THE CIRCLE
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VOLUME 20 NOVEMBER 2022
In this issue:
1. The Nellmapius legacy
The Irene Dairy Farm is a great place to visit.
Hugo Nellmapius made and lost several fortunes in his lifetime and was a friend of President Paul Kruger and General Jan Smuts. The barn he built in 1890 is still used today to feed the cows of the Irene Farm milking herd.
2. St-Émilion.
The village of St-Émilion in south-west France enjoys a reputation as one of the world’s greatest wine regions. It’s no wonder it attracts more than a million tourists every year and is registered as a heritage site by UNESCO.
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1. The Nellmapius legacy
Hugo Nellmapius, after whom Nellmapius Drive in Centurion in South Africa is named, left his legacy in the local village of Irene and the surrounding area.
He made and lost several fortunes in his lifetime and was one of President Paul Kruger’s closest friends.
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Introduction
Origins
He was born in Poland in 1847 and trained as an engineer in the Netherlands. He arrived in South Africa in 1873, the year that gold was first discovered in the South African Republic. The enterprising Nellmapius made his first fortune mining gold near Pilgrim's Rest in the Eastern Transvaal, where he was reputedly the first digger on the Transvaal goldfields to use dynamite.
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Transport riding
Two years later he managed to obtain the first transport concession to Delagoa Bay in 1875. He built what is now known as the Nellmapius Road, used by transport riders including Percy Fitzpatrick and his dog Jock.
From the Mac-Mac Falls and the goldfields, the road crossed the Crocodile River at Nellmapius Drift near Hectorspruit, before ending in current-day Maputo in Mozambique.
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By then a wealthy man, Nellmapius moved to Pretoria, buying a farm outside the city. He quickly struck up a lifelong friendship with President Paul Kruger and financed a new house for him in Church Street.
Nellmapius was welcome in the President’s home whenever he chose to call.
The Transvaal Republic was short of funds and Nellmapius persuaded Kruger to raise money by selling monopoly concessions to independent businessmen. The Transvaal needed its own industries to produce basic products such as clothing, blankets, flour and sugar, he said. The monopoly businesses would be protected from outsiders by high tariff protection.
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Monopolies
Nellmapius asked for two monopolies, one to make liquor from local grain, the other to make sugar from beets and maize. He asked for a fifteen-year concession, in return for an annual payment to the treasury of £1000.
The scheme was approved and Nellmapius took on two partners, Sammy Marks and his brother-in-law Isaac Lewis, to help finance the Hatherley Distillery that produced gin and whisky on the farm Hatherley.
Sammy Marks
Later Nellmapius used the monopoly concession system to build the first gunpowder factory in South Africa and the Irene Lime Works. He also owned the Pretoria newspaper De Pers. He continued his (often competitive) business association with Sammy Marks, who after Nellmapius’ death in 1893 bought control of his distillery, fruit canning, and ceramics factories. A portrait of Nellmapius is mounted in the Sammy Marks Museum on the Marks family farm, Zwartkoppies Hall, 20km east of Pretoria.
Irene farm
In 1889 Nellmapius bought a farm near Centurion named Doornkloof. He re-named the farm Irene after his two-year-old daughter who used to pronounce her name with three syllables: Ireenee. The name of the village is still pronounced this way today. He built the Irene Estate and over the years bought more farms along the nearby Hennops River to enlarge the property.
A model farm
Nellmapius had a vision for the development of a model farm at Irene. He began to experiment with different crops, and established a stock farm and dairy, for which he imported seventy Friesland cows.
He employed horticulturists and used the temperate climate, ample water and fertile soil, to create an extensive flower, fruit and vegetable garden.
He built a fine farmhouse designed by the architect de Zwaan and erected impressive stables and a dairy which are still in good condition today.
It is believed that he spent £80,000 in developing the Irene Estate, which was sold after his early death in 1893, to the Van der Byl family who continued growing the estate, the dairy and the Irene village.
Zebras
The experimental farm became a refuge for Nellmapius, who in the early mornings could be found inspecting his young orange trees and carefully going through the stables where horses, cows and even wild animals knew him intimately.
Nellmapius experimented with taming the eland and zebra on his farm to work as coach animals. When travelling through Pretoria he would sometimes commute on a cart pulled by zebras.
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The barn restaurant
Today the Irene Dairy Farm is a well-known landmark for visitors. The Barn restaurant is situated in one of the original farm barns, built in approximately 1890 and used as a farm barn for over 100 years.
The Barn looks out onto the dairy stable, also built in 1890. It is still used today to feed the cows of the Irene Estate milking herd, as it has been every day for over 100 years.
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Jan Smuts
Nellmapius often entertained in grand style at Irene and amongst his guests were many well-known personalities including President Kruger and former Prime Minister General Jan Smuts, the man who crafted the draft of the Covenant of the United Nations, who lived in this house on the adjacent property.
Irene was first proclaimed a township in 1902 and today it is officially part of the municipality of Centurion.
The Irene Golf Course, between the Irene Dairy Farm and Smuts House, was laid out by Bert Van der Byl and Jan Smuts in 1911.
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Reference: “The tycoon & the president: The life and times of Alois Hugo Nellmapius, 18471893”, by Helga Kaye, published by Macmillan
2.ST-ÉMILION
Many tourists to the Aquitaine region in south-west France, decide to spend a day visiting the village of StÉmilion.
You can understand why. The area and its surrounding thousands of hectares of vineyards, enjoys a reputation as one of the world’s great wine regions. It’s no wonder it attracts more than a million tourists every year and is registered as a heritage site by UNESCO.
Introduction
The medieval town of St-Émilion, 35 km east of Bordeaux, is a short rail journey away, with a pleasant walk into the town from Saint-Émilion station.
The narrow lanes, paved with granite blocks from the ballast of England’s wine ships, are so steep in places that handrails have been installed down their centres.
The yellow houses are built from stone quarried out over the centuries, which has left a network of 200 kms of subterranean passages and chambers under the surrounding vineyards. Some of these chambers are so large that banquets for hundreds of people have been held in them.
A tourist town
Saint-Émilion is a tourist town but, unlike some others, not overtly “in your face”. As you explore the streets you will find wine shops and bars, antique shops, art galleries, boulangeries and bookshops.
There are many opportunities to enjoy the fine wines including winery tours, tastings led by professionals where you can sample the Merlot with varieties of cheeses, gourmet picnics on a wine estate, or a blending lesson that allows you to create your own wine.
There are top-quality restaurants waiting for you in the town and the vineyards, if you prefer to enjoy your glass of wine with a good meal.
The wines
Saint-Émilion is famous for its wines. The Romans planted vineyards here as early as the 2nd century.
The quality of the wine is due to the limestone geology and a microclimate that is perfect for winemaking. This association of “terroirs” provides ideal conditions for merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and malbec.
The Jurade, a wine brotherhood created in 1199 by King John of England, is in charge of promoting St-Émilion wine around the world and of organizing the annual Spring Feast.
Saint-Émilion is named after a monk who arrived in the little village in the 8th century, in search of a quiet simple life. He decided to make it his home and settled in a cave carved into the rock there.
After he performed a few miracles, he became famous in the region and the town became a religious centre and an important landmark for pilgrims following the Camino de Santiago pilgrim way to Spain.
The cave of St-Émilion inspired the construction of the most impressive monument in St-Émilion, which is a monolithic church tower, carved from one stone. There are many other monuments, each with their own story.
Rue Gaudet
Spare a thought for Marguerite-Élie Gaudet, a member of the Girondist political faction during the French revolution, who managed to flee Robespierre’s executions in Paris with seven other Girondins.
They hid for nine months in St-Émilion, but were eventually captured by Robespierre’s henchmen and guillotined – ironically, only a few days before Robespierre himself.
Entering the town from the south, you’ll pass a public park built around the Maison Gaudet, her home. A street in town, Rue Gaudet, is named after her.
La tour du Roy
The Plantagenet King Henry 111 wanted to build a castle in St-Émilion - but only got as far as the tower. This 13th century castle’s keep is a good spot to view of the vineyards of St-Émilion.
The Tower of the Chateau du Roy is open daily for visits and the energetic can climb right to the top.
Jazz
The St-Émilion Jazz festival, with local and international jazz bands, is held each year at the end of July. Over 10,000 visitors arrive to celebrate the music and enjoy good wine. As always with St-Émilion, try to arrive early to avoid the crowds of day trippers, or stay overnight if you can.
The Circle is a private hobby magazine for family and friends, and retired Midstreamers. Tate Britain, London
Photographs in this issue have been sourced from Aquitaine tourism, SA History websites, Wikipedia, SA Tourism website, the Irene Farm, Sammy Marks, and Jan Smuts House websites, and my personal collection.
My Midstream Circle is a series of podcasts for retired folks and people living and working from home on the Midstream Estate between Pretoria and Johannesburg in South Africa. Listen to memories of local and foreign travel, stories about local historical events and interesting people, wildlife reserves and other places to visit from Midstream, and where to find good places to eat out. Find it at:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2071601/share and on Spotify
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