The Pink Church

What would be one of the most unusual sights you can imagine finding in a little plattelandse (rural) town in the Karoo?  Well, I bet you didn't just think a pink church, but after saying it it would probably be on your list.  Driving into the Karoo town of Hofmeyr, one immediately sees the bell tower and clock towering out above the surrounding town and its difficult not changing direction to check it out.The Hofmeyr Dutch Reformed Church was built in…

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Twin Towered Church

The 'Tweetoringkerk' (Twin Towered Church) in Bloemfontein is one of the city's most notable buildings. It's cornerstone was laid by President Brand in 1878. It was built in the German neo-Gothic style and inuargirated on 7 May 1880.  Up to then the occasion was the biggest Bloemfontein has ever seen with about 6 000 people attending, most of them from the surrounding farms.The church has changed its face from the old Afrikaans only Dutch Reformed Church to what is now known as the…

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Cradock attractions

Its been a year or two since my visit to Cradock here in the Eastern Cape, but I found a couple of pics of attractions in the town that I haven't posted before.The historic NG Moederkerk (Dutch Reformed Church)The church was completed in 1868 for the local Dutch Reformed congregation that was established in 1824, a mere 10 years after the town received it’s name. The design of the church was based on the design of "St. Martins-in-the-Field" in London's…

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Windpomp and church tower

Two of the most typical things that you would associate small towns in the platteland (countryside) with are churches and windpompe (windpumps). They are to small towns as Aston Martins and girls are to James Bond. In this scene in Nieu Bethesda in the Karoo I got them both in one shot. James Bond driving with the top down and a beautiful girl next to him.

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Commemoration Methodist Church

The Commemorative Methodist Church, or as the locals call it The Commem, stands at the bottom of church square in the beautiful Eastern Cape town of Grahamstown. The church was completed in 1850 and was built along the Gothic Revival lines which was very "in" at that stage. In front of the church stands the statue of the Winged Angel of Peace supporting a dying soldier,which commemorates those who have fallen in the Anglo Boer War (1899 - 1902). This…

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Weather vanes

Today I am combining my Skywatch post with a Random theme... post. The random theme for today is weather vanes. There is a folk song in Afrikaans about the chicken that can't lay an egg and that chicken is the one that stands on top of the church spire. This weather vane I found standing on top of the church in Prince Albert in the Karoo The cock on top of the NG Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church) in the Langkloof…

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Gill College

In July 1829, Dr. William Gill was appointed District Surgeon of the newly founded town and district of Somerset. Upon his death in 1863, he left the main portion of his estate to found and maintain an institution for higher education in the Eastern Cape. His will stipulated that no portion of the estate was to be spend on the purchase or erection of buildings. Consequently, Somerset farmers and townsfolk pledged that they would erect the necessary buildings. Gill College…

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