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.

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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?

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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

Farming lessons at Rickety Bridge

I'm dipping into the my old files of Rickety Bridge history and they include one or two interviews. One I particularly enjoyed was the McNaughts who were then at Stoney Brook farm and doing rather well after their Rickety Bridge experience. When they bought Rickety Bridge, they were living and working in Grahamstown; Nigel as a doctor and Joy teaching at St Andrew's school.

They were both from Cape Town and on a visit to the Cape, Nigel found that Sanddrift/Rickety Bridge was for sale at an attractive price.

When Joy asked if they could afford it, Nigel told her that if they sold everything they had, borrowed from all their friends and took a mortgage they could just manage.

At first, Nigel’s father and mother moved on to the farm, Nigel’s father harvesting the fruit and sending it off to market. Unbeknown to them, pear sizes were critical and the price of grade 3, the smallest, didn’t cover the cost of sorting and instead of the expected cheque the McNaughts got a bill.
Undeterred, they stuck to the plan and learned more lessons about farming.

www.stonybrook.co.za

Rickety Bridge winery

Checking my files I found that I had not finished with the original Paulina as her ghost was seen walking through the house. The Heesoms, Mother and Father had gone out to a function and a young woman called Mina was babysitting when, in the early hours of the morning a young woman of about twenty five, with long fairish hair and wearing a long white period dress, walked through the room. Mina mentioned the woman was attractive and seemed happy to be in the house. Mina mentioned she, herself, felt comfortable, not threatened, as if it had been no more than another member of the household who had walked through the room. As Paulina died at twenty six it is assumed she visits the house from time to time. One hopes she is pleased with the alterations and refurbishing of the house since her time. 

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When Heesom moved to Zorgvleit in 1988, he sold the farm Sanddrift to the Mc Naughts, who renamed the farm Rickety Bridge. The McNaughts managed, under severe financial constraint, to replant and revive the making of wine on the farm but, by 1995, were obliged to sell.

Robin Singer took over from McNaught and his partner, revamped the manor house and continued to improve the property as a wine farm, regretfully having to replace the original ‘rickety bridge’ as it had become so rickety patrons were reluctant to cross. Apparently the relationship with Deborah cooled, and although they remained close friends, Singer moved out of Rickety Bridge in 1997 leaving the robins on the gate and the wine label as reminders of his occupation.

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