Lu-Gerda's Travels

While searching for information about Beaufort West I read about an old blockhouse.   Unfortunately I could not find out where exactly it was.   My husband said that blockhouses were usually built near a railway line or railway bridge.   We then saw that there is an old railway bridge on the map of the town and took a chance. (If you want to go, the railway bridge is near the golf course)       This restored blockhouse was built during the Anglo-Boer war in 1901.   It guards the railway bridge on the road south.   We had a lot of fun taking pictures of the blockhouse, railway bridge and railway.   Here are some of my favourites:   From the blockhouse we drove a bit further on the dirt road until we came to the top of a hill.   There was a beautiful view of the town and the Gamka dam.

We continued our walk through Beaufort West .   We followed the route on the brochure we received but also did a bit of our own route to find some other interesting sites. Walking along Donkin Street we found the War Memorial.   This memorial was not in the brochure but we knew it was in Donkin Street and it was easy to find.   The Memorial is for the men who died in the World War I and II.   The following inscription is on the plaque followed by the names of the men: “Live ye for freedom: We for freedom died” From the War memorial we walked towards Bird Street. It is a beautiful street with irrigation furrows that were laid when the town was founded to channel water from fountains to the gardens.  53 Bird Street 111 Bird Street  Nr 53 Bird Street is a commercial building that was built in 1899 and is still almost exactly the same.   Nr 111 Bird Street is one of the oldest homes in town...

While visiting Beaufort West I learned a bit more about my husband’s family history. Beaufort West was built on the farm “Hooyvlakte” of Abraham le Clercq or De Clerq and his son Jacob.   He was a French Huguenot who came to South Africa in the late 17 th century.   My husband’s surname (and now also mine) is De Klerk. This is the Afrikaans form of “Le Clercq” and Abraham le Clercq was the founding father of the De Klerk family in South Africa. Abraham sold the farm and in 1818 the town Beaufort was proclaimed.   Lord Charles Somerset named the town “Beaufort” after his father, the 5 th Duke of Beaufort.   It was renamed to Beaufort West in 1869 to avoid confusion with other towns also named after the Duke of Beaufort (Like Fort Beaufort ) The Dutch reformed Church was established soon after the founding of the town in 1820.   The Scottish Rev. John Taylor was appointed the first minister.   Church services were first held under a tree an...

During our walk in Beaufort West we was some beautiful churches.   Christ Church (the Anglican Church on the corner of Donkin and Hill Street) was one of our main reasons for visiting the town. We were very surprised to find another beautiful stone church close to Christ Church on the corner of Donkin and Devenish Street.   The small School Chapel or Christ Church Lodge was built in 1849.   According to Desmond Martin in his book “The Bishop’s Churches” there is good reasons to believe that the chapel was built from a design by Sophy Gray.   Bishop Gray visited the town in November 1848 and a minister was appointed.   The Bishop’s journal does not mention the chapel but the design is similar to the Newlands Chapel and other Sophy Gray Churches.   Christ Church was designed by Sophy Gray and was completed in 1854. It was consecrated by Bishop Gray on 21 October 1855.   The church was later altered: the m...

Before we left for our long weekend I contacted the Beaufort West Tourism Office for information.   They send us information about the Beaufort West Walk.   After our visit to the museum  we went on the walk.   The first three building on the walk was museum buildings. Looking across the street we saw the beautiful Pritchard House, built in 1906. We walked along Donkin Street and passed the Beaufort West Club.   This house was built in 1850 in the Cape Dutch Style. We saw the Coronation Hall.   It was built in 1910 and used to house the town’s first cinema.   We turned off in Meintjies Street and walked pass beautiful old houses until we reached Matoppo House. This house was built for the first magistrate in the early 19 th century. The double storey, Clyde House, is now the Tourism Center and Backpackers.   The Old Public Library is a p...

We left early on a Saturday morning for our long weekend in Beaufort West .   After traveling about 290km we arrived in Beaufort West at about 10:00.   Our first stop was the museum. The museum consists of 3 buildings:   The old Town Hall, The Old Mission Church and Old Mission Church Parsonage.   Unfortunately the church and parsonage was closed during the weekend and we could only see the exhibits in the Old Town Hall. (And we did not even get discount on the ticket)   The Old Town Hall was built in 1867 and the clock tower was added later.   It now houses exhibits about Prof Chris Barnard and the world’s first heart transplant preformed by him in 1967.   I did not know much about Prof Barnard and the exhibit was very interesting with a lot of information about the transplant, Prof Barnard’s awards and personal live. The Old Dutch Reformed Mission Church was built in 1871.   It houses a collection of historical outfits.  ...