On the old wagon routes with Mpumalanga Heritage
During May members were taken on a guided tour of Pettigrew's Road, the wagon route that connected Barberton with Pretoriuskop on the route to the harbour at Delagoa Bay.
The current research conducted by Dr Gerrit Haarhof and members of Mpumalanga Heritage, is widely regarded as the most extensive ever done on the old wagon trails and transport routes down the escarpment and across the Lowveld.
In February members of Mpumalanga Heritage were treated to a taste of the old Jock of the Bushveld route, over three days from Lydenburg and Pilgrim’s Rest down the mountain passing through the current-day Kruger National Park to Old Pesene in Mozambique, some four ox-wagon hauls shy of Maputo.
During May members were taken on a guided tour of Pettigrew’s Road, the wagon route that connected Barberton with Pretoriuskop on the route to the harbour at Delagoa Bay.
Members will travel along the Old Natal Road over the mountains from Komatidrift near Badplaas to Barberton on Saturday, September 10. This was the major entry into the Dekaap Valley from the port of Durban in the days of the gold rush.
The major obstacles here were White Hill, Red Hill and the dreadful Chute as described by many weary travellers coming to Barberton and its outlaying mining activities of the 1880s and 1890s.
Most famous is the diary of one George Thorncroft. He and his wife undertook this trip late in 1886. He was later a shopkeeper and well-known amateur botanist of the area.
The current research done by Haarhof, a well-known general practitioner of Mbombela, is with the aim of publishing a book on the subject. For the field work on the Natal Road he was assisted by Duncan Balantyne of Sappi and chairman of Mpumalanga Heritage. Balantyne used to be a resident forester in these area during which time he started to locate the directions and sites of the old wagon road which was in use before the building of the original Nelshoogte Pass during the late 1920s.
Everyone is welcome to join in this day-long excursion. The only requirements is a high-clearance vehicle. Non-members of Mpumalanga Heritage will be requested to join the organisation at an annual fee of R150 payable on the day.
The group will leave from the tourism information centre at Crossing Shopping Centre at 07:00 on September10 or at 08:00 at the Cradle of Life on the N40 near Badplaas for a short audio-visual presentation before embarking on the route.
Bring along refreshments and a lunch basket. If you need a seat or have seats available in your vehicle, contact Jan Minnaar on 083-279-5579.
