Prince Albert Road, Lord Milner's Hotel

Pressing on from Britstown and Cape Town is within reach, but you should know me by now... Prince Albert Road on the sign post as I head south on the N12 and I wonder why it got the name?  A short turn off revealed a once busy railway station complete with sidings now fallen into disrepair. On down the road is the town of Prince Albert, I wonder if he visited either location?  I had a look around and pondered the reason for the high central partition on the footbridge to stop you seeing that your train was approching or just to stop your hat blowing off I wonder.  I saw my first dust bowl or mini tornado here too as it swirled across the car park.  The nearby truck stop tells the story, no use for the mighty railway engine now.





I thought that would be the end of it as I headed on south then I spotted a train which appeared to be in a station and a house with 'Lord Milner Hotel' painted on the roof. Intrigued I turned off for a closer look and found an Aladdin's Cave of goodies. The train was indeed stopped. By the time I got there at 14:36 it had been there just over an hour with a brake failure on one of the wagons. The location is Majiesfontein (Fountain of little reeds), originally a small Koikoi settlement in the wilds of the Karoo and prospers to this day due to a twist of fate.  A young Scotsman called Jimmy Logan worked as a booking clerk for the North British Railway at Reston, Berwickshire. At the age of 17 he went to sea only to wash up at Cape Town a couple of years later just in time to get a job with the newly created Cape Colonial railways pushing ever northwards. He started as a porter but by the age of 20 he was station master of Cape Town station.

At 21 he became Superintendent of the stretch of line between Hex River and Prince Albert Road. So why did Majiesfontein prosper?  Around the time that Pulman was inventing the dining car in America Jimmy was scratching his chin and thinking about all those passengers travelling to and from Cape Town through the semi dessert Karoo. Refreshments were needed and he has the idea of a refreshment room on the station, with the approval of the company he was given the concession for all the stations on his patch. Jimmy also suffered from a chest ailment and found that the clear air in Majiesfontein cured his problem moving there permanently in 1883. Being a canny Scot he used his profits from the refreshment concession to build a hotel opposite the station and up until the Boer War he developed a quaint 'Victorian' village as a health and holiday resort which prospers to this day as an exclusive hotel and spa, international celebrities to wedding parties still arrive by train to stay in this unique town.

During the war housed dignitaries of a different kind as a vast 'remount' camp with over 10,000 troops and 20,000 horses. Milner, later Lord hence hotel Milner, then the British Government colonial representative frequently visited on his journeys up and down the line to review the war effort and attend various peace talks as did many of the key figures in the British Army at the time. Remnants of this camp can still be found scattered in the surrounding veldt. Fancy a tin of 'bully beef' anyone?


After the death of Jimmy in 1920 the resort fell into decay until the whole village was purchased by David Rawton in 1968. He refurbished all of the buildings and the hotel with loving care preserving the essence of the Victorian village. His mother, Marie, somewhat fortunately was an avid collector of things.  This gave rise to a fascinating collection housed on two floors (I only managed one) in the waiting room of the station. A whole chemists shop and an amazing collection of photographic equipment alongside a dentists and a barbers shop are but a few of the attractions.  A vast minutiae of Victorian to the early 60s arouses curiosity in everyone.

We started with a train and end with a train. After seeing of the goods train and watching the arrival of the much delayed passenger train I continued my journey south to Worcester.

View my 'Prince Albert Road...' photo album

Still to come, Worcester, Table Mountain and Cape Town, the 'Garden Route', Graaf Rinet, and my trip to Thailand. I feel like Doctor Who flitting about in time and space lol as they say!