Fort Nottingham Hike 5 March 2023
Leader: Dave Sclanders Scribe: Luis Esteves, Photos: Dave Sclanders and Ian Kerr
After a short historical introduction to Fort Nottingham by Roy (a “friend” of the Fort Nottingham conservancy), 18 hikers set out at 9.00am, from the Fort Nottingham museum, under blue skies, led by Dave Sclanders.
The first leg of the hike was through a pleasant green meadow, over a gurgling stream, and then up a steep incline in the shade of long-standing pine trees.
Once out of the forest we had a panoramic view back onto Nottingham village (nestled in the picturesque valley) and beyond. Our intrepid leader, Dave Sclanders, led us onward through the bracken and knee-high grass, the path having become overgrown and obscured by this vegetation. The sun was now high in the sky, making the going hot and sweaty, but regular refreshment stops along the way (as well as the promise made by Luis of magnum ice creams waiting at an undisclosed point!?) kept the hikers in good spirits.
Signs of former cattle ranching days, especially cattle dips, were visible at certain points. At the end of this leg of the hike we had a terrific view of Springvale dam in its postcard-picture setting in the valley below, as well as the main Drakensberg (unfortunately mostly obscured by the midday haze).
We had hiked about three hours and covered a distance of 3 kilometres!
After some deliberation, it was decided to hike back along the old wagon track. This took us on a long loop through grassland, bramble and bracken, all the while affording us panoramic views east and west.
It was on this track that our intrepid leader came upon a baboon skull, which, he explained, was a quite unusual find – baboons have their own burial sites and don’t normally leave their dead in some “unmarked grave” somewhere!
A bit further along the track we saw a handsome male bushbuck galloping off into the distance.
As the track descended towards Nottingham village, old wagon wheel grooves were quite visible on the exposed rock surface. To our left, all the way down to the village, a forest grove and river kept us company.
It was about 2.00pm when we re-entered Nottingham village. We had hiked for about five hours and walked about 10 kilometres.
Clearly the second half of our hike had been much more successful, in so far as the distance hiked is concerned. All were in good spirits albeit somewhat weather-beaten!
Back at our starting point, some of us elected to visit the museum. Eric, the museum curator, explained that the fort had been established in 1856 as a military post to stop stolen cattle making their way into the Drakensberg and up its many passes into what today is the kingdom of Lesotho. The museum manages to capture, in a nutshell, the goings on in the Natal hinterland during that time.
It was finally time to make our way back home (refreshments being purchased by most, undoubtedly, at the first available store!). A BIG thank you to our intrepid leader Dave Sclanders for organizing and leading this hike!
