September 2010 Phone 044-620-3338 Fax 044-620-3176 Email: [email protected] www.greatbrakriver.co.za

Editor3B Rene’ de Kock

Dear Museum Friends Issue 9 of 2010 During September, the

Museum is open We are disappointed to let you know that our museum garden has been raided again and both plants and trees removed. It is obviously adults who understand from Monday to gardening as only newly planted items that are not common have been removed. Friday between 9 It is difficult to understand the reason for this appalling and am and 4 pm and th unnecessary damage. from the 18 on Saturday from I have kept the lead-in short this month as many of the articles cover the latest 9.30 to 12.noon. news. The Department of

th Water Affairs and Please diarise Heritage day, September 24 . Forestry reports that during the last week The Museum is having an Open Day. in August 2010, our Wolwedans dam is We are opening at 9.00 am till 2 pm. 17.30% full. The bottom 12.0% layer may not be We have Fresh Spring Vegetables and Eggs to sell. suitable for irrigation.

The ‘Pelton Wheel’ will be open for a Farm Breakfast and Tea and Cake. Our Shop has many new products including Jams, Olives and Pickles for Sale. Many of our Pre Owned Books are on Offer.

Have you any interesting stories or information to add to the “Moving to Greener Pastures” the history of our coloured people. Great Brak River’s An inclusion may earn you free tea and scones at the Museum. Wolwedans dam wall. The museum is in the process of preparing a book on the history and stories of The only other dam of our village coloured folk and this month we publish an extract of chapter eight importance in the which describes our vegetable lands and their heritage. This can be found on page Wolwedans catchment five. Further details will be available at the museum during our heritage month area is the very small celebrations where this year’s heritage day theme is “Heritage of Agriculture" Ernest Robertson dam which due to the light

rain is 99.0% full. Do not Forget! Hopes fund raising “Hands PLEASE DONATE On” crafts workshop in BLOOD Pre-owned books available September will be held at the Great Brak from the Museum Book When: 3rd THURSDAY Shop. River Museum on Tuesday 21st. OF SEPTEMBER

Where: @ THE N G Both English and Please call Hope de Kock on CHURCH HALL books available from R4.oo 044 6205124 or 083 378 Time: FROM 3 PM each. 1232 UNTIL 7 PM for full details. Please BE THERE!!! GBR Museum News Letter September 2010 Page No. 1 Women’s Day Celebrations in Information by Colleen Chatt Great Brak River

The ladies of the Great Brak Museum were invited to participate in the women’s day celebrations at the Dutch Reformed Church Hall. The celebrations took place on the 6th August 2010 at 2 pm.

Well what can we say about celebrating women’s day in a small village like Great Brak?

The day had prospects for all and we all tried to outdo each other with our outfits and food. Needless to say our Museum ladies were as bold and brave as usual. Our theme table was to be Mexico, so off we went along all dolled up for the occasion with brightly coloured shirts and black pants, of course we cannot forget the hats they were the talk of the day. The Museum table had a Mexican theme with the guacomale made by Coralie, Mexican wedding cookies made by Nisde, Mexican Wraps made by Hope, and other goodies contributed by Kitty, Margaret and Gaye and of course me being the person I am I tagged along and sampled everything, so we could call me the day’s food sampler.

The Great Brak River Museum Table.

The programme was well set out by the Great Brak Clinic staff. We began with a Lady Doctor, Dr de Beer who gave us a lengthy discussion on women’s health, well that seemed to ease the atmosphere amongst everybody. After that a young lady, Dawn Abrahams, who is a local and only 15 years of age sang a lovely gospel song for us, and we were all so blessed.

Lesley Rae Dowling attended our celebration (as you know she is a resident in our village and raises funds for projects in and around our village) well she gave a lovely speech and complimented all of us on our lovely outfits and of course the lovely tables.

I think the highlight for me and I do believe I speak for everybody, was the lady who did the demonstration on body language, Daleen Cloete. Sitting at the table in front of me was a photographer, I wish that I had some of the photo’s he took during her demonstration. Kleenex should’ve been one of the donations of tissues, as this lady had captured the audience’s attention with her hilarious demonstration and cheers of laughter and hysterics burst forth from young and old. Well we did need a slight break after that to re- compose ourselves. The final one was a demonstration by Captain Potje from the SAP; he also does radio programmes for Eden FM and he is a member of Crime Busters, well you ask what has that got to do with anything? well Captain Potje gave us a short speech on rape statistics here in our area, shocking as it was he decided we needed to see a demonstration on self defence, once again our hall was pumping with laughter which was not aimed at Mr P and the seriousness of his demonstration, but the assistant that he requested out of the audience, she gave an award winning performance and again the tears rolled as the laughter continued and photo’s of the memorable occasion followed.

The Mexican Treats.

Happy Women’s day to all those who didn’t receive a wish and Happy Women’s day to all the ladies who participated, we will see you all next year.

GBR Museum News Letter September 2010 Page No. 2 Neighbouring Villages – Another interesting rural adventure, less than an hour drive from , is a drive to the village of Herbertsdale. Choose the weekend and book a lunch in advance at one of the eateries or take a picnick basket.

After the Engen garage on the N2 leading out of Mossel Bay take the macadamised R327 turnoff to Herbertsdale and enjoy the scenic route. The vegetation is mixed with proteas, aloes and the yellow Chyrsathemoides monilifera or bietou (other names are Bush Tick berry, Boetabessie or Bietabos.

When you drive through the Du Plessis Pass, about five kilometres short of Herbertsdale, you will pass the Vredehof Guesthouse on your right hand side. The guesthouse belongs to the Muller family and the contact number is 044 651 1768.

The attractive yellow bietou above, and entering Herbertsdale (right).

The Dwarsrivier country getaway is situated off the R327, thirteen km on a macadamia nut farm through Herbertsdale in the Cloete's Mountain Pass, has self catering units and belongs to Martin and Jenny Jeken. B&B can be catered if requested. Contact number 044 6511 611.

The restaurant is ‘Herberts Place’ and only caters over a weekend. Booking is essential. Ann Forsyth 044 6511 702/ 082 5794810. You turn left just before entering Herbertsdale on the road to Albertinia, go across the bridge and it is on the right hand side. The sign can be seen on the roof of the building. ‘Poort wyne’ no longer bottle wine but only supply clients like KWV etc.

GBR Museum News Letter September 2010 Page No. 3

Jackkalsvlei is now the winery to visit, just 8.5 kilometres outside Herbertsdale. They have recently won prizes for their wines. Jakkalsvlei is family friendly and visitors are invited to enjoy the tranquil farm atmosphere. Bring your own picnic basket or order a Cheese Platter with figs & olives from the friendly staff. Guests can also take a stroll through the vineyards or enjoy the hiking trail on the farm. Open Mondays to Saturday for wine tasting. Phone 082-822-4131.

If you would like to visit the ruins of the British fort? They are situated on the farm Suurlemoenskloof some 15 kilometres from the village. Take the R 327, the Van Wyksdorp road and the contact person is Christine Boshoff. Phone 044 6511 726

The Old Pastorie which is a private residence today

History of Herbertsdale The town is in the valley of the Langtou River, a tributary of the Gouritz River, and was established on part of the farm ‘Hemelrood’ of which the owner was James Benton Herbert. The first residential stands were sold in 1865 and the settlement was named after the owner of the farm. The Dutch Reformed Church built the first church and school on another piece of Herbertsdale where mission work began in 1863. The mission station was taken over by the Berlin Missionary Society in 1872. The school still stands today.

A farm house on the road to Herbertsdale

The town is at the southern end of the Cloete’s Pass which connects the Little Karoo with the Gourits valley across the Vreysberg (1100m) at the eastern extremity of the Langeberg Mountain Range.

The pass was constructed in 1850 and is named after the family who owned the land at the southern entrance of the pass. At the Northern entrance there are ruins of blockhouses built by the British to protect the pass against the Boer raiders during the Anglo–Boer war.

Looking back towards Mossel Bay

If you require more information contact the writer Nisde McRobert on phone no. 044-620-3783

GBR Museum News Letter September 2010 Page No. 4 The Great Brak River Vegetable lands.

From a 1983 report, agricultural production in the Great Brak River/Wolwedans dam catchment appears to be profitable with about 90% of suitable land already cleared. The agricultural pattern then consisted of stock farming pastures (40 percent), wheat (30 percent) and vegetables (30 percent). The characteristic deep red soils in the region do not readily erode but around the village this cover is shallow and once disturbed is prone to wash aways. The farms are generally contoured and well managed, however, infestations of black wattle (Acacia mearnsii) occur in drainage channels and along major watercourses and more small dams are being built on private lands, all of which reduce run-off to the river.

Wheat has subsequently become less profitable and little is seen today. As wheat is mainly not irrigated, the switch to growing more vegetables requires much more irrigation water and illegal dams have been built resulting in a further reduction in the available run off that reaches the Wolwedans dam. The catchment has a finite ‘Reserve’ and whilst we may have flooding from time to time the Wolwedans has reached it’s limit in the amount of water that is available to supply the residents of Mossel Bay.

The Village of Great Brak River has an interesting ‘Heritage of Agriculture’, the theme of this year’s 2010’s heritage day. Charles Searle emigrated from Hersham in Surrey England where he was influenced by local events and unstable employment that lead many people of the working class to seek a better life overseas.

In sensing an opportunity to improve the life of the factory workers, he established what was later to be called a ‘factory in a garden’.

The large vegetable gardens that the Searle family shaped provided many jobs, job opportunities and produce for the coloured families. This continues in operation to the present day but on a smaller scale. Hersham, a small village in England from where the Searle families emigrated, like many similar communities probably had nearby allotments or community gardens where the poorer classes of people were able to grow vegetables for sustenance.

Community gardens, which in themselves have a long and interesting history, provide access to fresh produce and plants as well as access to satisfying labour, neighbourhood improvement, sense of community and connection to the environment. In the United Kingdom these are amazingly old- fashioned given that they are often in areas of prime real estate or alongside railway lines, etc. They are a sanctuary for stressed people... a chance to get away from it all. With their origin dating back to the Industrial Revolution, allotments enable urban man to grow fruit and vegetables and to enjoy a period of peace, away from the nagging of his wife and the wailing of his children.

The Khoe peoples were not farmers but hunter-gathers where as our Bantu people were. With the development of the iron blade, hoeing and reaping became easier for the Bantu people and agriculture took on a whole new meaning. Some 2 000 years ago, when the first waves of black settlers began arriving in Southern Africa, they brought with them the advantages of an Iron Age culture, farming skills and domesticated crops.

A typical two bladed ploughshare.

After they had settled in the eastern parts of Southern Africa, they eventually spread out across the Highveld some 1 000 years ago, because of their need for more land on which to practise their growing cattle culture. The first African settlements in were mainly in the Transvaal and Kwazulu Natal areas, near water. In the western half of the country and to the south, rainfall was low and desert or semi desert conditions GBR Museum News Letter September 2010 Page No. 5 prevailed and the African farmers were not interested in settling there. These dry regions remained a safe haven of the Khoe and the San.

The ox-plough was brought to Southern Africa by European settlers and it replaced the hoe as a tool to clear the ground. It also changed the society of African farmers. The plough had to be pulled by oxen, but by tradition women were not allowed to handle cattle. This meant that the women could not operate a plough but could still work in the fields.

Ploughing the Great Brak River estuary flats.

The plough has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture. The primary purpose of ploughing is to turn over the upper layer of the soil, bringing fresh nutrients to the surface, while burying weeds and the remains of previous crops, allowing them to break down. It also aerates the soil, and allows it to hold moisture better. In modern use, a ploughed field is typically left to dry out, and is then harrowed before planting. Ploughs were initially pulled by oxen, and later in many areas by horses and mules.

Recently Thozi Gwanya, director general of rural development and land reform suggested that South African small scale farmers should go back to using oxen and hand held ploughs instead of tractors, and to rather use more “environment friendly” oxen and hand held ploughs. “It’s nothing new; most of us are from the era when oxen and donkey carts were used on farms; developing countries such as India, which produce 70% of its own food, use this method.”

In 1837 John Deere introduced the first steel plough into America; it was much stronger than the iron designs that it was able to work the soil in areas that had earlier been considered unsuitable for farming. Improvements on this followed developments in metallurgy; steel coulters and shares with softer iron mould boards to prevent breakage and eventually the face of the mould board grew strong enough to dispense with the coulter.

Simple Plough parts

1. The frame 2. Three point attachment 3. Height regulator 4. Knife or coulter 5. Chisel 6. Share or ploughshare 7. Mould board

A single draught horse can normally pull a single-furrow plough in clean light soil, but in heavier soils two horses are needed, one walking on the land and one in the furrow.

There are historical observations of fifteenth century European seafarers concerning the Khoe. These rode cattle and used them for pack transport. Although there are reports of settler farmers’ ploughing with oxen as early as 1657, crop production was not a major activity of the early colonists.

GBR Museum News Letter September 2010 Page No. 6 Horses, mules and donkeys were imported within a few years of the Dutch arriving at the Cape and were also used for transporting people and goods. Long before the Searle’s arrived in Great Brak River, the local farmers were using horses to draw their ploughs.

An aerial view of the vegetable lands on the west bank which are also fed by water from the east bank furrow. The fields on the right hand side of the river are no longer in use for agriculture.

Even in 1990, the west bank vegetable lands stretched as far as the suburb of ‘Bergsig’, but due to insufficient water and the demand for land to build municipal and school sports fields, this area has shrunk in size.

Much of the ground is in the estuary flood plain and cannot be built on. In the late 1980’s Martes Louw bought the remaining upper section of the vegetable gardens from Bolton’s but has continued to hire out the ground according to the old age practice of allowing one person to hire one acre.

Water Affairs Minister ‘Buyelwa Sonjica’ said in August 2010 that the agricultural sector, as the country's biggest water consumer, had a responsibility in conserving the resource and would soon be required to apply for water licences in a number of catchment areas (Mossel Bay and Great Brak River would no doubt be high on the list).

"In the catchments where the water resource is already allocated, the compulsory licensing process will be initiated as soon as possible, and commercial farmers must expect that their water allocations for irrigation could be curtailed," she stated. We have since heard that this is being implemented in Great Brak River and water usage is being cut by 60%

The vegetable allotments, part of the Searle domain, below the factory in 1956. The lands are now occupied by municipal store rooms. These lands were fed with fresh water from the east bank furrow.

An extract from Chapter eight of ---‘Moving to Greener Pastures From Mossienes to Greenhaven’ GBR Museum News Letter September 2010 Page No. 7

What’s on at the museum and Great Brak River this month? Month & Description Supported Contact person provisional date by Pre-owned books on sale in the Museum 9.30 am to The museum September Shop….Every week day. 4.00 pm 044-620-3338 Both English and Afrikaans books For museum available from R4.oo each funds 24th September Heritage day Museum Nisde McRobert 044-620-3783 “Heritage of Agriculture" 24th September Open Day. See page One Museum Hope de Kock 083-378-1232 27th September Tourism day Info Office Ina Stofberg 044-620-3338 Pre-owned books on sale in the Museum 9.30 am to The museum October Shop….Every week day. 4.00 pm 044-620-3338 Both English and Afrikaans books For museum available from R4.oo each funds For more details on what’s on in our area email Hennie & Rene with a request for their news letter: [email protected]

UNITED NATIONS WORLD TOURISM DAY

The UNWTO decided in late September 1979 to institute World Tourism Day, which was first celebrated on September 27, 1980. September 27 was chosen as the date for World Tourism Day because that date coincided with an important milestone in world tourism: the anniversary of the adoption of the UNWTO Statutes on September 27, 1970

As the world comes together to celebrate 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity, UNWTO is happy to announce that the World Tourism Day (WTD) celebrations, hosted officially this year by China, will take place under the theme Tourism and Biodiversity (27 September, Guangdong Province). The theme provides a unique opportunity to raise public awareness of the importance of biodiversity to tourism and the role of sustainable tourism in the conservation of life on Earth.

Biodiversity is a key tourism asset and fundamental to its sustained growth. Intact and healthy ecosystems form the cornerstone of thousands of tourist enterprises and products worldwide, attracting hundreds of millions of tourists each year. As a leading economic activity, sustainable tourism has an important role and responsibility in managing and conserving biological natural resources. As a key source of income and employment, tourism often provides strong incentives to protect biodiversity. Sustainable tourism can furthermore generate significant revenues for conservation and community development and help to raise awareness of biodiversity issues.

The World Tourism Day is a UN observance and it is not a public holiday. Did You Know? African farmers arrived in Southern Africa around 250 AD, which is about 1 000 years ago, from further north in Africa. “From a grade 5 South African History”.

No wonder the Outcome’s syllabus is being phased out.

GBR Museum News Letter September 2010 Page No. 8 Tourism Information SA Tourism and Other Snippets by Ina Stofberg REMEMBER SEPTEMBER IS TOURISM MONTH!

View of the Floriskraal Dam with the Witteberg mountains.

Laingsburg… a brief introduction

Often passed through en route to Cape Town without a glance, this town is situated in the middle of the Great Karoo and was established in 1881 and named after Commissioner of Crown lands at the time, John Laing. It was originally a trading post and is still the centre of the Dorper sheep farming and merino wool production. It was also here that the controversial Boer commandant Gideon Scheepers was captured during the Anglo-Boer war. Laingsburg is a geologists dream with its layers of fossilized mudstone and strip of white quartz. The San people that used to live here used the quartz for spearheads to hunt with.

There is now a geological walk on the farm Geelbeksbrug 12 km north of Laingsburg to cater for the growing interest in the geology of the area. Known as the Blockhouse Route, because of its proximity to the Anglo-Boer War Blockhouse, the route takes in a number of fascinating rock formations.

The British built block house at Ketting station was immortalized by Rudyard Kipling’s poem “Bridge Guard in the Karoo”.

 The town has a small museum at the public library.  In September Laingsburg hosts a tough 80 km marathon. It will be on 11 September this year. GBR Museum News Letter September 2010 Page No. 9 TOURIST ARRIVALS S A looks set to have an excellent year for tourism according to arrivals statistics for the first quarter of 2010 released by Statistics South Africa. Total arrivals to the country increased by 9,5 per cent for the period January through March this year compared with the same period in 2009, bringing the total number of overseas arrivals to 525 996, up from 480 504 in 2009. Whilst the world Cup contributed well over 1.0% to our GDP, this quarter GDP figures are disappointing and are only 3.2% well down from the first quarter.

TOURISM SNIPPETS DID YOU KNOW

FLOWERS  Bali has 80,000 temples. The following wild flower shows and festival will be held in the .  Romanian physicists created gaseous globes of plasma that Caledon Wild Flower Show (September 10 – 13) grew, reproduced, and Duckitt Nurseries Orchid Show, Darling (September 16 – 19) communicated with each other, Darling Wild Flower Show (September 17 – 19) thereby fulfilling the definition Tulbagh Horse and Wild Flower Show (September 22 – 25) for life. Elim Wild Flower Festival (September 24 – 27) Elgin Open Gardens (October 30 - 31 and November 6 – 7)  In the pueblos of New Mexico, bricks still measure 33 by 15 by For the Flower Map and more information please visit 10 centimeters, proportions www.tourismcapetown.co.za that almost exactly match those of the bricks used to build Cederberg Route Egypt's Temple of Hatshepsut Development in the Western Cape’s Cederberg area is set to increase 3,500 years ago. tourism to the area and aid the local community by involving them in commercial tourism activities.  Scientists believe they'll be able The first phase of the project, which was completed in 2007, saw the to figure out why cancer cells development of a multi-purpose facility aimed at attracting visitors to the heritage route of the area. This was accomplished in addition to are virtually immortal, and then the development of overnight accommodation in the mountainous apply the secret to keeping area. A vacant school was revamped into a backpackers’ lodge that is normal cells alive much longer, operated by the community. thereby dramatically expanding The Donkey Cart Route is an extension of the original project and the human life span. passes through an area renowned for its Rooibos tea farms. The route is expected to be completed in July 2011.  Clown fish can alter their gender as their social status Tourist Development rises. A new comprehensive strategy targets 13.5 m foreign tourists per year. The National Dept of Tourism has invited comments on the NTSS  Gregorian chants can cure (National Tourism Sector Strategy) and the full strategy is available on dyslexia. the website: http://www.tourism.gov.za /Pages/tourismindaba.aspx  In Uniondale you can view over 500 rock paintings by the View Kruger Park on Google Street View Khoisan indigenous people. The Not particularly friendly, Google Street View finally went live in South San rock art is 400 to 3000 Africa earlier this year. years old and had deep spiritual Users can see street-level images and a number of tourist attractions, including the world-renowned Kruger National Park. and cultural significance to the The park’s William Mabasa said: “Kruger is an iconic South African Khoisan people. destination and the launch of Street View in South Africa means that we can bring Kruger's spectacular wildlife to even more people  Uniondale is also the departure around the globe.” point for the world’s longest Street View may be accessed from Google Earth, or on the Google Maps narrow gauge functioning website. railway, which crosses over the Smartphone users can also access Street View through the mobile highest narrow gauge bridge in version of Google Maps. the world.

Acknowledgement: Tourism Update. GBR Museum News Letter September 2010 Page No. 10 PHOTO’S AND TEXT;

OUR NATURE CORNER SALLY ADAM

Currently flowering on the farm:

Actually, Tritoniopsis caffra flowers whenever it feels like it and

seems to quite like damp, shady spots.

The Hard Pear (Olinia ventosa) prefers to flower after good rains, but as this one is lucky enough to find itself on a

riverbank it has no such constraints.

The most eye-catching of our trees at the moment must be the Forest Elder (Nuxia floribunda) and aptly named it is too: "floribunda" means "flowering abundantly".

GBR Museum News Letter September 2010 Page No. 11 THE CURATOR’S CORNER Nisde Mc Robert’s Page

Oil Pollution between Great Brak River and

Oil pollution has been in the news for some months whilst they battled to cap the undersea oil well in the Gulf of Mexico and the mess it created.

In December 1977 South Africa had its own oil spill that affected the coast from to Little Brak River. The accident happened near Cape St. Francis 64 km off the coast. The “Venoil” was fully loaded with 307,000 tons of crude oil coming down the east coast from Kharg Island sailing towards Nova Scotia and her sister ship “Venpet’ was in ballast returning from Nova Scoria to Kharg Island to pick up a load of fresh oil. The ships collided in the mist, near a busy shipping lane, and caught on fire. The trapped crew on the Venoil were picked up by helicopter and the crew on the Venpet managed to abandon ship in a life raft when both ships caught alight. All the crew were accounted for except two seamen who lost their lives.

When the fires were extinguished both ships were towed to Algoa Bay for temporary repairs. The crude oil was removed and pumped into another tanker. Later the two ships were sent to Japan for extensive repair.

The estuaries and coast between Great Brak River and Little Brak River (LEFT) suffered the worst of the oil slick. The oil caused a lot of damage to the river banks, mud flats, marshes and a reef near Little Brak River. Oil also sank in the rivers and caused a drop in salinity. The oil slick reached three kilometres upriver at Little Brak River. The oil on the beach at Great Brak River reached the coast around the 28th December at the busiest time of the year. Luckily a boom was placed across the mouth of the river that helped to stop the oil moving too far up the river. Bales of straw were dispersed along the beaches to pick up the worst of the oil globules. The beach sand was removed by bulldozer and taken away. Over flights in January 1978 revealed that the oil slick had moved more than 72km miles away from the coast between Cape Agulhas and Port Elizabeth.

In 1984 a Greek oil tanker named “Alexander the Great” was berthed at Kharg Island oil terminal when she was struck by an Iraqi Excocet missile (see photo). The ship was badly damaged and had to be sent to a scrap yard at Kaoshiung.

The ship (right) was previously known by the name of “Venpet”.

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GBR Museum News Letter September 2010 Page No. 12