The History of Deneysville

the history of Deneysville Deneysville News - Looking back at Deneysville 2 The early inhabitants of Deneysville by Gordon Young 3 The farm Elandsfontein 4 Factors leading to the construction of Vaal Dam 7 Vaaldam 7 The history of Deneysville 8 Refengkgotso location 10 Metsing township 11 Simon Poho remembers 12 Groot Eiland 12 Early days by Carol Meyer 13 I remember by Roz Ruggli 15 An O'Grady tells of the old days 17 The original drawings of Deneysville 18 The history of the flying boats 19 The flying boats 20 The Short Empire flying boats by Bill Yenne 21 Solents 22 Southampton 22 Sunderlands 22 Calcutta & Mayo Class 22 The BOAC era of flying boats from Flyer magazine 23 A flight across Africa in a flying boat during the war by Clare Reed 24 Deneysville 1970 25 The mini-skirt and Vaaldam 25 Die NG Gemeente in Deneysville 27 Lake Avenue Inn 28 Deneysville Castle by Gordon Young 29 Brentwood Lodge 29 The Deneysville Aquatic Club by Graham Brown 30 Deneysville Bowls Club 31 St Peter's Combined Church 32 BirdLife Vaaldam 33 The rising tide at Vaaldam from SA Yachting May 1988 34 Sailing at Vaaldam 35 Looking Back at the Sailing Scene by Lex Raas 36 Deneysville a sailing centre 38 At the bottom of Vaaldam a précis in English of the book 40 'Op die bodem van Vaaldam' by Victor E. d'Assonville. Map of Vaaldam 45 1 Deneysville News Looking Back at Deneysville In mid-May 1999, the Watchkeepers, a sort of ratepayers association, brought into being the Crows, patrollers on bicycles to keep an eye on Deneysville, to which residents subscribed. It was Neil Luck's idea, the chairman Peter Lambie agreed and turned to Julien Girard and said "Do it". One of the marketing principles was to issue a monthly newsletter. The first appeared in June 1999. Then the committee, always full of bright ideas, thought that Deneysville might need a newspaper and advertisements could cover the cost of printing. This would incorporate the Crow Patrol News. Once again it was "Julien do it." After 14 issues of Crow News (14) months of the Crows, the first issue was published in August 2000 with Julien Girard as the editor. The publication has appeared monthly ever since. The first advertisers were Lily' Garden Nurseries, B&T Electrical, Farm Fresh Eggs and Thys Campher Eiendomme. The first contributor was Lily Coetzee; she and Harry had a nursery, with a column title Lily's Garden Corner. B. P. Geldenhuys wrote the first letter published; it was an open letter to the Deneysville Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Makhale. Andre Cronje was the second regular contributor with his column Out of the Council Chamber. In 2001 Working for Water started removing trees around Deneysville. In March 2001 a letter was published headed 'The fish eagles no longer land on the tree chopped Groot Eiland" written by Chris Farrington. In May the first Bird Club News appeared and the TREE LINE an update by Margaret Williams on Working for Water. At this time Deon Serfontein started his website www.vaalshopper.co.za and in June 2001 his first 'Deon's Computer Corner' appeared. He is still a contributor today. Clare Read was asked for a review in the October issue covering the 20-11 disaster. His heading - New York...... New York. His first Pet's Para appeared in the December issue that year. Peter Clare Read remained a popular contributor until his death. In the December 2001 issue the first Looking Back at Deneysville series was printed. It was entitled In the beginning - the varied inhabitamts of Deneysville. and was written by Gordon Young. This publication is the collection of all these articles which have been published monthly ever since. 2 The varied inhabitants of Deneysville Skull found by Gordon Young in the Because of the strong flowing Vaal River The Tswana speaking inhabitants village and it's once teeming wildlife, the area we hunted, but also planted crops. They in turn Workers digging now call Deneysville, attracted a variety of were displaced by the roving "Impis" of foundations at the site of indigenous and transient peoples. Some Chaka Zulu and other warring Bantu tribes. Happy, the electrician's 20,000 years ago, upright walking, hairy ape- With the departure of the Tswanas, the house, unearthed a skull. like men lived along the river banks in Khoi Khoi returned and lived in the circular The police were called hollowed out caves. They used finely stone buildings that had been abandoned. to investigate and have chiselled stone implements, which have been They hunted, but now also turned to checked by their forensic found here. cultivating crops. They made iron spears, and experts. Over a long period of time Tswana arrow tips, as did the Tswanas, using air The skull was damaged speaking people migrated from the north and bellows for their ovens. Thet also made a by the diggers, suggesting built and settled in a band of 'Iron Age' stone variety of baked clay pots. that it has been in the ground igloo type structures. They stretch from The coming of the Bantu and white for a very long time. It is Thabazimbi in the west, to Deneysville in the settlers displaced the Khoi who now became generally thought to be of east where ruins, dating back some 600 years, a more nomadic people retreating to semi- Tswana or Khoi-Khoi origin. abound. desert areas. A 'Khoi' skull was found in Their arrival in Deneysville displaced The construction of the Vaal Dam the area some years ago but hordes of Khoi Khoi who had migrated from commenced in 1932 to provide jobs during disappeared and the south and settled here as hunters over a the depression. The housing of the workers unfortunately does not form period of many thousands of years. was the start of the populated Deneysville, Special tool cast in Deneysville foundry This as yet unpatented implement, was cast in Deneysville and the manufacturers were unaware of the great marketing possibilities of their design. ' The manufacturers cast them for their own use during the Iron Age. They were the early Tswana inhabitants. A most useful tool that could be marketed today! These implements were found while digging foundations in town. The skull found at the site in Similar implements are on display at the High Street not far from the Deneysville Library together with other Khoi ruins on the nature artefacts, some from the earlier Stone Age Early iron implements found in the reserve situated on the koppie. period. Deneysville area. Probably a Sotho-Tswana skull A report on the skull, found in origins in the area at roughly Sotho-Tswana on account of Management Plan for the High Street near the Gawie de the same time (Huffinan, the stonewalling, which needs archaeological remains in the Beer Nature Reserve on the 2002). Archaeologically the testing." Reserve." 21st of August 2008, was first Iron Age Farmer Some of the recommendations "A Conservation Management received by the Deneysville communities to settle in the are: "The site should be Plan for the archaeological Library. This was compiled by area are the Nguni migrations regarded as significant and can remains in the Gawie De Beer W.C. Nienaber of the Forensic out of (present day) KwaZulu- possibly elucidate Iron Age Nature Reserve must be Anthropology Research Centre Natal and the Fokeng with Farmer settlement in the developed and implemented ... of the University of Pretoria. Nstsuanatsatsi facies pottery area ...... any archaeological to minimize the impact of "The skull, mandible and moved into the area around the resource that might add to development on the site." scapula were part of a skeleton mid 15th century (Huffman, current knowledge regarding "Interpretative signage for the buried in a tightly flexed 2007). Also, according to Nguni expansion on the archaeological remains in the sitting position. Huffman (2007), the Highveld is extremely Gawie De Beer Nature The only indication of Olifantspoort facies of the valuable. This site might Reserve must be improved. It age of the remains are in Maloko tradition corresponds contain evidence for contact is suggested that these association with the site. with the pottery and between Kwena and Fokeng recommendations be Based on oral tradition stonewalling found at the site. people, again significant. implemented as a partnership the general area was settled by At this stage too little is known Phase II mitigation work on between the private land the Kwena Sotho-Tswana to securely assign it to any of Erf 41 will establish the owner, the Municipality, people between 1550 and 1650 these traditions, but validity of these assumptions SAHRA and a research AD. The Fokeng also had their preliminarily it is thought to be and can guide a Conservation instituion." 3 Deneysville News May 2009 The farm Elandsfontein (Translated from the original in Afrikaans) Groenpunt Prison some 10 km from Deneysville on the Vereeniging road is situated on a portion of the farm Elandsfontein. A school was established there in the early days. Chris Fourie has kindly given a copy of the history of the farm and life there from the eighteen hundreds written on the request of the principal and compiled by Mr. Michael C. Engelbrecht. Readers will be treated to interesting facets of life and history of the earlier days. Forward by C.H. Chris Fourie In 1960 the 3-man Engelbrecht School was moved from the farm Elandsfontein to Deneysville, with teacher, pupils and all. There were then 72 pupils attending the school while Deneysville only had 6. The principal at the time was Mr.

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