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Wednesday 24th January

After having spoken to one of the guests at Fugitive's Drift we decided to take a trip via Ladysmith to Spienkop. A mountain upon which one of the more famous battles of the Boer War took place. Many men perished and just as many were injured in this battle. There are a number of rather macabre trenches into which British men were buried after the battle.

A picture exists, but is a little too disturbing to publish. My Dad was particularly interested in this site as many of the men who fought here were from the Lancashire Regiment, the barracks of whom was directly opposite his house in Warrington when he was a child.


The graves on Spienkop

We didn't know beforehand, but it was the 101st anniversary of the battle on this very day. It was windy, but sunny and we all spent quite some time reading the memorials and walking around the site.

There is a well done tableau which goes through the events that led to the battle, and this proved most useful as we really knew nothing of the events surrounding Spienkop.

It should be noted that anyone trying to find this memorial and coming from Ladysmith should cross the N3 motorway, using the N11 (which turns into the R616) and drive for approximately 6km. Do not take the first sign you see, which is before you cross the N3, as we did, as you will end up on the wrong side of the mountain and end up driving for and hour to get back to where you started!! I must admit this was my fault.

We then drove back to Benoni via the N3 motorway. The scenery was spectacular and I even managed to pay a quick visit to the smallest Church in the world!


The view from Spienkop

After having got a little lost on our way back, we spent the evening recovering from the drive, and my Dad and I, preparing for the flight the next morning to Port Elizabeth to visit Dalton's Grave.

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