Forest fire

I just want to finish what Deborah wrote about her stay at Rickety Bridge before going on in my experience as a journalist to the next occupant of Rickety Bridge.
In an earlier note it was mentioned that firs had been planted on the slope to retain the soil but Deborah's experience highlighted that benefits come with responsibilities.

Two little boys from the farm one Saturday made a campfire and set the forest alight. Had the wind changed direction we might well have lost the house, so it was a few nasty hours. That prompted the beginning of removing the pine forest from the hill at the back of the house, and allowing the indigenous fynbos to regenerate. The pines had been planted ages ago and then not looked after so they were useless as a crop and a huge fire risk as well as being unhelpful to the original mountain flora.

It was all an education in itself, and there was so much good that could have been brought about had one been able to stay long enough.
The photo shows how the pines have been re-established on the slope behind the winery.

I've mentioned before that one stumbles across stories and this fire incident would make a great highlight if I were doing a novel about the winelands.Whether a literary agent would agree, I don't know. Two of the stories in Bees in my Bonnet were written to test the idea  but I was told, nobody buys books about South Africa unless they are written by Wilbur Smith.

www.amazon.co.uk/Bees-my-Bonnet-Short-stories-x/dp/1541345673/ref=sr_1_2?

French Heritage

As a freelance journalist I found Deborah's letter about what she and Robin Singer did at Rickety Bridge a highlight and here is a bit more.

We tried very hard to keep the feeling of a family working farmhouse, vineyards and cellar  - in fact when people came to the tasting rooms we built onto the end of the old cellar, they all said how different it was from the other farms - more like France in feel. I suppose you could look at that in several ways - Franschhoek being so proud of its French heritage should have given that impression, even if we were trying to promote South African wine in its own right, but Rickety Bridge was the last of those small working farmhouse and cellar farms, and a little gem, so I am not altogether happy with the huge amount of development which has robbed it of that distinction, and lost forever that feeling which made it so very special.

We were so lucky in the people who helped us. Len Raymond, our builder, was a complete Cape Dutch fanatic, and his knowledge of the history and construction of these wonderful houses was a huge factor in lots of what we did. Rowan Pape was a marvellous architect with a real understanding of what would and would not work and given the passion which every one of us approached the project, how could we lose? I was very sad to have to leave it.   - especially to the ravages of conference-centre builders! Those places are two a penny in and around Franschhoek. Small is beautiful more often than we realise, and Rickety Bridge was unique.

Whether one agrees with Debs or not, progress marches on and business is business.

www.sullatoberdalton.com

I'm going to continue Deborah's tale of what they did at Rickety Bridge because it shows the care she and Robin took to restore the old house -  We discovered the lintel of an old high door going into the courtyard from the room behind the voorkamer (front reception room) so we reinstated that and the bakeoven, and having discovered the original lintels in the front windows, we put those back to their original size, gave them wide reveals to let in more light, and reglazed them with old glass which made a huge difference.

We had the wall cupboard taken out and carefully restored before lovingly putting it back safely in its place. The kitchen and laundry rooms were rebuilt as plumbing etc had to be rethought, and the gable was restored to its proper proportions.

All the woodwork which we had to replace or put in new was done with indigenous  wood, as the Baltic pine which would have been used was not obtainable. We had all the door furniture carefully made as it would have been for the period.

We think that originally there must have been a screen going across the voorkamer at the front door end, but could find no trace of it. Many of them were removed and sold over the years, and sadly we thought that one must be lost entirely.

 Upstairs we had to compromise, as Cape Dutch houses would not have had bathrooms. (I had a gentle battle with Rowan Pape, our excellent architect who suggested marble for the bathrooms and when I said "no hotel bathrooms in this house" he kindly agreed to try the Johnstons white tiles laid diamond shape I asked for.  (I hope they are still there at Rickety Bridge, echoing the lines of the thatch.) (They are, or were in 2005)

www.sullatoberdalton.com

The Robins at Rickety Bridge

Once in occupation, Robin Singer and Deb discussed using the old name Paulinas Dal but after some heart searching decided to stick with Rickety Bridge.

Next, Debs wrote, we called in the University who came and dug around a bit without uncovering much of interest. The house had been messed about a lot during the fifties, a wing had been put on at the back of the right hand side of the house as you look at it from the front, and there was a dreadful temporary lean-to on the other side at the back. We had to demolish those altogether. The windows all along the front stoep had no reveals and had been made taller, so their proportions were all wrong, and the gable itself was a mess as far as proportions went. By the way, the fleur-de-lys motifs on the label come from the gable, used like notes of music, as the Robins on the label are singing - just a pun on Robin Singer's name.

www.sullatoberdalton.com

Singer at Rickety Bridge

I'm writing these notes to introduce some of the people I met as a journalist before starting to write novels. The story of Rickety Bridge and it's occupants is, of course, a story in itself and I was privileged to be asked to research it. In some ways it led me into the kind of village stories I enjoy writing. Anyway, let's get on.

When Robin Singer took over the farm, his objective was not only to make a good wine but to create a recognisable brand and develop a market.

He set about doing this with his partner Deborah and during the two years they were there managed to leave some mark of their presence.

The robins on the gate and on the wine label are reminders of their occupancy and Robin managed to introduce wines to a number of quality outlets including the Mount Nelson and, in Franschhoek, Le Quartier Francais.

The old rickety bridge had become even more rickety and as clients were reluctant to venture across it, had to be replaced.

Not being a wine maker, Robin recruited a vintner, the first incumbent, an American, proving less able than his recommendation. The second, David Lockley, from Blaauwklippen, proved a master his wines found their way on to the tables of discerning wine drinkers.

To entice the growing number of tourists coming to Franschhoek to sample the wines they were making, Robin built the first proper wine tasting area on the farm.

When contacted, Robin Singer introduced Deborah and her lively notes were a pleasure to read.

www.ricketybridge.com

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Selling Rickety Bridge

The McNaughts leave. In the end, age caught up with Nigel's father and he had to give up doctoring to run the agricultural side of the farm. Not a difficult decision because he had become disillusioned with how medicine had become a money making business but a decision that reduced the family income.

The McNaughts struggled on for some time but by 1995 it had become obvious the only solution to the heavy drain of their overdraft was to sell up and move.

Visiting them at Stoney Brook farm, which has proved a good move and is now a successful wine farm and winery, busy with tourists.

One of Joy’s recollections is of Mina, who saw Paulina's ghost at Rickety Bridge, making tea and forcing her to sit and eat when things were getting out of control. Like anyone who has come in contact with Mina, Joy can not praise her enough.

The McNaughts sold the renamed Rickety Bridge to Robin Singer, whom Mina described as a Scotsman and a nice man. Is that so unusual?

www.sullatoberdalton.com/books

Rickety Bridge and Stoney Brook

What income they did have, and any money they could scrape together, the McNaughts spent on improving the farm’s production capability. Their first step being to uproot the pear trees and plant vines.

Joy, with her three children, moved onto the farm, leaving Nigel doctoring to pay the bills, and started to learn to make wine. Her experiences are recorded in the book she has written – Headlong into the Red. She tells of how she called Nigel in tears to say she was resigning . Nigel’s reply was that she wasn’t allowed to resign, that he had a consulting room full of patients and she’d better just get on with things.

Having met Nigel in Joy’s company, this repost is a reflection of the financial strain rather than their close relationship. 

Heesom had for some time been at Zorgvleit and the Sanddrift manor house – now renamed Rickety Bridge, had again fallen into less than perfect condition. Joy tells of lying in bed one night and wakening to find she could see the stars through a hole where the roof thatch had blown off.

Some of the McNaught’s hard earned money was spent on improving the labourer’s cottages, unfortunately not to a standard Joy would have considered acceptable but to the absolute limit of what money was available.

www.ricketybridge.com