IF you are travelling between Durban and Johannesburg on the N3 you will eventually find yourself negotiating the scenic Van Reenen’s Pass, up and over the Drakensberg to the grassy Highveld plains. You might not even realise as you travel this section of the N2 that a picturesque little village, just a short hop away, shares a name with this, one of South Africa’s busiest mountain passes. For many years I didn’t even know the village of Van Reenen even existed. I had heard of one of its most famous hostelries, the much-talked about Green Lantern Inn, but I wasn’t aware that it was part of a little hamlet with a big history.
Recently, we were invited to a very important occasion, an aunt’s 90th birthday and a big reunion with siblings, cousins and old family friends, in Gauteng. We couldn’t miss that, so we decided to make a long weekend of a long overdue visit to South Africa’s power house. Originally we’d planned to drive up to Gauteng from our KZN South Coast home early on Friday morning and return home on the Monday. However, Bill had a meeting in Durban on the Thursday, so I spent a lovely morning in Durban’s pretty botanical gardens while he concluded his business. After lunch, we set off in search of the Green Lantern Inn, where we had booked to spend the night.
It was a lovely drive. The air was crystal clear, the tawny wintry scenery was so dramatic and we had some magnificent views of the snow-covered Drakensberg. Arriving at the village, situated on the border between the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, we were both absolutely charmed. Van Reenen really was one of those special little gems that you so often find when you travel South Africa’s back roads. As for the inn, it was easy to see why so many people who had stayed there waxed lyrical about it.
“You will love the Green Lantern,” many of our South Coast friends had said. They were right.
The inn has a history that goes back a long way. It started its life as the Van Reenen Hotel in 1892 but was renamed the Green Lantern in 1948. The present names has a story behind it, too. At one stage a green lantern was lit at the top of Van Reenen’s to inform travellers they had successfully negotiated the mountain pass on misty nights. It is a convenient halfway stopover for travellers taking it slowly between Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal but don’t expect five-star accommodation. That is not what the Green Lantern is about. It is comfortable, friendly, adorably quirky and has oodles of olde worlde charm. We stayed in one of the small self-catering chalets so after a quick drink in the inn’s quaint little pub, we sat outside, wrapped up warmly against the frosty night air, and had ourselves a pleasant little braai.
The wind had dropped so, in spite of all the snow on the mountains, it wasn’t too cold at all. However, by the time we’d finished our star-lit al fresco supper the temperature was starting to plunge and we were ready to switch on the heater and scurry indoors. I had some excellent bedtime reading on hand, a well-researched book I’d bought at reception called, ‘About Van Reenen’, by Gillis van Schalkwyk and soon I was totally engrossed in what he had to say about the area. The mountain village, renowned for its plunging temperatures, storms and other extreme weather, grew up around the pass, which during the 1850s offered transport riders and other travellers access to the hinterland from the coast.
The pass was named after a rather shadowy figure, Franciscus Josefus van Reenen, sometimes known as General van Reenen, although research has shown that it is unlikely he carried this rank. He owned farms in the area and was a member of the first Harrismith town council. The village really came into its own when the railways established a railhead there in 1891 and the Natal Mounted Police, post office, customs and other government departments were moved to Van Reenen.
What I found particularly fascinating about Gillis’s book is just how much the town and its surrounding area has contributed to South Africa’s rich folklore. Two of his stories, the Rensburg Kop Tragedy and the story of Racheltjie de Beer, are heart-wrenchingly sad and both are said to have played themselves out near Van Reenen. In the first, a boy, Dawie Rensburg, is said have been severely injured after falling into a fissure in a cliff face. Knowing that there was no way to rescue his son and that he would die a slow, agonising death, Dawie’s father had no choice but to shoot his beloved son.
Most South African children have heard about Racheltjie de Beer, the young girl who wrapped her little brother in her clothes, put him into an anthill and used her own body to protect him from the elements, freezing to death in the process, after they were lost in a blizzard. No actual records of either of these tragedies exists and there is some doubt about their veracity. There are also conflicting stories about the young miner in whose memory, Van Reenen’s famous Little Church was built. Called the Llandaff Oratory the church was built by Magistrate Maynard Mathew as a memorial to his son Llandaff. Legend has it that he saved the lives of eight miners in a rock fall at Burnside Colliery in Dundee. Although research shows this story to be untrue, it appears that Llandaff was indeed a hero who gave his own life to save a young learner miner.
The village and surrounding area experienced some exciting times during the Anglo-Boer War and the villagers saw their fair share of peacetime drama, too. Gillis’s book tells about the murder at Moorddraai, the vicious slaughter of police officers by a notorious dagga gang and some famous aircraft crashes. With all villages, towns and cities, it is the people that make and shape its history. Gillis has thoroughly researched the stories of Van Reenen’s pioneers and their farming enterprises and businesses. All fascinating reading but it was the story of the people of the Lost Valley that really touched my heart. It tells of a couple of families who settled in a deep, remote valley with limited access to the outside world. Sadly, these hardworking, successful, enterprising and well-educated pioneers (the children all attended local schools in spite of the difficulties of getting there) have over the years been cruelly treated by sensation-seekers. Many writers have described the valley as a backward, interbred, totally isolated community. This is so very far from the truth and these thoughtless insults must have deeply hurt the members of those families.
Bill and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Green Lantern Inn and its little village. Before we left the next morning we took a good look around the town then we found our way back onto the N3 and sped off to Gauteng. On the way back home three days later, we passed the sign to the village of Van Reenen and thought fondly of the hidden village with so much interesting history. If you have a chance, turn off the N3 and take a look at it. The little detour back in time would be well worth while.
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