Rhodes Court Room, Lock-up and Post Office

The Rhodes Post Office and Magistrates Court, a favourite with photographers, is a landmark within the Rhodes Heritage Area. Here is an early history of the building. When Rhodes was established as a township on the farm Tintern in 1891, there was little need for a separate administrative centre. Barkly East was initially thought to

Sydney Hey and the Bell River

Time to re-read those fly-fishing books, anecdotal and technical, especially as the 2023 Dirt Road Traders Wild Trout Festival is imminent (16-20 March) in Rhodes Village, Eastern Cape Highlands, southern Drakensberg. Many participants will be familiar with Sydney Hey’s Rapture of the river: the autobiography of a South African fisherman. Originally published by AA Balkema

Rhodes Rose Garden

No summer at Rhodes Village is complete without a wander around the quiet streets, peeking over fences into enchanting local gardens. There are roses of all types and colours, Some were planted many decades ago, and continue to bloom extravagantly without needing much attention. Many are not known locally as named varieties, but rather are

New Map: Briton or Boer (1900)

Another map from the Military Maps collection of The William and Yvonne Jacobson Digital Africana Program. A collaborative initiative, which digitises African historical maps held by the University of Cape Town and Stanford University, and makes these accessible online through both university libraries. Prior to the campaigns of the Anglo Boer War (South African War),

Henry’s son, POW, St Helena

While researching the colonial history of the Post Office and Courthouse building (1900) in Rhodes Village, this envelope was discovered on the Postal History and Postmarks website. It bears the postmark of Rhodes, Cape of Good Hope, as well as that of St Helena. There are five records of “BJ Badenhorst” on the website Anglo