John Shedden Dobie rode out from Estcourt on a cold winter’s morning in 1863 to visit David Gray’s farm, Cathkin. At first, there was the faint outline of a road, then the occasional wagon track, and, when he arrived in our valley, all trace of civilization disappeared and he became horribly lost.
It was hardly any better in 1900, when Churchill arrived on his horse in Winterton. Meandering trails, made over millennia, crisscrossed confusingly over the hills and grassland, but, like Winston, one might as well have been chasing chickens as find any purpose or destination in them.
After the union of
Oom Hendrik Martens followed soon after, in 1930, when he built Champagne Castle Hotel.
It is significant that both were at the far end of accesses to our valley. Others benefited, and they developed along these routes, including Captain HC Whelan (El Mirador Hotel – later to become Champagne Sports Resort – in 1940), David Gray (the grandson, who built The Nest in 1940), and all the other resorts and private homes of today.
It was not farming or homesteaders, but tourism, which brought roads into our valley. Pigs, timber, and hermits aren’t especially fussy about the comfort of their travel, while people with little time and even more limited horsemanship demand somewhat greater accessibility.
We’ve given names to everything here, both natural and man-made: every mountain, river, waterfall, cave, and rock formation; every hiking trail, hotel, shop, and farm. They all have names, and yet we persist with ‘the R600’, ‘the D160’, and, even worse, the ‘S’ bend (it’s a ‘Z’).
In recognition of the pioneer hoteliers of this valley’s history, the least we could do is to go the way of all other municipalities and honour our veterans:
Only when it was becoming dark and cold was Mr Dobie able to find Cathkin Farm; thanks to those who blazed our now-tarred trails, we can get lost in the mountains before breakfast.
