I’ve ventured onto the Elands River Road a couple of times over the years for various reasons, but I’ve never gone very far down the road. An outing with the Military History Society a little while ago (I really have to catch up on posting everything I have sitting in the “To Post” folder) meant I got to do the first half of the route.
The Elands River Road starts at Rocklands just outside Uitenhage. The first roughly 10km is tar road and from there, it’s another 100km of dirt road before you get to the R331 (Gamtoos Valley Road) just outside Patensie. On this day we went as far as Mount Ingwe to visit the Anglo Boer War Museum.
The road really wasn’t bad and the scenery was exquisite. Mountains to the left of me, mountains to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you. The rolling hills, fynbos-covered landscape, beautiful blue skies and catching glimpses of the Cockcombe mountain in the distance all made the trip so worth it.
The first significant site we spotted along the way was the Bulk River Dam up a valley to the left. To know about the Bulk River Dam is to first learn about the history of Port Elizabeth’s water supply.
PE’s earliest water supply came from the Donkin Stream next to the Donkin Reserve, and later Frames Reservoir on the Shark River at Happy Valley. As the town started to grow in its early days, the demand for water far exceeded this meagre supply. After a competition held by the Port Elizabeth city council in 1862 to find proposals to supply the city with water, the lower and upper Van Stadens Dams were built.
This was later followed by the Bulk River in 1903. The Bulk River is a tributary of the Elands River which in turn at its concourse with the Kwazunga River forms the Swartkops River.
A little further down the road my Geocaching app indicated a cache just off the road and I pulled over and took a quick walk. The Jeep track brought me to the remains of the United Congregational Church. Basically a ruin now, I decided not to explore it as vagrants seem to have moved into the building. I also skipped finding the cache because of this. According to the cornerstone though, the church was built in 1966, but I’m not sure why they stopped using it or didn’t repurpose it.
Next up we caught sight of the Sand River. Built in 1907, it was part of the same water development scheme as the Bulk River Dam. It was beautiful seeing it overflow and I really wished I could get closer. Of course, these dams have since been replaced as the main supply dams by the Kouga, Churchill and Impofu dams. Oh and just to mention, I did find both the Geocaches next to the road by the dams.
With Cockscomb looming we arrived at Mount Ingwe. The farm belongs to Lukas van der Merwe and the Anglo-Boer War Museum is both his baby and his passion. The museum contains items collected over 25 years by Lukas and his friends who have hunted Anglo-Boer War sites all over the country with their metal detectors. The collection is magnificent and has items from sites across the country as well as the Battle of Blaauwberg and the Port Elizabeth Driftsands.
Although Lukas is around most of the time, it’s best to make an appointment to avoid disappointment. Lukas can be contacted on 082 072 7747.
And then it was time to head back home. Apparently the road to Patensie is a little rougher as the part we had done so I wasn’t going to test my Polo going all the way.
