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The
Valley Trust
in Bothas Hill was founded
in 1953 by Dr. Halley
Stott as a means of teaching
the local inhabitants
the art of soil enrichment.
Nutrition education was
one of the pillars on
which The Valley Trust's
reputation was built.
On the 15 July 2003 The
Valley Trust celebrated
it's 50th birthday.Tourist
are invited to visit the
famous settlement.
Sadly, Dr Halley Stott
passed away in 2004 ...
read
more
Through the distribution
and sale of Nigel Stott's
recent biography Dr Halley Harwin
Stott Founder
of the Valley Trust in
KwaZulu Natal, we hope
to raise funds to support
the essential work of
The Stroke Association.For
further information about
how you can also support
the ongoing inspiring
work of the Valley Trust,
visit www.thevalleytrust.org.za » To purchase
a copyCLICK
HERE «
Donating through Justgiving
is quick, easy and secure.
The Stroke Association
receives your money faster
and, if you’re a
UK taxpayer, Justgiving
makes sure 25% in Gift
Aid, plus a 3% supplement,
are added to your donation.
Many thanks for your support.
Make a donation
... CLICK
HERE
Peter Reece
was born a Kearsney man, the son
of Jack Reece then Housemaster
of Finningly. He was born in 1941
and grew up at the school and
as a youngster he roamed all over
the Assagay and Botha’s
Hill areas where he was destined
to spend his whole life. He gained
an early love of the outdoors
and the natural environment. Peter
was educated at Kearsney where
he ended his school career as
a prefect and a successful member
of the 1st Cricket XI. After university
he returned to Kearsney to teach
Biology. In his ten years on the
staff, Peter was an enthusiastic
teacher and very active in extra-murals
activities. He took boys on many
outings to the Drakensberg and
elsewhere where he imparted to
them his love of nature and the
environment. He had a successful
spell as coach of the 1st Cricket
XI.
OWEN Clarkson died
suddenly of a heart attack on
the Kearsney Campus on Friday
18 February 2011.
He was one of the school’s
most passionate and loyal old
boys and his death will be deeply
mourned by all his colleagues.
He will be remembered as a man
of great integrity, courage, courtesy,
a true sportsman in every sense
of the word with a wonderful sense
of humour.
He was highly respected by all
of those who had the privilege
of being his colleague and friend.
His father, Wally Clarkson, together
with his Springbok and Natal colleagues
Alf Walker and Bill Zeller were
some of the original members of
the "Old Crocks" formed
in 1932 to play against Kearsney
College.
THE EARLY HISTORY
[ Narrator - The Late Peter Reece
- May 2005 ] Page
1
In the early 1800's, a route had been
established westwards between Port Natal
(Durban) and Natal's Capital (Pietermaritzburg),
some 80 Km (50 miles) apart. A wagon-track
scaled the hillslopes around steep valleys
and clear streams, sometimes overwhelmed
by huge bouldered cliffs and sheer escarpments,
and sometimes flanked by rolling grasslands
or luxuriant tropical riverine forest.
Deep clefts in the slopes were sprinkled
with waterfalls and meandering streams,
and the difficult track had to pick
its way through these numerous obstacles
between the two towns.
Almost half-way on the route to Pietermaritzburg,
one such hill stands: Botha's Hill.
In the early 1840's, a Voortrekker,
J.J. (Hans) Potgieter found a beautiful
lush valley west of the hill, surrounded
by sheer sandstone cliffs and dense
grasslands, and decided to settle there.
In 1848, his farm was registered as
Assagay Kraal. In 1850, George Mason
(a Byrne settler) and his brother were
walking from Durban to Pietermaritzburg
and described the farm as viewed from
Botha's Hill: "From this cutting,
which is very narrow - indeed just a
ledge on the mountainside - you get
a 'bird's-eye-view' of Potgieter's farm,
down a well-watered valley to the left,
with a snug Dutch homestead, a large
orchard, some fields of ripening corn,
and droves of cattle, forming a pretty
picture when contrasted with the barren
steeps, and wild craggy peaks by which
it is walled in all around." On
the eastern side of the hill, another
farm of about 6000 acres was registered
as Buffelsfontein and a roadside inn,
"Elliot's Inn" was built,
later renamed variously as the Albany
Hotel, Botha's Halfway House, The Black
Horse, and Padley's Hotel, until it
closed around 1880.
The naming of Botha's Hill has, apparently,
two contenders. Philip Rudolph Botha
(according to T.V. Bulpin in his book:
"To the shores of Natal")
took land in the area in the mid-1800's.
His grandson later became the famous
Louis Botha, "one of the giants
of South African history". But
local historians, among them Robin Lamplough,
now favour Cornelis Botha who had established
Botha's Halfway House on the Buffelsfontein
Farm in the early 1850's.
