On  VLAKFONTEIN, home base of Treeferns Trout lodge, the distant past and yesterday is very much alive. Most people have a keen interest in historical events, and  guestions in regard to the history of the farm are frequently asked by guests. As many bookings are forthcoming from the web site, it is considered appropriate to also include  info relating to the past.

An old family farm like Vlakfontein is likely to have infra-structure, farming and household items many years old.  The farm was registered in the name of great-grand father, Frederik Jakobus Maré, in 1865. The old farm cottage (above), and cattle kraal(below) still excist and are in use.

The second homestead was converted to a managers house, and a portion  is also being used as a shed.

The third farm house (shown below) was re-built in 1908 after it was destroyed in the Anglo-Boer War,  is still in use, and breaths an atmosphere of  times gone by, and in misty weather one can almost sense the sacredness.

The original cottage now shelters an old ox waggon. On the under-carriage a wheel tax disc of the old Transvaal shows the date  1917. Ancient farming implements, books, and house hold items, etc. are to be seen in the kiosk at Reception.

Items on display include an old state bible dating 1892, given to Grandfather and -mother on their wedding day, coffee grinder, butter churn and mould, mincer, coal stove irons, milking cans,  bucket, tin with martini henry bullets from the Battle of Vlakfontein, giant soap making pots, etc.

An old single row, ox drawn hand plough, planter, a pair of ox yokes, branding iron, and gigantic lion spring trap decorate the entrance to Reception.

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Panorama-chalet was the fourth chalet to be built. These pictures seen from the east-north direction, show the scene before Panorama was  started. The reddish spot, in the centre of the left hand picture, was a borrow-pit used for filling and road building material.The site overlooked the dams, and offered  a panoramic view down the valley and far-away blue mountains.

The construction of  Panorama-chalet started in March 2006, and was completed in June 2006. This is how it looks now. The  borrow-pit was rehabilitated by  filling it with water and also creating a water feature. The pool is also used as a kiddies pool stocked with fingerlings for fishing.

The first guests were : Hennie Otto    -  21 June 2006

Pearl Retief      -  23 June 2006

Pieter Booysen – 30 June 2006

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The next and third chalet built was Oudekraal-chalet.  Work started in March 2002. This time the choice of a site was much easier and all the requirements were easily met. The following picture shows the terrain before work started :

                              The project was completed in July 2002 : 

The first guests were old timers, Riaan and Karien van Greunen, with their children, from 2 to 4 August 2002.

                            A weir was also built in front of the chalet :

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Within 18 months the first chalet achieved full occupancy over week-ends, and it was decided to commence with the second unit, Rhebuck-chalet, called after the mountain rhebuck roaming the area. Construction started in January 1997.

Again the site was chosen for its view, but this time also for the waterfront the old weir  offered. Services were connected to the excistent reticulation, but access was made by a detour.

 The rocks in the top right hand corner of the picture were built on and is therefore inside the chalet, serving as a natural rockery with a water feature installed. See picture below.

   Rhebuck-chalet was completed in April 1997.    

The first booking was from Dina de Villiers, on 28 April 1997 to 1 May 1997. 

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The first chalet built was Arum-chalet, called after the arum lily found on the farm. The site decided on is on high ground for the view, at the foot of a hill overlooking the old weir to the right, and the valley falling down below.

                            Arum-chalet  just started.          Arum-chalet completed

The architectural concept chosen was that of stone from the farm to enhance blending with the back ground.

Accessibility, and services did not present any serious difficulties, but sewage was a little problematic due to the rocky terrain, but it was overcome.

Construction started in June 1994, and was completed in December the same year.

Advertising, furnishing, etc. followed, and the first guests were Fanie Wessels and Piet van Rensburg, with their families as complementary guests.

The first paid guest was Guim Marais on the weekend of 13 March 1995.

                                          Another angle of Arum-chalet

                                  More or less from same angle as above

The weir in front of Arum-chalet was also built during this time, and the pictures below show  :

                                                             Before

                                                             After

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The ” before ” and ” after ” of any change or development are always fascinating. So is Vlakfontein’s.

Siting of a facility is never straight forward. Things like design, cost, view, accessibility, services, etc. have to be considered. Once a decision is made and work started, there is no turning back.

I am not  claiming that Treeferns is all this, but the outcome so far is nevertheless astonishing, as the pictures try to demonstrate :

Before and soon after we started :

As it is now :  1. From the bottom looking south

2. From the top looking north

3. East elevation

These photos show the overall picture, but further it is dealt with in  phases, i.e. chalet per chalet :

Phase 1 Arum-chalet

Phase 2 Rhebuck-chalet

Phase 3 Oudekraal-chalet

Phase 4 Panorama-chalet

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Campaign: South African War (Boer War)

Age 18

Nationality South-African

Deed: On 3 July 1901 at Vlakfontein, South-Africa, Lieutenant English was holding a position under attack by the enemy.Two of his men were killed and two wounded, but the positions was still held, largely owing to the lieutenant’s personal pluck. When the ammunition ran short, he went over to the next party to get more, over 15 yards of open ground, under very heavy fire at a range of 20 to 30 yards.

Remarks: Also considered Irish

Further William John English VC received the Victoria Cross in person from King
Information: Edward VII in July 1901.Served in WW1 and died on active service in 1941.

Relatives: Gavin Bamford (Relative through marriage)

Books: Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross(Richard Doherty & David Truesdale,2000) Biography and action accounts

Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Boer War (Ian Uys, 2000) Detailed
biography and action account.

Monuments To Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
Provides an account record of every known grave and memorial.

The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
Provides the deed summary on this page.

The farm Vlakfontein, on which Treeferns Trout Lodge is situated, belonged to the family for four generations since 1865 when the first title deed was registered in the name of Frederik Jacobus Mare, whose great grandson, Frederik, is still living on the farm. Originally the farm was approximately 2000 hectares, but was since then divided in several portions. The remaining portion of portion 3 of the farm, which still belong to us is 572 hectares. A family cemetary on the farm witnesses the last resting place of these generations.

The farm played a strategic role in the Anglo-Boer War because of its altitude and vantage. Stone fortresses are still in excistence, and are the silent witnesses of the Battle of Vlakfontein on 3 July 1901, a description of which can be viewed on this web site, a year later than the nearby and more important Battle of Berg-en-Dal close to Belfast on 27 August 1900.

 In the article reference is made of  the bravery of Lieutenant English, the great great grandson of whom, Warren English, visited Treeferns and emotionally commented : “Very strange to read the back of the file about the Boer War, and see that my great great relation fought in the very  area against the Boers…. William John English, I salute you; I came here to relax and catch trout whereas you were here to defeat the old “Transvaal” and spilled blood on the same grass that has so much history that I would not have realised 100 years ago such a peacefull place was the venue of a battle !!! R.I.P. my grand father > Fortune favours the Brave. ” Warren English (11 February 2006).

William John English

The Boer Forces in the Eastern Transvaal were under the general command of Gnl Benjamin Johannes (Ben) Viljoen (1868 – 1917). 

Gnl. Ben Viljoen was a distant relative of Karel Viljoen, grand-father of Marietjie, co-owner of the Remaining portion of Portion 3,  Vlakfontein.

On the side of the Boer Forces, Gnl. Ben Viljoen was honoured as a war hero. He fought in the guerilla war in the Eastern Transvaal, and acquired international fame for his heroic capture of a ships cannon, the Lady Roberts, which Winston Churchill remembered as follows :

“ A Maxim Vickers Gun abandoned by the Boers in a donga was about to fall into British hands, when that notorious ruffian, the fearless Viljoen himself, brought back a team of horses and escaped with the gun, threading his way between the red flames and black clouds of lyddite shells which the British artillery concentrated on him – a feat that were it done by a British officer, he would assuredly be covered with decorations.”

The British Forces were desperate to capture Gnl. Viljoen, which they eventually did. He was escorted in numbers to Machadodorp, and from there transported to Pretoria, and via Durban, Cape Town to St. Helena as prisoner of war with the Britannia in March 1901. He therefore did not participate in the Battle of Vlakfontein on 3 July 1901, and his loss to the Boer Forces was disastrous and most certainly  forced them to retreat from Vlakfontein.

After the War he emigrated to the USA in 1904 where he died in 1917.

Source: Viljoen Gedenkboek, 1977.