspiration. Buildings and prevailing practices that might have informed Philip Hendrik Morkel when he acquired the loan farm Aan De Breede Rivier in the late 1700’s, and buildings erected in the early 1800’s.

Picket fence at Towerwater, and different examples of picket fences at Genadendal

Wooden pickets in different forms, inserted between piers, were a popular way of fencing off buildings and houses on farmsteads and in towns. At the time we thought a very good example could be found in the buildings at the Genadendal and Elim mission stations that were established in 1738 and 1824 respectively. The initiative of Moravian missionaries in the Overberg.

Different examples of picket fences used at historical Genadendal buildings

Not only did we get an idea of the different types of built piers with wooden picket fences that were used to separate the private and public space, but we also found the use of pebbledash plaster on contemporary buildings at these mission stations.

A historical building at Elim with pebbledash plaster and qouining

The smooth plastered door and window surrounds were complemented by smooth plastered quoining with the rest of the walls plastered with pebbledash plaster. The same treatment featured on the Towerwater main house. The pebbledash plaster however, added a new challenge to the maintenance. Where plaster dropped from the walls, we had to scoop it into buckets to ensure that we rescued all the small pebbles in the soft lime plaster. This was to ensure that by reusing them when we repaired the plaster, we would achieve a matching finish.

The use of pickets and quoining at Genadendal and at Towerwater

We learned that a popular reason for using pebbledash plaster on the historical buildings at the Cape was to fragment the reflected light from the white limewashed walls that could be blinding in the bright African sun.

Keith making pickets

Fences serve both decorative and utilitarian functions, securing boundaries, protecting planted areas, and providing privacy. Inspired by the historical piers and picket fences of Genadendal, we decided on the design for the piers and wooden picket fences for Towerwater.

The pickets at different stages of painting

Keith, with the help of a local man who had some experience in building, first built the low walls and piers around the property on three sides. The fourth side is bordered by the irrigation canal running through the valley. Afterwards Keith proceeded to handsaw all the pickets from wood we carted 190Km from Cape Town. These were assembled in panels and painted historical green before mounting between the plastered piers. The first set of wooden picket fences was made from treated PAR SA pine. Later, we learnt that this wood did not last well in the local climate and all the wooden fences were systematically remade with hardwood over time and when finances permitted.

Keith assembling picket panels

Hardwood has a longer lifespan. Keith used hundreds of metres of wood to make the pickets and the bottom and top supporting beams for each panel. He cut the tops for each picket after marking them out with a template he had made for the purpose. Currently the fence around the property consists of 47 piers, 34 picket panels consisting of 584 pickets, 2336 screws, 6 gates, and a mock front gate at the old front of the house. The design incorporating wooden pickets was also used for the gates of the garden office and gas room.

Keith basically bought screws on an industrial scale because fastening each picket required four screws and 12 for mounting each panel. Keith would drill a pilot hole and a countersunk groove for each screw before fastening the picket to the cross beam. Over the years, I have bought electric drills at country auctions when the bids were very low, and one can pick them up for less than one pays for a supermarket cake.

Now, when Keith assembles a picket panel, he would have three electric drills ready with a different drill bit for each step of the assembly line. Where I sat in my “home office” in the voorkamer, I could hear the rhythmic drilling of pilot hole, countersunk and screw becoming a symphony of assembled picket panels.

Another example of historical picket fences at Genadendal

Making the picket fences is labour intensive. If we had to pay somebody to do it, we might not be able to afford it. Luckily, we are both creative and not afraid to attempt any project requiring manual labour.  

Finding inspiration from picket fences in charming mission complexes and towns where they have survived, we were able to create a period sympathetic fence for the Towerwater property, allowing the old farm buildings to blend into the surrounding townscape in a harmonious way.