Gone ...

Not every venture in the Midlands seems to be a resounding winner. I often wonder what it is that makes a business a success. Some years back I knew a restaurateur who had what I imagined was every ingredient for success, and yet his venture never did anything beyond modest trade. Forced by circumstances to move to less salubrious premises he set up again, same team, same menu less swish décor - and business boomed. Go figure! Here in the Lions River area I came across what appears to be a discontinued eatery. Not far from it are two others, directly across the road from one and other. The one is generally buzzing, the other not so much. This place looked as though it had great potential, and yet the image tells me otherwise. As we say locally - shame!

The premises with an eerie sense of emptiness and shadows makes both a fascinating monochrome study and a colour shot. I've chosen to post the colour version - which seems to hint more strongly of ghosts of hosts gone by.

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.

Stationary …

For most of the twentieth century SA had a brilliant railway transport infrastructure. Popular and safe for both freight and passenger transport most who lived through the nineteen thirties (even earlier) to the late eighties will have some fond memory of at least one trip on a locomotive run by the SA Spoorweg. Sadly, as in many other countries efficiency declined and road-freight took over, with commuter services suffering a similar fate as the need for speed and safety were no longer met by passenger services. There is a still robust, privately operated luxury train service, as well as the legendary state run Blue Train, but they are more tourist attraction than mainstream service today. It also means that many of the quaint old railway stations have fallen into a state of neglect and decline – especially those in the small country towns and villages that once demanded at least a postal stop if not one for a passenger embarking or disembarking. I was pleased to find that the small station at Lions River stands more or less intact, still in use by Rovos Rail – that private preservation tour company I mentioned earlier. Visitors to the area will know this stop where they are taken for a day’s touring to local Midlands attractions.

Not quite Victorian, and certainly not an historical building, this reminder of those bygone days still makes a charming record, where you can imagine there may once have been a queue for tickets. Or maybe not.

Green Door

What’s that secret you’re keeping? Behind the green door....So went the lyrics of a song I remember from early childhood.

There is a lot of artisanal wood furniture manufacturing done around the Midlands, with outlets such as Homewood (my personal favourite), The Good Furniture Company, Corrie Lynn, and Furniture for Life all being part of the Midlands Meander craft routes. On the district road between Curries Post and Lions River I had seen signs for Swiss Furniture and Flintstones Furniture and decided to follow the bumpy dirt track signposted as the road to their displays. They no longer operate, the signboards proclaiming their whereabouts remain as their tombstones, and the farm on which they were situated is now for sale. That bumpy piece of track leads to a derelict couple of buildings, one being the sad bones of what must have once been a grand Victorian country house. A somewhat aging handwritten notice simply says Farm for Sale, followed by a cellphone number. Judging by the notice’s now greening fungal state this farm too is a victim of the current slump in property markets. A characterful tenant from one of the farm outbuildings greeted my coming (well in truth he ambled out inquisitively some ten minutes after my arrival) and told me that the building dated from the late nineteenth century, but had been unsympathetically altered over the years almost beyond recognition as the grand old lady of early photographs.

I just checked up on that song and I see it was a #1 hit for singer Jim Lowe (who?) in1956. It has had a number of revivals in the years since - becoming yet again a #1 chart topper for Shakin' Stevens in 1981 and even a Spanish hit version in 1986.

How does one capture so much sentiment in a single shot?  I photographed the house from countless angles. I tried my camera’s sepia tone setting. I went to black and white. But looking through all of these images somehow the one that best tells the story is this simple picture of the green front door - keeping all of its secrets.