Patricia Kramer - Hidden Karoo

Published in 2021 by Struik Lifestyle

an imprint of Penguin Random House (Pty) Ltd

Company Reg. No 1953/000441/07

The Estuaries, 4 Oxbow Crescent, Century Avenue, Century City 7441, Cape Town

PO Box 1144, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa

www.penguinrandomhouse.co.za

Copyright in published edition: Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd 2021

Copyright in text: Patricia Kramer 2021

Copyright in introduction: Mike Spicer 2021

Copyright in photographs: Alain Proust 2021

Copyright in map: Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd 2021

ISBN 978 143231 004 2

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, digital, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and the copyright owner(s).

Publisher: Beverley Dodd

Managing editor: Cecilia Barfield

Designer: Helen Henn

Editor: Gill Gordon

Proofreader: Anita van Zyl

Cartographer: Liezel Bohdanowicz

Our grateful thanks go to everyone who gave permission for Alain to photograph their properties, in many cases making time during their busy day to accompany him. We also thank all those people who, in the course of long telephone or email conversations, engaged with Patricia to tell their stories and provide historical information. Four experts, in particular, provided information on their area of expertise: Dr Judy Maguire, Prof. Andre van Graan, Nigel Amschwand and Pieter Hoffman. We also acknowledge the contribution of Mike Spicer whose introduction provides a succinct and elegant description of the Karoo and the aims of this book.

FRONT COVER The dramatic Red Stone Hills, between Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn, serve as a backdrop for Rietfontein, which was built in 1909.

PAGES 23Thunder clouds hover over Matjiesfontein Farm, situated south of Nieuwoudtville in the Roggeveld, an area famous for its spring flowers.

ENDPAPERS The Karoo night sky over Sutherland.

When we were in Cradock we once got a shift on to Pearston in a train. Mom wasnt liking it because it was Karoo. I said what is Karoo Pop and he said a land of sweet bludy all. Mom said do not speak to the child like that.

Iris Vaughan, The Diary of Iris Vaughan

Yo u arrive and arrive, and once more you arrive and once more you see the same vast nothing you are coming from.

Anglo-Boer War correspondent George Steevens, cited in The Historical Karoo, Chris Schoeman

T here are many travellers, locals and visitors alike, who would sympathize with both Iris Vaughans father and George Steevens as they tear down the N1 between Cape Town and Johannesburg or vice versa, children in the back of the car asking are we there yet?. But in fact, the Karoo provides a highly variegated landscape over the vast geographic area it occupies in central South Africa, and its history is written in the farms, villages and towns with their diverse domestic and public buildings. It is, above all else, big sky country. As Olive Schreiner observed, lowering ones gaze from the wonderful sky and the distant horizon equally richly rewards the visitor.

Although a few towns are better known Matjiesfontein and Graaff-Reinet spring to mind there are many that are less known; some hardly at all. Like its companion titles (featuring Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria), Hidden Karooaims to uncover the hidden architectural treasures of the Karoo against the backdrop of a photographic portrait of the regions awe-inspiring landscapes and the buildings that occupy them.

One of the central themes of the Hidden series of books is that, amidst the constant change the country is experiencing, our built heritage remains under threat and in need of preservation. Documenting the state of our heritage is one of the ways in which concerned South Africans can raise awareness of what might be lost and, perhaps, persuade a few dedicated individuals to challenge the authorities to pay more attention to the relevance of conservation and the importance of preserving all aspects of our national cultural identity.