Snowberg ....

Yes - it's ANOTHER shot of iNhlosane, and even though the snows have almost melted (this was taken last week Wednesday) I'm sure you'll agree this is an image too good to not share. Taken on that road trip where I braved the muddy, icy roads of the Dargle / Impendle route, this shot reminds me of one I took of the Matterhorn near Zermat in Switzerland some years ago. Both mountains dominate their region, and although I could not claim that iNhlosane has anything like the scale of the Horn, and it certainly poses no equal challenge to mountaineers, I took both photos across a valley that helped to give them an exaggerated appearance of height. (I was a little underwhelmed by the appearance of the Matterhorn - which despite its reputation and altitude of 4478 metres I somehow imagined would be more impressive. iNhlosane in comparison comes in at a modest 1977 metres).

Some photographers would have wait twenty years to get a shot like this. How fortunate I am to have had the chance in my first year in the Midlands. Co-incidentally a rare Johannesburg snowfall occurred the year I moved there - in 1981.

Snow seen.....

I believe it is the heaviest snow to have fallen in the area in twenty years. This was the view of iNhlosane and her mountains I awakened to this morning - and it was magnificent. The weather has however wreaked havoc with the local roads this week with the main N3 highway between Durban and Johannesburg having been closed since the heavy snow falls of Monday. We're simply not equipped to cope with this European type weather in these parts and the latest traffic reports spoke of a fifteen kilometre backlog of stationary traffic queued up at Van Reenen's Pass waiting for conditions to improve to continue on their journey. Stuck in sub zero temperatures, and totally unprepared for the enforced and unplanned stopover, my heart goes out to those poor drivers enduring this. I risked a drive out through the Dargle Valley closer to the mountains, and the iced over roads were treacherous - thank goodness for the quattro drive on my Audi - many other vehicles were slip-sliding across the slush and ice.

The rising sun reflected magically off the white of the snow capped hills, with the valley still sleeping in the early morning chill.

A Captured Past ...

On the 5^th August 1962 an event occurred in the Midlands that was to become a part of South Africa’s convoluted political history. At an otherwise uninspiring point on the R103 between Durban and Johannesburg, our most famous political prisoner was arrested. His given name on being taken into custody - David Motsamayi.

Today the site, although still modest in its acknowledgement of that event is clearly marked for passing travellers – these often being contented tourists experiencing the magic that is the Midlands Meander. Signs displaying the familiar symbol of National Monuments and placed a few metres either side of a poorly maintained brick memorial wall read Mandela Capture Site. Already crumbling, being slowly covered in weeds and uncollected litter - obviously paid little attention by the ineffectual local regional council - it was here that Nelson Mandela was to begin the most arduous part of that Long Walk to Freedom. Both he and our history surely deserve better treatment.

There is hope that things may change, for the significance of the place has been acknowledged by the ‘curator’ of much of our cultural and artistic heritage the director of the apartheid museum, Christopher Till. More about this and Christopher’s plans for the area can be read on the sagoodnews website.

The word tsiamelo (a place of goodness) found on the granite plaque of the monument interestingly strengthens the links of the site to the Meander route on which it is located – the Meander’s by-line being ‘a good place.’ That it is!

In much the way that I admire the stark simplicity of the Deportation Martyrs Monument in Paris, I like the simplicity of the design of this memorial – it suits the historical context. (If only its upkeep was the former’s equal). I did some weeding, removed the litter, and with the overhead cables of the train lines in the background, the light and dark of the two wings of the wall, I think the spirit of the site and significance of its history can somehow be sensed here.

The Railway Hotel ...

There is a tradition that seems to apply internationally that there is always an hotel across the road from most railway stations, and for this reason I always jokingly refer to this delightful rural shack dwelling across the road from the Lions River railway station as the Railway Hotel. Looking quite abandoned, I am reliably informed that it is occupied by a local Indian family, so I hope they don’t mind the intrusion of my taking a couple of shots of their home. Situated almost on the road (the old Durban to Johannesburg main road – now known as the R103) the occupants must have been delighted when the new national highway was opened and the incessant flow of traffic between cities moved away from their front door. The shack is typical of many early twentieth century wood and iron buildings in the country, with its traditional front veranda. I pass it most days now, and always wonder about its age and history. Obviously the inhabitants have little wealth, but the faded pastel colourings of the long unpainted corrugated iron walls and the sun bleached wooden flooring give it an appeal that I found impossible to pass by without recording its presence.

Old buildings make immensely photogenic subjects, and I think this one shows that it’s not only the grand design of exceptional architecture that deserves photo recording. Tomorrow I’ll post a close up of the veranda.