Worcester and the Breё River Valley and the Hex River Valley
Lying at the fork of the Breё River Valley and southern entrance to the Hex River Valley is Worcester. It was founded in 1818 and named after the Marquis of Worcester, brother of the governor, Lord Charles Somerset. The Worcester district accounts for a quarter of the national wine production with close to twenty wine co-operatives and several brandy distilleries. On the outskirts of Worcester lies the Karoo National Botanical Garden, which covers 115 hectares of the foothills of the Brandwag Mountains. This garden, opened in 1948, is devoted to the succulent plants of the Karoo, many of which bloom profusely in spring.
Worcester is a busy commercial, communications and industrial area. Grapes are grown in vast quantities and there are seventeen co-operative wine cellars and several brandy distilleries.
This KWV Brandy brandy cellar, the largest of its kind in the world, is in Worcester and has an incredible 120 copper potstills. It is not the most modern brandy distillery in the world, but it is the biggest distillery in the Southern Hemisphere. This is the heart of the brandy industry in South Africa and is probably considered the main jewel in the company's (KWV) crown. Visits to this cellar include demonstrations of the ancient craft of the cooper, and a tour of the expansive maturation cellars. Tours are concluded with a tasting depicting the versatility of brandy.
The Hex River Mountains are the highest in the Western Cape. The tallest peak, the Matroosberg (2 250ms), towers over the broad valley below where some 175 grape-producing farms produce most of South Africa's export grape harvest. Fine old Cape Dutch houses, quaint reminders of the Amsterdam townhouses of the early Dutch settlers, are dotted among the stitched patchwork of the vineyards. In winter, the beautiful mountains surrounding the valley are covered in snow.
When the railway line was built from Cape Town to the north, the first major staging post, locomotive depot and marshalling yard after Cape Town was built on the banks of the Touws River (' river of the pass ') at the summit of the Hex River Mountain pass.
De Doorns lies 477 metres above sea level in the Hex River Valley. The railway climbs up the face of the escarpment in sweeping curves which, if put together, would have taken a train through 16 complete circuits in 25 kilometres before it reached the top of the pass 959 metres above sea-level. In the early days only limited loads could be hauled up the pass and at least two steam locomotives were required. The difficulty of taking a railway through the barrier of folded coastal mountains of the Western Cape, and up the escarpment of the central South African plateau, provided engineers with a problem. The engineer, who first solved it, Wells Hood, given the technical limitations of construction in the early days, did a magnificent job and the first railway pass carried traffic into the interior from 1876 until 1989.
A new pass, located by W H Evans, was opened in November 1989. It involves four tunnels, two of 0.8 kilometres each, one of 2.4 kilometres and one of 13.5 kilometres. There is a saving of 8 kilometres over the length of the old pass. A single line goes up the pass, but in the centre of the longest tunnel there is a crossing point where trains can pass each other.
Worcester is a busy commercial, communications and industrial area. Grapes are grown in vast quantities and there are seventeen co-operative wine cellars and several brandy distilleries.
This KWV Brandy brandy cellar, the largest of its kind in the world, is in Worcester and has an incredible 120 copper potstills. It is not the most modern brandy distillery in the world, but it is the biggest distillery in the Southern Hemisphere. This is the heart of the brandy industry in South Africa and is probably considered the main jewel in the company's (KWV) crown. Visits to this cellar include demonstrations of the ancient craft of the cooper, and a tour of the expansive maturation cellars. Tours are concluded with a tasting depicting the versatility of brandy.
The Hex River Mountains are the highest in the Western Cape. The tallest peak, the Matroosberg (2 250ms), towers over the broad valley below where some 175 grape-producing farms produce most of South Africa's export grape harvest. Fine old Cape Dutch houses, quaint reminders of the Amsterdam townhouses of the early Dutch settlers, are dotted among the stitched patchwork of the vineyards. In winter, the beautiful mountains surrounding the valley are covered in snow.
When the railway line was built from Cape Town to the north, the first major staging post, locomotive depot and marshalling yard after Cape Town was built on the banks of the Touws River (' river of the pass ') at the summit of the Hex River Mountain pass.
De Doorns lies 477 metres above sea level in the Hex River Valley. The railway climbs up the face of the escarpment in sweeping curves which, if put together, would have taken a train through 16 complete circuits in 25 kilometres before it reached the top of the pass 959 metres above sea-level. In the early days only limited loads could be hauled up the pass and at least two steam locomotives were required. The difficulty of taking a railway through the barrier of folded coastal mountains of the Western Cape, and up the escarpment of the central South African plateau, provided engineers with a problem. The engineer, who first solved it, Wells Hood, given the technical limitations of construction in the early days, did a magnificent job and the first railway pass carried traffic into the interior from 1876 until 1989.
A new pass, located by W H Evans, was opened in November 1989. It involves four tunnels, two of 0.8 kilometres each, one of 2.4 kilometres and one of 13.5 kilometres. There is a saving of 8 kilometres over the length of the old pass. A single line goes up the pass, but in the centre of the longest tunnel there is a crossing point where trains can pass each other.
Labels: African Collage, Cape Town to Dar Es Salaam, Cape Town to George Journey, Pretoria to Cape Town Journey
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