Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2013 1:13:58 GMT -5
The second day was a bit of a difficult hunt as we did not know where exactly the old (British) Kloof Camp was situated.
Jomo did his homework well with his research and had a good idea of the old battle lines and gun emplacements but we did not have an exact location of the camp itself. When we arrived at the farm (it actually belongs to the municipality from whom we received full permission to search), the gate was locked and we had to climb over the gate with a 2+ kilometre walk awaiting us.
We split up into smaller groups and our group followed a small creek until we reached a small abandoned settlement with red-brick ruins, rock hedges and lots of old glass & pottery pieces scattered around.
Here we did find evidence of British military presence but also more modern items (I picked up a 1961 Half Cent for example!) but the actual camp evaded us. We still don’t know where it is!
From there we moved on to a small hill just outside Colesberg where a smaller British camp was situated. This was a wonderful site and good items were coming up thick and fast.
We had lunch at an Inn in town and then went back to the site again where more nice items were found.
I cannot remember who won what for which entries that night but the winners names are shown under the last few pictures below.
Mike receives a silver Paul Kruger ZAR shilling from Tonie (who sponsored one for each day of the trip for the heaviest haul/hoard of the day)
Tinus receive the prize for the fourth best find of the day from his father Mike who was the master of ceremony every night. Mike works for the South African Broadcast Corporation so was cut out for the task!
Gerry receives the prize for the third best find of the day
Jomo receives the prize for the second best find of the day
Luigi from the the prize for the best find of the day for the Army Service Corps Badge that he found.
Here is more info on the area for those interested...
www.angloboerwar.com/books/92-maurice-history-of-the-war-in-south-africa/1929-maurice-history-vol-1-chapter-xxiv-operations-round-colesberg-december-16th-1899-to-february-6th-1900-259
Jomo did his homework well with his research and had a good idea of the old battle lines and gun emplacements but we did not have an exact location of the camp itself. When we arrived at the farm (it actually belongs to the municipality from whom we received full permission to search), the gate was locked and we had to climb over the gate with a 2+ kilometre walk awaiting us.
We split up into smaller groups and our group followed a small creek until we reached a small abandoned settlement with red-brick ruins, rock hedges and lots of old glass & pottery pieces scattered around.
Here we did find evidence of British military presence but also more modern items (I picked up a 1961 Half Cent for example!) but the actual camp evaded us. We still don’t know where it is!
From there we moved on to a small hill just outside Colesberg where a smaller British camp was situated. This was a wonderful site and good items were coming up thick and fast.
We had lunch at an Inn in town and then went back to the site again where more nice items were found.
I cannot remember who won what for which entries that night but the winners names are shown under the last few pictures below.
Mike receives a silver Paul Kruger ZAR shilling from Tonie (who sponsored one for each day of the trip for the heaviest haul/hoard of the day)
Tinus receive the prize for the fourth best find of the day from his father Mike who was the master of ceremony every night. Mike works for the South African Broadcast Corporation so was cut out for the task!
Gerry receives the prize for the third best find of the day
Jomo receives the prize for the second best find of the day
Luigi from the the prize for the best find of the day for the Army Service Corps Badge that he found.
Here is more info on the area for those interested...
www.angloboerwar.com/books/92-maurice-history-of-the-war-in-south-africa/1929-maurice-history-vol-1-chapter-xxiv-operations-round-colesberg-december-16th-1899-to-february-6th-1900-259
