Visit some of our friends:
C l a r e n s
for the art and adventure of it
One of the greatest feelings I can get whenever I have been away from the village
for a time, “especially if for a day or two” is to turn on to the R712 from Bethlehem
and see the Maluti and Rooiberg mountains in the distance, as I travel past taxi
rock and see Mount Horeb getting nearer my foot automatically seems to press harder
on the accelerator or my hand twists the throttle of the Triumph 1200 further back
just so that I can see my beloved village that little bit faster, driving past the
fields of Cosmos, sunflowers and mielies waiting to be harvested and seeing the bales
of grass being harvested to feed livestock over the coming winter months, gives me
a sense of pride in my province and community and know that my wife was right in
telling me that Clarens is where we are meant to be. Coming through Naauwpoort Nek
you get a glimpse of the village in all of its grandeur especially now with the Lombardy
Popular’s leaves changing colour , but no matter what time of the year or the weather
conditions I never fail to get goose bumps at seeing her. Why you say is he going
on about the drive from Bethlehem to Clarens and the Naauwpoort Nek, well the pass
through Naaupoort Nek and Titanic rock in particular have bore witness to shots fired
in anger both during the Basotho wars of 1865 and the Boer war of 1899 – 1902. The
Nek however is probably best known and closely associated to actions taken by Paul
Kruger and his Commando in 1865 that saw Clarens being named in honour of him in
1912 at the proclamation of the new settlement.
Like most Clarenites I know a little
about the battle of Naauwpoort Nek and I would surmise that most visitors to the
village walk past the monument on the square commemorating the battle and at least
look at the names of the five Boers that died. I was always under the impression
that the battle was fought in the Nek itself and that the Boers where securely laagered
just beyond it when the Basotho attacked, but according to information I unearthed
recently this is not entirely true. After the attack on a group of Trek Boers near
to the present day Harrismith by the Batlokwa (Wild cat people) tribe led by a fierce
Chiefteness called Mantatisi , a commando of three to four hundred men under the
command of Paul Kruger where dispatched by the South-
The word was sent out and more men came to join the Commando
from Bethlehem, Paul Roux, Senekal as well as other nearby settlements and within
two days there where a large number of well armed men that drove the Basotho out
of the valley. The five Boers where buried where they died with only three graves
still being visible today, it is thought that two of the men where exhumed by loved
ones some years later and buried on family farms somewhere in the Transvaal Republic.
The monument that stands on the square today was originally erected on the site where
the battle took place and near to where the men where buried, it was unveiled on
the 16th of December 1895 in front of a large crowd, the monument was moved to coincide
with the silver jubilee of Clarens in 1962 and was re-
So next time you drive through
the Nek, take a moment to stop, take in the view and reflect on the past.
”The Battle of Naauwpoortnek” – a little history of Clarens
All (or at least most of) the residents of Clarens are very proud of and very passionate
about their little village. But no-
Herewith a little piece of Clarens’ history as taken from Stephen’s blog: