By Myrtle Ryan
East London - Scissors poised, my hairdresser wanted to know why in all my travels I had not been to Thomas River. At one stage her parents had owned the railway station and adjoining buildings in the tiny village, which she had inherited from them, and in turn sold.
She assured me it was a delightful spot, so during a recent trip I travelled up the N6 to a dot on the map, midway between Stutterheim and Cathcart – some 80km north of East London.
My hairdresser was right, it is a small gem and luck was with me. The owner of the tiny historical village (with a permanent population of just four people), Jeff Sansom, who lives in East London, was visiting, and promptly took me on a guided tour.
Jeff began by telling me Thomas River was established on the farm Granta, which was granted to the Wardle family in 1850. In exchange they had to grow vegetables for the Queenstown and Cathcart hospitals.
The old railway station – now converted into a private home – stands guard over the neatly grassed empty platform and the area where the railway line originally ran. Once it would have been the hub of the village, and three old stone turrets remain a testimony to how important this track once was. Originally there were four of these miniature gun turrets – one guarding each corner of the station, during the 9th Frontier War with the Xhosa in 1878.
The same happened during the Anglo-Boer War, when Thomas River was an army barracks for those keeping a watchful eye over the line. However, no fighting took place in Thomas River during either war, and Jeff puts this down to the fact that the area is too wet in summer and cold in winter, so everyone avoided it.
Although two soldiers lie buried in the cemetery, it was not as a result of conflict. One fell off a bridge, the other drowned in the river, after which the town is named.
Jeff said when the military left after the Anglo-Boer War, they handed over the barracks, which was turned into a school, which operated until the 1950s. There was only one teacher, who taught all standards in just one classroom.
According to him, originally there were no trees, just farmland, so many years ago, the locals brought in black wattle. The railway line now passes through 13 tunnels between Stutterheim and Queenstown, all built by Italian prisoners of the World War II. The station eventually closed down in 1948, when a new station was opened on the other side of what is now the N6, as a result of the tunnels.
Not many people own their own village, so how did Jeff come to acquire Thomas River?
“In 2002 a friend of mine took part in an annual bike race through here,” he said. “In a million-to-one chance I bumped into him in East London. He told me there was a ‘For Sale’ sign hanging in the village, so the next day I drove up, photographed it, and put in an offer to the owner who had moved to Johannesburg.”
His first acquisitions were the station, the station master’s and station foreman’s houses. The latter two now serve as self-catering accommodation, with four and three bedrooms respectively. The station (where Jeff’s daughter and family live) still has the signs for first and second class waiting rooms.
There are a couple of fascinating museums. In one of them houses a perfect replica of the famous Linton Stone, from a farm in the Barkly East area. Covered in San paintings, the stone was cut out of the rock in the early 1900s and is now housed in the Iziko museum in Cape Town. Rock art is often faded and indistinct, but this copy is vibrant and evocative.
The San figures on the South African coat of arms, too, are drawn from this same stone.
In the wagon museum, one of the unusual items is a rugby mobile home – constructed in America – along with several ancient wagons.
The transport museum houses vintage cars. A Mercedes-Benz fan, Jeff has 10 of these of different vintage. A Messerschmitt (like the German fighter planes), dating back to the 1950s, was used to transport Jeff’s daughter to her wedding. The front of this museum has a 1930s-style garage, with old hand pumps for dispensing petrol.
A heavy cast-iron bathtub, complete with coat of arms, stands on a verandah.
“In 1826 the troops carted it around on campaign so their commanding officer could take a heated bath,” said Jeff.
The Victorian-style hotel, which once had nine bedrooms, is now where a large restaurant and pub are located. Over a tasty shepherd’s pie, Jeff told me more. According to him, guests of old had to walk through the dining room in their night attire in order to reach the ablution facilities.
Nowadays the restaurant attracts large numbers of people on a Sunday, coming to enjoy the traditional family lunch.
I slept in the backpackers dormitory (sleeping 16 in bunk beds), which was once the Post Office. The old blacksmith’s shop is being restored, and Jeff plans to fire up the forge for the entertainment of visitors on a Sunday.
The former bone meal factory has also been converted into a private residence. The little stone church on the hill is never locked, while the old farmers’ hall is still in use. The entire Thomas River area, made up of 19 sheep and cattle farms, forms a 33 000ha conservancy.
As to why he is such an avid collector, Jeff said, “ Future generations must see, and know, our history.”
He spoke of how in 2008, 350 bikers stopped over during the international KTM rally.
It is also home to a very popular mountain bike race. Started with just 36 participants in 2002, by 2012, it had grown to about 650 participants, and was the second-largest such rally in the Eastern Cape.
The village’s most famous visitors, though, were Prince William and Prince Harry, who passed through in 2008 along with some 120 motorbike enthusiasts on Hondas, in a fund-raising drive that ended in Port Elizabeth.
“You are sitting exactly where Prince William sat,” said Jeff, mentioning how the prince had spotted a photograph of Princess Diana in the pub’s royal collection display cabinet, and exclaimed in delight: “That’s me Mum!”
This broke the ice, and when Jeff gave him a T-shirt proclaiming “The best way to a man’s heart is through his fly”, above a picture of a man fly fishing and hooking a fish, the friendship was sealed.
Prince Harry, meanwhile, fell asleep on a sofa. Much to the delight of Jeff’s grandchild, they then agreed to have their photograph taken with her.
l The backpackers costs R100 and R200 in the self-catering, Camping (R50) and caravans are also catered to.
Contact 045 843 1504 or 072 718 8777; e-mail: [email protected]; Website: www.oldthomasriver.co.za - Sunday Tribune