What became Rickety Bridge was sold and resold until in 1967, it was bought by the Heesom family. I interviewed the son, Jeremy who told me that for some years the farm had been neglected and the house and its outbuildings were dilapidated.

Having graduated from an English university, Jeremy applied all he had learned to making Sanddrift/Rickety Bridge a productive farm. He grew fruit, pears, apples, plums, peaches, he planted fir trees, he planted a selection of rare varieties of grapes, and he kept pigs and remembers the time with pleasure.

The grapes, which he bought from Stellenbosch Farmers Winery co-operative, included some 4000 Cabernet seedlings but he also introduced Pinotage, Stein, Hermitage and Clairette Blanche, this last being used as a bulking agent in champagne. He later added some Gewurztraminer.

Knowing nothing of wine making, Jeremy sent his grapes to Stellenbosch Farmer’s Winery, from whom he received a good price.

As mentioned, the buildings were in disrepair and the Heesoms spent large sums of money on renovation, re-thatching the manor house and some of the outbuildings.

To accommodate the pigs, the outbuildings had to be modified, several walls being knocked down to meet the needs of the expanded farm. The pigs provided manure for the farm and ate what discards of fruit and other edible rubbish became available. 

The picture shows the lounge of the house as it was after it's final renovation by Duncan Spence in around 2003.

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