In the 1850's there was a resurgence in the local wine business caused by the devastation of the European vineyards by powdery mildew, which pushed Cape exports to 1 112 449 gallons, but it was short lived.

Despite the debt burden he faced, du Toit struggled on.

Powdery mildew was in the Cape by 1859 and unfortunately, although some of the upland farms escaped, the Franschhoek valley suffered.

Then, in 1860, Britain signed a trade agreement with France that reduced the tariff on imports from there and virtually killed the export trade of the Cape wine farms.

By 1861, the powdery mildew was at its worst in the winelands. While the application of sulphur proved an effective antidote, lurking in the background was Phylloxera. Discovered in America in 1854, the pest had crossed the Atlantic and had been recognised in hothouses in Hammersmith in 1960. By 1863 it was rife in France.

In 1866 a strange infection was noticed at the Cape and the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society suggested wine farmers should try growing linseed, cochineal and some new varieties of tobacco.

The 1867 recognition that the ‘blink klippies’ around Kimberley were diamonds saved South Africa’s economy and encouraged many farmers to sell up and try their luck at Kimberley, for du Toit, even that was too late.

www.sullatoberdalton.com/books

My research into Rickety Bridge and the state of the South African wine industry uncovered the unscrupulous dealings in all kinds of rot gut during the Napoleonic wars, which almost finished that industry when Napoleon was defeated and French wine became available in Britain. One must remember that soldiering often exposed soldiers to water of doubtful quality and, those who could afford it drank wine, even rot gut in preference to what could be scooped out of the open sewers that were rivers in those days. The result was that South African wine, quite deservedly gained a reputation fr being undrinkable except 'in extremis' and the farmers, like the Pepplers at what would become Rickety Bridge, were forced to turn turn to alternative crops - like milk and pork.
The picture is of the Rickety Bridge the winery is now named after.

www.sullatoberdalton.com/books

This is the farm on which the canon is situated. It lies just outside the Cape Town suburb of Durbanville. and is called Hoogegelegen. There are three things the I will comment on, first the trail you can just make out zig-zagging up the mountain, then the farm shed in the middle ground and, of course, being in the Western Cape, the grape vines in the foreground. Bearing in mind this all started from taking photographs of model boats it is the best illustration of how opportunities open up when you talk to people about their own interests. This was taken in summer when it doesn't rain in the Cape. The vines are of course irrigated. I just hope I can find the photographs I took from the top of Kanonkop. 

www.sullatoberdalton.com/books/vital-spark