Evoking visions of a Van Gogh masterpiece, Moorreesburg sits invitingly amid fields buried in golden wheat, or lying green and billowy beneath a brilliant sky.
With a lot going for it in the rustic beauty department, Moorreesburg’s rolling, colourful farmland is just one of the aesthetically pleasing elements that makes up its natural finesse.
Ninety kilometers north of Cape Town, wheat has been growing here since 1752. The town was established in 1879 on the farm Hooikraal and named after the then Dutch Reformed minister J C le Febre Moorrees. Today it has a population of almost 13 000 in 3 700 households.
Anchored by a strong farming community, this agri-hub has one of only three wheat museums in the world. Here, the history of wheat from early Egyptian times to the modern day is depicted.
But the town offers more than agriculture to visitors. In the central park is an 11-circuit labyrinth. Plus, nearby Misverstand Dam is a water sport mecca.
There’s also the school’s Dirkie Uys Art Gallery, which displays more than 70 artists’ work, including JH Pierneef, local lass Maggie Laubser and Gregoire Boonzaier.
At Neulfonteinkop just outside town is a historical ship’s cannon. This was used in days gone by to alert farmers wanting to sell their produce to newly docked ships in Cape Town harbour.
And where the old Moorreesburg/Piketberg road crosses the Berg River is an ancient steel girder bridge, originally destined for Australia. A ship carrying the bridge stopped in Table Bay in 1850 for repairs, but subsequently couldn’t get the bridge back on board. So today it rests on the only river wide enough for its span.
As in many small towns, the close-knit community in Moorreesburg appreciates the simpler life (for better or for worse) and their loyalty to one another lasts a lifetime. That’s why this kind of everyone-knows-your-business environment has become appealing to city folk seeking greener pastures beyond the city.
