History buff explains the past

Madam – The opening of the newly restored and refurbished O’Neill’s Cottage on the N11 / Volksrust Road took place on Saturday morning 15 March.

General Gert Opperman was responsible for the official opening and guest speaker Nigel Mason from Wakkerstroom supplied the interesting historical titbits. The cottage was the place where peace terms between Britain and the Transvaal were negotiated (March 1881) and it was also used as a hospital to treat injured British soldiers after the Battle of Majuba.

Surrounded by dense bush and the picturesque mountain ranges, the Dundee Diehards gave us a military demonstration. Clad in their ‘ red-coats’, accompanied by a trumpeter, they shot into the air, handled Martini-Henry rifles and for the first time I understood the term ‘volley fire’.

Saturday was a warm summer’s day and a vision of English soldiers in February 1881 uncomfortably sweating and terrified, came to mind. Conditions could not have been easy for them.

Behind the cottage is the family graveyard, a working water pump and a reminder of the very important link between Durban and the Johannesburg goldfields in the old days – the railway line.

So, if you ever feel at a loose end over a weekend, treat yourself to a bit of local history and visit the museum. You might even consider climbing the Majuba mountain the following weekend!

A local history enthusiast.