Historic Carnarvon Farm for sale

Historic Eastern Cape family farms are being sold off, some for hefty price tags. The 3650 ha Carnarvon Farm, 50km from Queenstown, is on the market with a price tage of R35 million. The National Heritage site is one of the most highly conserved, historically significant game and cattle farms in South Africa. Archaeologists recently discovered a 120 000-year-old stone-age workshop site and San paintings. It also includes one of the oldest landing strips in South Africa, two hunting lodges, a lucrative water source which supplies Sterkstroom and a 1880 farmhouse. The owners are reluctant to sell. Robin Halse (75) is not in good health, and his wife Bertha (64) has taken over the management of the farm with the help of his daughter and son-in-law, who also live on the property. The Halse family has owned Carnarvon since 1854. Robin's father and grandfather watched from the porch as the Anglo-Boer War Battle of the Stormberg on the farm's border in 1902. Now none of the couple's daughters is keen to take it over.

Tourist attraction planned around June 16

The six routes followed by school students during the 1976 Soweto Riots from their schools to Kumalo South Street in Orlando West, will be marked as a tourist attraction. The June 16 Foundation announced that the 29 km route would be marked with red-painted bricks. Seth Mazibuko (48), director of the foundation, was deputy-chairman of the student organisation back then. Titi Mthenjane (53), also one of the 1976 organisers, said the foundation had adopted eight local schools, including Morris Isaacson High School, as part of the tourist plan. The schools will be renovated and financial assistance given to train teachers.

Stone Age in Pretoria

Waterkloof House Preparatory School in Muckleneuk, Pretoria, is building a new swimming pool. Recent digging work has unveiled ancient objects. Pretoria is rich in early and mid Stone Age objects. In the 1950s, the late Tony Brink, an archaeologist, discovered Stone Age objects at the school. Dr. Francis Thackeray, a WHPS Old Boy, is the current director of the Transvaal Museum. He is an expert on the Stone Age in the Pretoria area. He was eight years old when, together with a WHPS teacher, Tony Brink, he found his first objects. The school will display the latest objects in a collection to be named in honour of Tony Brink.

St. Mark's Anglican Church in District Six needs funds

Restoration work at St. Mark's Anglican Church in District Six, Cape Town, should be completed by September, if the church can raise enough funds. Mrs. Juliet Gosling-Brown, a Londoner, is a voluntary fund-raiser for the church. She came to Cape Town two years ago to work on the project. Earlier this year she married Douglas Brown, a former parishioner at St. Mark's. The church was built in 1887 using sandstone from Table Mountain. It is one of the oldest remaining buildings in the old District Six section, yet the government offered the church money if it agreed to being demolished. The church refused. Two years ago, the restoration work was estimated to be R1,8-million. The parishioners raised R470 000 and an anonymous benefactor donated R1-million. Today the church still needs to raise about R350 000. There are almost 300 parishioners, many of whom used to live in District Six. The caretaker, Claude Arries, has been a parishioner for more than 50 years. He was baptised and married at St. Mark's.

Anglo-Boer War fort disappearing

The Daspoortrand Fort in Pretoria is disappearing piece by piece, as thieves steal the iron that was used in the construction of the fort more than 100 years ago. The political party, VF+, has asked the Tshwane Metro Council and SAHRA to take action to prevent further damage. The fort is one of four that was built to protect Pretoria during the Anglo-Boer War. Two of the forts, Skanskop and Klapperkop, are well-looked after. Wonderboompoort Fort is not in a good condition.

Floors High School turns 50

Floors High School in Kimberley celebrated its 50th anniversary recently. Past pupils include many doctors (Dr Krishan Moodaley, Dr Diane Towell, Dr Wendy Crawford, Dr Emile De Koker and Dr Mandy-Lue Jones). There are also a number of attorneys in its past pupils (Allan Hannie, Claude Towell, Ricky Ishmail and Inez Moodaley); engineers (Angus Towell, George Wareley and Henrico White); award-winning author Eustance Sookdien; and Theodore van Wyk, CEO of Coke.

De Aar Rotarians

The Rotary Club in De Aar celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Rotary was originally founded in 1905 in Chicago by a lawyer. The De Aar branch was founded on 14 May 1958.