Places of Interest – Leydsdorp
Can you remember when we were young how stories always started out
with, “A long, long time ago……”? Well this one starts just like that.
A long, long time ago we went to visit friends of ours that had a trading
store in a little town called Gravelotte on the road to Phalaborwa. Along
the way we stopped off to see some of the many wonders in that part of
the world which we knew as the Eastern Transvaal.
Please excuse the picture quality; these have been scanned from old
35mm photos.
This is Waterval Boven which is just above Waterval Onder, near Belfast.
The old railway line to the then Delegoa Bay (now Maputo) runs close to
the N4 and here is a tunnel which it went through just near Waterval
Boven. The tunnel is the N.Z.A.S.M. tunnel built in 1893. NZASM:
Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg-Maatschappij
As you can see we walked through it. It is curved and quite long so it got
pitch black inside there and quite scary.
Hey, what’s this? Well, I’ve just been blown away. I was searching the
NZASM tunnel on Google to find out what it means and look what I found.
Someone was there taking the same pictures as me!
The Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg - Maatschappij (NZASM) tunnel
(completed in 1883) [obviously a misprint here – PT] was built as part of the PretoriaDelagoa railway line and cuts through the Elandsberg. The stone used to line the
tunnel was cut in Italy, shipped and simply placed into position. The tunnel was hailed
as a magnificent feat of engineering at the time.
Walking through the dark 400m tunnel gets you to a view of the 90m Elands waterfall
which gave the two nearest towns their names (Waterval-boven & Waterval-onder).
Today the NZASM tunnel is a national monument. However the 'information
building' and the wooden path through the tunnel are in need of urgent repair.
Walking through the NZASM tunnel without a guide or torch is not recommended.
When the centre and levels were checked in the middle of the tunnel they were correct
to within fifty millimeters - a wonderful feat of engineering indeed, even by
contemporary standards.
Who needs my stories when it’s all on Google?
I’d better switch it off before my whole story comes out of it.
This bridge over the Elands River is known as a five arch bridge and
apparently was the norm or more favored type of bridge built in those
days. Back in 1893 those guys had some first class engineers by the look
of things. I recall that dynamite only came into existence after
Bainskloof Pass was built in 1853. Andrew Geddes Bain used gunpowder
where necessary while he was teaching his apprenticed son Thomas to be
a master road builder. The tunnel above shows what can be achieved with
something a little more powerful.
How are those rocks lining the tunnel imported from Italy? Jeez, don’t we
have rocks here?
Anyway, I digress. This is Verine and Kees at the Elands River just
downstream from the bridge.
Look at these amazing roads. No wonder this is the rally capital of SA.
Imagine blasting through here in a powerful 4wd rally car. Shoe, mouth
watering stuff.
And here is one of the most delicious mountain passes if you have a high
powered road car; the Long Tom Pass. Oh yeah!
And just down the road is the Mac-Mac Falls.
Of course around this part of the world all roads lead to Pilgrims Rest
and it wasn’t long before we also arrived.
And how dull would a visit to Pilgrims Rest be without a visit to the pub at
the Royal Hotel?
Something worth mentioning is that the pub, which is the building on the
right, was originally a church in Lorenzo Marques and it was brought here
by wagon all the way from Mozambique to start its new life to a different
bunch of parishioners.
Anyway we finally got to Roy and Laina in Gravelotte and they told us
about this deserted town just down the road called Leydsdorp and we
were off like a shot to go and have a look-see. On the way there we
stopped at this huge Baobab tree which used to be a pub/clubhouse for
the local rugby team back in the day (inside the tree).
And then. . . . . . . Leydsdorp!
There’s not much more than the hotel and a few buildings but it is totally
deserted. Everybody just upped and left. Quite disrespectful I’d say
because this town has a legacy which not many people know about.
Actually, not many people even know that the town exists at all. The
house right next to the hotel, facing the hotel on your left, used to
belong to Paul Kruger and he was there one day when a very important
document had to be signed. This document was so important that it could
only be signed in the capital of the country and Pretoria was a long way
away so he proclaimed Leydsdorp as the capital of South Africa for one
day so that he could sign the document. See, that’s probably where ‘n
Boer maak ‘n plan comes from.
Somehow we only seemed to take photos of the hotel and not much else
so this is all we have of the town.
Everything is still there. Beds, chairs, stuff in the kitchen and even the
bar stools as you can see in the picture above but it had been abandoned
many years ago and just left like that.
Now there are a few stories about this little town, not just the one about
President Paul Kruger and one that we made too. I’ll start with that one.
We set ourselves up in the bar while exploring and digging around in all
the rooms and in every nook and cranny. That night the party started
because we weren’t going back to Roy and Laina’s place in Gravelotte. Oh
no, we were sleeping right here in the bar. Roy and Laina had brought a
PM9 battery operated record player and a whole lot of vinyl records from
their trading store and we had cooler boxes full of booze and lights and
sleeping bags so we were organized as we partied the night away to the
sounds of Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Brenda Fassie and more.
The bar has a story of its own: In the middle of the counter is a design
in-laid in the wood and the story goes that a travelling salesman wanted a
drink but had no money so he worked his magic on the bar counter for a
bottle of whiskey. That night he went to sleep at the foot of the koppie
that you can see in the third photo of the hotel series above which is
across the road in the front of the hotel. Later that night they heard a
lot of noise and a lion roar and the next morning his remains were found
there.
Then Laina told us about Mal Jan, a recluse who lived just a little way
from that same koppie all by himself. So I grabbed my camera to go and
meet this guy but Laina said that if he sees a camera he will not talk to
anyone. I left the camera and we traipsed through the bush to where Mal
Jan had built himself a shack and some outbuildings. Laina introduced us
and we were offered a seat outside under a tree to chat. He was busy
making the handle for a whip which was already complete with voorslag
and all. I bought the whip from him which I thought I still had but I have
just been to look for it and I’m afraid Verine must have thrown it away.
I was still smoking Texan plain those days and took out one and was just
about to light it when Mal Jan said, “Mphh! Plain nê. Isabella sal daarvan
hou.” Just then there was a clip-clop of hooves on an old army steel
trommel next to me as Isabella his pet goat climbed onto it and stole my
cigarette out of my hand and chomped it up. After the fourth one I put
my packet away because he told me she will eat them all if she gets the
chance.
Mal Jan said he used to have a bakkie and would even on occasion travel
to Pretoria in the old days but he eventually sold it because he didn’t need
it anymore. He then had a bicycle but that got stolen many years ago and
now he just stays where he is.
Well, that was Leydsdorp. I wonder what has become of the town. In
fact, I wonder where Roy and Laina are. We lost contact with them and
have no idea where they are today.
Until next time, “Keep on tripping!”