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Facts, Legends & Stories
about Clarens
I am busy writing a book about Clarens and one of the chapters is about Facts, Legends and stories of Clarens that people are either unaware of or could be lost due to them not being written down.
How the Titanic rock got its name: The same year that the Titanic sank, Clarens became a village, The De Leeuws owned the first Guest house in Clarens called Bon Souvenir and it was one morning while serving breakfast that a lady guest from Johannesburg pointed towards Titanic rock still not named and asked does that rock have a name when no one answered she said lets call it the Titanic, the sea disaster obviously still fresh in peoples memories.
Setlofe: According to Basotho legend, the mountain Setlofe (Mount Horeb, some 2449 meters above sea level), is a shy maiden, she was betrothed to the warrior mountain Matsa (Rhebokkop) who jilted her for another, this broke her heart and even now, when she thinks about the rejection, she draws her veil around her head and weeps. So when Setlofe is covered in cloud, it will soon rain in Clarens. The early pioneers also recognized this forecaster of rain and called Setlofe Reenmakerskop (rainmakers head)
By Stephen Dunkley
Dinosaur Fossils can be found near Clarens
The Geology found around the Maloti Route and especially prominent in Clarens and nearby Golden Gate is called the Clarens Formation. The Clarens formation is the middle, sand coloured rock. It is sometimes capped by The Drakensberg group, mainly basalt lava's. Below the Clarens Formation is a reddish rock layer called the Elliot Formation. Dinosaur Fossils can be found in both the Clarens and Elliot formations.
By Ed.
A Brief History about Clarens
While Clarens has over the last few years become the village of choice in the Eastern Free State for people to either Semigrate to or spend some time exploring, not many of them are aware of the villages origins.
As Clarenites we tend to think that two memorable events occurred in 1912, the first being the establishment of the village and the second the launching and subsequent sinking of the Titanic, the name however would also become synonymous with Clarens as legend has it an unknown visitor looked at the jutting rock, pointed towards it and said that rock looks like the prow of the Titanic So now the Titanic stands like a sentinel at the Nek welcoming all that pay us a visit.
How did Clarens get its name and become a village ? Well in 1910 the farm Liliehoek was purchased and in 1911 the De Villiers farm Naauwpoort was purchased by a company wanting to establish a village, Most of the two farms were then divided into erven and on Wednesday 20 November 1912 at 10am a public sale of those erven was held by Goble and Van Raalte auctioneers with the majority of stands selling for the sum of fifty pounds each.
The same year a committee comprising a number of locals gathered to decide on a name for this new village and in honour of President Paul Krugers influence in the area during the Basotho war of 1865 1866 it was decided to name the village Clarens after the village with the same name in Switzerland were Paul Kruger died in self imposed exile in 1904.
The village has become known as the Jewel of the Free State as it is rich in both beauty and tourist attractions. Clarens is known for its many art galleries, craft shops and restaurants and is perhaps one of the most picturesque villages in the Free State if not South Africa.
Hidden Treasures in Clarens
Water pumps: Take a walk through the Swartland and if you look carefully you will see a few properties that still have water pumps in the garden. Prior to municipal services being installed water was obtained by sinking a water pump and hand pumping water into containers for use in the home.
Skut sign: Across the road from the Bibliophile book shop on Church Street is a small wooden sign with the word Skut written on it, for many years this sign and the word intrigued me until a resident was able to explain why it was there as well as what the word meant. Skut is the word that was used for the impound area that the local Ranger of Clarens would use to impound livestock roaming the streets, any impounded cattle then had to be retrieved from the Skut, but only after its owner had paid the required fine, should the fine not be paid the animal would then be confiscated.
Mountain magic: one of the first mountain sculptures you may notice as you travel the road between Bethlehem and Clarens is Taxi rock, other works of art that have been sculpted by mother nature in the surrounds would be Mushroom rock, Queen Victoria, Paul Kruger, The Sphinx, The Sleeping giant the Voortrekker lady as well as many others.
Lesotho Highlands Water Project fast facts.
Katse Dam
185 m high double curvature concrete arch
1950 million cubic metre capacity
38.5 square km surface area
Completed in May 1997
Intake Tower The Ash River Outfall
99m high, (77m deep in water)
16km upstream in Katse Dam
88 cubic metre/sec intake capacity
Transfer Tunnel
45km long concrete-lined tunnel
4,35m internal diameter
Hydropower Station
Three 24MW turbines
Longest headrace in the world
Muela Dam
55m high double curvature concrete arch
6 million cubic metre capacity
Intake for Delivery Tunnels Courtesy of Outrageous Adventures
Delivery Tunnel South
15km long - under 3 rivers
Contains flow measuring devices
Delivery Tunnel North
22km long - goes under Caledon River
Lined with pre-cast concrete segments
Ash River Outfall
Concrete outlet structure to channel and dissipate the waters energy.
9km from Clarens on the Bethlehem road
Most white water rafting operations start just below the Ash River Outfall
The Clarens Formation
Seems an appropriate name for an article touching on how Clarens the little town in the Free State came about.
The Clarens Formation actually refers to a layer of sandstone famous for dinosaur fossil discoveries. The Clarens formation has also provided much of the building material used on historic buildings and modern day cladding in the area. It is a sandy colour and wedged between the lower, reddish or purple Elliot formation and the darker Basalt layer above. Prime examples can be seen in Golden Gate National Park 16.9 km from Clarens.
If you look on Google Earth at the Clarens Valley you will see why farms in the area are called frontier farms. They border with Lesotho and Clarens was the little village where farmers could market their goods and send their children to school. Follow the valley East and you'll see it winding it's way through Golden Gate and round to the Drakensberg Mountain Range. Driving through Golden Gate one can visualize how things once were. Fields of antelope, open plains and herds of Eland. What a sight it must have been for those families who braved lifestyle of setting up a farm in the area.
Two particular farms Liliehoek and Naauwpoort were purchased and they became Clarens in 1912 (full story inside).
The Clarens Formation weathers to form cavernous overhangs. Some used by Bushmen for rock paintings, others had cracks where farmers hid their silver cutlery and weapons during the Anglo-Boer war. Another, on St Fort farm is called Cannibal Cave and a little further towards Fouriesburg at Surrender Hill (a historical site where more than 4000 Boers, under General Marthinus Prinsloo, surrendered to the British during the Anglo-Boer War) is a track leading to Mtouleng (Fertility Caves), a massive sandstone overhang the size of two rugby fields.
CLARENS MAG would like to Stephen Dunkley for his articles in the magazine pages.
NOW AVAILABLE: Stephen Dunkley's well researched, written
and interesting book called The Clarens Chronicles:
Email: stevedunkley_mweb.co.za
Modern Clarens History or The History of Clarens as it is happening now.
The demographics in Clarens have changed over the years and this has intrigued me for some time.
It is now a destination for weekenders seeking a break from the hustle and bustle of urban life. These visitors are mostly from Johannesburg and are the biggest contributors to the economy of Clarens.
...Ok, so that's where the money comes from. But what about the people living in Clarens?
There are the 21st century “hippies”, who are wanderers but to quote Mona Lisa Smile: “Not all wanderers are aimless”. Most are artists, crafters and very good musicians. They definitely spice up the evenings in Clarens and will relax you with their bohemian lifestyle.
There’s the older generation who lived in Clarens before it became popular. Of which some would like Clarens to carry on being a small dorp in the eastern Free State, and some have hopped on the wagon, offering B&B or Guest House Accommodation.
There’s the farming community who use Clarens as their watering hole, some have opened their farms up as fabulous old sandstone Guest Houses and others mostly keep to themselves.
There’s the lazy bunch, who have fallen with their _$$’$ in the butter and are complete stick-in-the-mud’s when it comes to pushing Clarens forward.
And there’s the most exciting group of young to middle-aged Clarens locals who are putting huge amounts of effort into different areas that enhance Clarens as a destination. They despise the old regime of monopoly and hierarchy and they just push on, creatively.
This space right here on the History page is selling for R1200, and it's yours for a whole year...........
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