One Man in South Africa

The Bathurst Show is organised by the Bathurst Agricultural Society, probably around a pint in 'The Pig and Whistle'. It takes place around this time every year so that I was fortunate enough to be able to visit on the afternoons of Friday and Saturday the 4 th and 5 th April. I was thinking of heading the post 'Little Britain' and I do not mean this in a derogatory sense, perhaps it is the same in agricultural communities the world over, but this was a reassuring reminder of the shows I attended as a child with my parents and brothers and sisters and later with nieces and nephews and it gave a warm feeling being so far from home and having travelled so long. Turn left out of Bathurst on the main Grahamstown road, drive to the top of the hill and you will see the Agricultural Museum on your right. The show is held in their grounds and the entrance is a few hundred metres further on. Driving down the dirt track there were plenty of attendants on hand to direct me into a...

Woke up this morning to a storm, when it rains here it rains, even the birds come inside! Undaunted I ventured over to see my Toby and my sister who outlined a cunning plan. Once the paperwork etc. was complete we were going out for lunch. We piled into the truck, Norma drew the short straw and sat in the back and off we went. Through Port Alfred and onto the open road to Grangetown which is the nearest big destination to Port Alfred. Toby pointed out the pineapple farms and other points of interest along the route until we arrived at the village of Bathust where our destination lay – the 'Pig and Whistle' Inn – the oldest pub in South Africa. The building was constructed in 1821 by Thomas Hartley, a settler from Nottinghamshire, England. It was originally used as a forge and, as blacksmiths had pliers, a place to have your tooth extracted. After a while he realised that he could make more money from the British settlers by running an inn where he could sell them beer. Th...