Hot weather marks the start of Greyton fire season.

Historic Moravian church under threat from fire in bushes behind.

Sadly the summer fire season is well and truly upon us now. This morning a fire started just on the right hand side of the bridge near Genadendal and by 13h30 it was out of control and burning in multiple directions. Some 7km way just behind the Moravian Church this fire broke out in some loose scrub at 14h00.

Within minutes of the Greyton fire being reported by concerned residents local fire fighters were on the scene and in action. These fires are the results of a good week of + 35C temperatures and could be caused by a number of sources. Broken glass, braai fires and discarded cigarettes are only a few of the usual suspects.

Gendadendal bride fire looking west from the main road.

Mystery fire starts in Greyton Mountains.

This afternoon at 1355 AB Coert of Overberg Fire and Rescue received a call that once again the Greyton gorge was on fire.  In a similar incident last year millions of Rands of damage were done over several days. The fire lasted days and completely leveled a well-known wine estate and if it had not been for some Top Gun style flying by a local pilot on the yellow helo the top half of Greyton would have gone up in smoke.

This time the fire seems to have started higher up the mountain in an isolated kloof which is not on any walking trails. Certainly not ones on the map although with a little perseverance and some know how it is accessible. At the time of writing the fire was burning up the mountain towards a wild plantation of pines. Strangely the fire is burning in one of the only areas that did not burn in last years massive fire.

Its on the 4th PGP Greyton Art Walk.

It’s on the 4th Art Walk is underway with the final preparations only just having been completed! The weather is also looking great this weekend unlike last year so put your favorite walking shoes and make a day of it here in Greyton.

The center of all the action is at the DRC hall and you will want to start you journey here. For those that are not familiar with Greyton just drive through town past the market and turn right just after the tennis courts.

Not time to waste there is something for everyone in this years displays. All galleries and displays are clearly market throughout town with the now famous yellow and green flags.

Good luck and enjoy!

Pam Golding Greyton Art Walk News Release 2020

A warm welcome to Greyton and all our visiting artists. Over the weekend of 20-22 November we will be hosting the 4 th GREYTON ART WALK.  We are building on past successes and this year will be no different.

Due to Covid 19 The Art Walk will be smaller this year, but still with lots of amazing artwork.

It is our prime goal to make Greyton THE art village again. The organisers want to provide a venue to local, as well as artists from outside Greyton, to exhibit art in all mediums.

Entrance to all exhibitions and the art route will be free.

The organisers would like to thank all our artists and advertisers.

More than 400 artworks by 40 various artists will be on show and for sale at reasonable prizes in the Art Centre and 20 galleries. Several artists opened their homes to welcome you to view and buy original artworks of high quality. The “walk the experience”  between the various galleries/houses was very popular previous years.

GAW is very privileged to have the well known and loved PORTCHIE  visiting Greyton this year. He will exhibit and paint live at Via’s Eatery. WILLIE JACOBS will also painting at Willie Jacobs Art Gallery.

The children’s art competition under the capable leadership of Mariaan Ehlers, will be somewhat smaller this year due to the lockdown. There will be huge prizes for the winners in different age groups. Children’s Art can be seen in  the Art Centre.

To embody the “walk the experience” theme, the art route will start at the Art Centre in the D.R.C. Hall. We invite you to experience the ambiance of the village where you are most likely going to share your walk with horses, cattle or donkeys.

Greyton Art Centre in the D.R.C. Hall will again be the main exhibition area for 25+ artists with more than 200 original art works in many mediums.

All the important info about the art route and artists profiles, can be found in die GAW Explorer available from the Art Centre, Greyton Tourism and restaurants.

The beautiful Overberg and the Valley of Grace surrounded by spectacular mountains and farmlands are waiting to welcome you.

We invite you to come and enjoy Greyton where leiwater is running along the narrow streets to serve the historical houses. There are several restaurants to meet everyone’s tastes and many guest houses waiting to accommodate you.

With all this on the menu, the weekend of 20-22 November 2020 is a must for all true art lovers.

Get on the donkey or horse cart and enjoy the trip to all the various galleries all over the village, follow GAW art signs and yellow flags to find all the artists.

FOR AY QUERIES AND ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS, VISIT GREYTON TOURISM AND LOVE OVERBERG WEBSITE.

CONTACT THE ORGANISERS;

CHRIS                    RETHEA                   MARIAAN

082 495 4019          071 225 6163            076 034 5944

GREYTON ART WALK@GMAIL.COM

Greyton’s Bumpy gravel roads may be coming to end.

If you have taken a drive or walked around town the state of the roads will have definitely left an impression. This year’s great rain has been a bit of a double-edged sword having left our gravel roads in a terrible condition. Last weeks 68mm was no help and large pools are still visible in the pot holes.

Luckily this may be coming to end with appointment of a contractor by TWK to grade the worst roads first. The grader will be starting in Buitekant / Caledon and then move on to Vlei, Regent, Kloof and the Cross Market.

It is hoped that most of the winter rains are behind us and this remedial work will last for a while.

Greyton, 2020 the year of storms?

Is 2020 going to be the year of storms or the new norm? Well having lived here for 22 years I have never so many damaging storms. In the photo above the power line in Von Solms took a direct hit from this falling black wood that must be 40 years old. The pole was smashed in pieces like a cheap set of chop sticks.

Last time the storm damage seemed confined to upper main road this time bottom of High Street and Von Solms seems to have been fairly in its sights. In the photo above cottage roof off and steel gate torn down indicating extremely local events.

Another big tree in main road down. The number of oak trees in the main road has been halved in the past two years. Power is only due back tomorrow some time if we are lucky.

Fiber is coming to Greyton.

The outlook for Greyton is getting brighter with the instillation of fiber. Steadily over the past three months you would have noticed this hard-working crew in and around town laying the cables. I have especially noticed it on the way to Riviersondereind and back towards the N2. It seems that the cable has been laid in a loop.

With this and recent changes in peoples working habits things are looking up. No doubt as soon as we are online and genie is out many works from home types won’t be able to resist the pull of the country. There just isn’t the need to fight the traffic and crowds anymore. In fact, other town’s in the Overberg are also now receiving a notable increase in interest. The laying of the main cables will be completed by the end of the August and we would hope that the first connections would be done shortly thereafter.

A term on the lips of some locals is that of a cyber village and with several online business operating already from Greyton more are set to arrive shortly. In the past operators have made use of wireless internet which got the job done but wasn’t ideal. These businesses are also starting to provide much needed employment opportunities in the area.

Greyton Market re-opens with strict safety protocols in place.

The famous Greyton market has re opened today amongst strict safety protocols. The market was roped off with safety tape and you could only enter or leave from a single manned sanitization station.

It was evident that many of the normal stall holders were not in place due to distancing requirements and also a slow reopening strategy. This is however a positive start for Greyton and its stall holders. The weather was also unseasonably warm and it could have been a pleasant late autumn day. Unfortunately this will not last with a moderate cold front arriving later tonight and the temperatures will resume their normal lows tomorrow and Monday. So enjoy while you can!

Narrow Escape in Main Road

Narrow escape for Jimmy’s Bakkie that is usually in front of the garage.

The past two days has seen cold, very windy and wet conditions hit the Western Cape. In the picture above a large oak tree came down where Jimmy Moolman’s bakkie usual stands. In a strange bit of luck the bakkie was in Caledon. Wow! Had it not  have been for that then it would have gone from a bakkie to a pan cake in 2 seconds.

Stodart Tree Fellers from Cape Town

Featured above the clearing team from Stodart Tree Fellers .  They are contracted to cut and clear the damage around Greyton by TWK. They and their orange truck are visible after most storms doing the heavy lifting. The Stodart family are one of the original Greyton families and still have a house in the main road.

Good snow fall will be great for the ground water and lei water this year. The local farms are also over the moon and dams are filling nicely across the province. Cold and clear conditions can be expected over the weekend. Bring your livestock in.

Genadendal Police Station closed due to CV19

Sadly it would seem that after several cases were reported in Genadendal that it has now spread to the police station. This just goes to show that our first responders are firmly on the front line and require all members of the public to observe all current safety measures.

The station is being cleaned and will open hopefully on the evening of the 22nd of May 2020. SAPS service will be operated from Greyton station while Genadendal is temporarily closed. In order to contact SAPS please call 0731600737 today and tomorrow morning and thereafter 084 8174053. Thereafter normal numbers will resume.