Author: Grocott's Mail Contributors

The history of Clumber Church, Part 1 Clumber Church, outside Bathurst on the Shaw Park road celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. The main celebrations, which also coincide with the renovations to the church, take place from 20 to 22 October.  Courteney George Bradfield, a descendant of one of the early settlers for whom the church was a refuge, tells its history. This week we publish the first instalment: ‘Hard times, desperate measures’. In the vale of Clumber in the Eastern Cape, 5km from Bathurst just off the Shaw Park road, lies Clumber Church. Situated on a knoll, this is…

By Michele Barnard In January 2017, I made a commitment to myself to find 100 dictionaries that could be shared by second language learners at Ntsika Secondary School, a township school with 800 learners in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. Why, you may ask, was I motivated to find 100 dictionaries?  At the time it seemed like a doable round number and a personal challenge for 2017. While completing my PGCE in 2016, I had spent a few months teaching English at Ntsika and I had agreed to return as a full time English teacher in 2017. I was very…

 St Andrew’s Prep’s `Hunters’ Eco Team has made it through to the semi-final round of this year’s Sasol/Forever resorts Eco Quiz. Their project theme touches on a world-wide concern: water. The boys tested various water samples and investigated, in particular, the quality of water in Grahamstown. Their project earned them certificates, a medal and prize money in recognition of their work so far and they wait to hear if they have made it through to the final round of the Eco Competition.

Pam Golding Properties donated a Dodonea Viscosa Purpura tree to P.J. Olivier as part of Arbor Day. In the photo is from left: Joubert Retief (Principal), and the PGP team, Zeena Austin; Charmaine Els and Charl Botes

Name: Helinus integrifolius (Lam.) Kuntze                          Family: Rhamnaceae (Buckthorn-family) Common names: Engl. Soap Bush, Soap Creeper, Soap Plant Afr. Seepbos, Seepbossie Xho. Ubulawu, Ubhubhubhu An oneirogen plant! Description Sprawling climber. Tendrils are unbranched. Leaves ±30mm, blade thin, tips blunt, rounded, with short, sharp protuberance. Flowers are in few-flowered inflorescences; flowers small, white to green (October-April). Fruit three-lobed, ±8mm, tipped with remains of calyx. Conservation status According to the SANBI (South African National Biodiversity Institute) Red List of South African Plants, Helinus intergrifolius was not selected in any one of four screening processes for highlighting potential taxa of conservation concern for…

The following poem is about two of the ANC’s late ex-presidents: Oliver Thambo and Dr. Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela. It is important to note that this poem is meant for performance on stage. It tells about Oliver Thambo’s leadership which influenced Dr. Mandela to be a positive leader. The writer wishes people could follow the example of the humble Dr. Mandela who assimilated Oliver Tambo’s leadership traits. UBUNKOKHELI Yaguga inja ibikade iluma Waguga sithebe ubukade usophulela Ikhwelo elakhala ngo1917 Phezu kwentaba zaseNkantolo Nanamhlanje amawa neenduli zisa linganisa Iqathi esaqala ukulihlafuna ngo 1967 Nango 1991 besali nambitha ubumnandi Yiyo lo nto mna…

Events 1578 Spanish invaders take Tegucigalpa, the Capital of Honduras. 1829 The London Metropolitan Police are founded in the City of London, UK. 1911 Italy declares war on the Ottoman Empire. 1971 Oman joins the Arab League. 1992 Fernando Collor de Mello, President of Brazil, is impeached following charges of corruption. 2013 Boko Haram kills over 42 people at the College of Agriculture in Gujba, Nigeria. Births 1547 Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish author, known for Don Quixote. 1571 Caravaggio, Italian painter. 1758 Horatio Nelson, English admiral. 1901 Enrico Fermi, Italian-American physicist and Nobel laureate. 1933 Samora Machel, first President of…

109 YEARS AGO IN GROCOTT’S MAIL: The Inquest into the Death of a Birch’s Clerk The inquest into the death of Solomon Ignatius Potgieter was held on Saturday 26 September 1908, only one day after Potgieter had been found dead on the premises of Lappan’s Hotel, Grahamstown. Solomon Potgieter, a man in his late twenties, had been a clerk in the men’s department at Birch’s for four or five years. He seemed to be a man of sober, honest and upright habits. Unmarried, he lived in a room at Lappan’s Hotel  (now the Hotel Victoria Mews, New Street), but had…

97 YEARS AGO IN GROCOTT’S MAIL: Dunlop and Goodyear and Michelin, Oh My On 22 September 1920, Grocott’s printed not one, not two, but three advertisements for rubber tyres – one for Dunlop, one for Michelin, one for Goodyear. In those days, most of the rubber used for tyres was natural. Rubber trees were native to South America, and the continent supplied most of the world’s rubber until the late 1890s. Brazil was so jealous of their monopoly on rubber that it was a capital offence to export seeds, but Henry Wickham didn’t care: in 1876, he smuggled 70 000 seeds…

GBS Mutual Bank sharing their 140th celebration with residents and carers from Somerset Place.