BLYDE RIVER CANYONWith a depth of up to 700 m and a length of 32 km, the awesome Blyde River Canyon is one of the top tourist attractions in South Africa. Viewsites along the canyon edge provide sweeping views over the landscape below, Blydepoort Dam and the outcrops known as the Three Rondavels – named for their resemblance to traditional African homes. ECHO CAVES...consist of several caves in the dolomite hills at the head of the Molopong Valley. The largest chamber is about 40 m high and 100 m long, and in some of the chambers dripstone formations can be seen. The caves were named for the echo produced by some of the stalactites when they are tapped. Excavations have revealed that the caves were inhabited by Middle and Later Stone Age people, San and Early Iron Age people. OHRIGSTAD...was founded in 1845 by the Voortrekker leader Andries Potgieter and was originally named Andries-Ohrigstad, a combination of Potgieter’s first name and the surname of a Dutch merchant, Andries Ohrig, who had sent gifts to the Voortrekkers two years earlier. Malaria forced the inhabitants to abandon the settlement in 1849, with some families trekking northwards with Potgieter to the Soutpansberg, and others moving south to establish Lydenburg. It was only in 1923, after malaria was brought under control in the area, that Ohrigstad was re-established southwest of the original site. Today, it is the centre of a productive fruit and maize-growing area. To the northeast of the present-day town, the ruins of the original village and the graves of those who died of malaria are still visible. PILGRIM’S REST...has been preserved as an authentic gold-mining village of the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1873, the discovery of gold in Pilgrim’s Creek by a miner named Alec Patterson, and a nearby discovery by William Trafford, caused miners to flock to the new gold fields. Soon the streams, hills and valleys were being worked by over 1 500 miners, and a tent and corrugated-iron town with 21 shops, 18 bars, three bakeries and two banks sprung up.
The town has several museums, including the Diggings Museum, which gives demonstrations of gold-panning; the Miner’s House Museum, a re-creation of a typical miner’s house between 1910 and 1920; and the Reduction Works, where the gold was extracted from the ore. In sharp contrast to the humble corrugated-iron miners’ cottages is Alanglade, located to the east of the town. Designed in the early 1900s by Sir Herbert Baker in Mediterranean style, the double-storey house was built for the General Manager of Transvaal Gold Mining Estates.
Also worth visiting in Pilgrim’s Rest are the Royal Hotel and the Cemetery, with its well-known Robber’s Grave; as punishment for robbing a tent, the miscreant was shot and buried at right angles to the other graves. Also of interest is the four-arch Joubert Bridge, spanning the Blyde River at the northern end of the town. Built in 1896 with dressed stone, it was named after the Mining Commissioner at the time, JS Joubert.
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