Wheildon

once upon a time, my wife and i decided to head for the hills.  somewhere along the road we missed the hills and came to a stop when some fairly steep mountains prevented us from going any further.  a roadside sign claimed that we had arrived in a village called greyton.

as we cruised slowly up the main street, we were transported back in time to when voortrekkers roamed the earth.  i kid you not!  there, in front of our eyes, an elderly voortrekker in full regalia — kappie, pinafore, boots and apron — crossed the road.  she carried a large plastic drum in either hand.  i stopped the car in the middle of the road and, much to ginny's embarrassment, stared at the busy old lady as she went about her business.  thus far, i had not noticed the leiwater furrow at the roadside.  from this, she filled the two drums with water.  after a glance in our direction, she carted the drums back to her front gate and proceeded to water her flowers by means of an old paint tin with holes punched in the bottom.

“we need to live here,” i announced.  “there is something in the water that keeps folk alive long after their expiry date.”

so, that weekend, we bought an old mud brick cottage full of history and charm.  it had already seen 150 years of life in the village and became our home for many years.

village life was refreshing and different.  every lunchtime, greyton ground to a halt.  shops closed, no one died or yelled for help, no one phoned for a doctor.  niks nie.  as i mentioned, lunchtime was for lunch.

interesting people from all over the world found themselves in the village, the common denominator being the majestic mountains and simplicity of country life.  i have no doubt that every country town has its stories which become urban legends over the years.  here are some from greyton during the 80s and 90s which you might enjoy.

david wheildon oosthuizen

hilton

august 2010

oh, by the way — i use lower-case type (without capitals).  if you find capitals, it is because i lost the fight with my computer.  whoever programmed it did not know that the romans, responsible for the design of our alphabet, never used caps and lower case together.