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| Bothas Hill
and our Pioneers |
The Botha's
Hill Trading Store was established in about
1920 (alongside the new road past the station),
and a butchery and post office a little
further up. Opposite the Trading Store was
Bob Emmett's Wayside Store. In 1930 Clement
Stott, who owned large tracts of land here,
established the village: Botha's Hill Estates.
His own mansion was on the northern edge
of the hill (next to Warwickshire Cresc),
with vast views over the Valley of a Thousand
Hills. He reputedly used to have hunting
parties into the valley below. He donated
land on the hilltop for the new Kearsney
College, which moved from Stanger in 1931.
His son, Dr Halley Stott, founded the Valley
Trust which provided health-care and training
in sustainable agriculture to residents
of the tribal land in the nearby KwaNyuswa
valley. By now, people were starting to
build homes in the little village. Clement
Stott had plans for a hotel in Ridge Road
and for a golf course on what had been Potgieter's
farm in the Assagay valley. A Country Club
was planned where Rob Roy Hotel now stands,
and the hotel opened in 1935. Rob Roy burned
to the ground in December 1962 and was rebuilt
by Rolf Paeper, a well-known present resident
of Botha's Hill. Mr
Clement Stott of Botha’s Hill
donated 25 acres of land for the establishment
of Kearsney College in 1931 before the outbreak
of World War ll.
In the late 1930's a small zoo and tea garden was
opened by Mr and Mrs Burnand on the property just
to the left of the present Kearsney gates, and they
had a snake pit, lions, buck, and monkeys. The zoo
was closed in the early 40's following public complaints,
but the tea garden continued for a while in the
hands of Mr & Mrs Fred Dawes. The Botha's Hill
Water Company had been formed in the early 30's
and water was pumped from the Umhlatuzana River
in Potgieter's valley up to tanks at Kearsney College
and to the concrete reservoir in Ridge Road. Regional
water came in the early 1940's. A bit later another
store, Roberts' Foodliner, opened just above the
present garage and was run by Stan Roberts and Hersie
Jones, later moving and expanding to the entrance
of Botha Rd where the Fainting Goat Centre now lies.
Probably the most outstanding feature of Botha's
Hill is the incredible vista of the Valley of a
Thousand Hills, the myriad of sand-stone-capped
hills incised by streams and rivulets in the granite
basin, with the Umgeni River and Inanda Dam in the
northern distance. No wonder thousands of tourists
flock annually to this scenic spot to absorb its
charm. (Acknowledgment to: Botha's Hill Community
Forum).
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| Our Pioneers |
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Dr. Halley H
Stott, founder of the Valley
Trust, died peacefully at home on
13th June 2004. [Son of Clement Stott]
He will be remembered as a man with the vision
and energy to establish a socio-medical project
for the promotion of health and that had such
imaginative and practical approaches to nutrition
and medical care that the wider development
of Primary Health Care in the international
community has been influenced by it’s
results.
Dr Halley Stott, who qualified in
medicine from Edinburgh University,
pressed on to establish The Valley
Trust as a registered welfare organization
in 1953. He then donated the property
that he had developed to the Trust
and he set about raising funds to
support the wider project. Meanwhile
he was busy leading a clinical service
to the Zulu community through the
Bothas Hill Health Centre...
read more |
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Peter Reece
was born a Kearsney man, the son of Jack Reece
then Housemaster of Finningly. He was born
in 1941 and grew up at the school and as a
youngster he roamed all over the Assagay and
Botha’s Hill areas where he was destined
to spend his whole life. He gained an early
love of the outdoors and the natural environment.
Peter was educated at Kearsney where he ended
his school career as a prefect and a successful
member of the 1st Cricket XI. After university
he returned to Kearsney to teach Biology.
In his ten years on the staff, Peter was an
enthusiastic teacher and very active in extra-murals
activities. He took boys on many outings to
the Drakensberg and elsewhere where he imparted
to them his love of nature and the environment.
He had a successful spell as coach of the
1st Cricket XI.
read
more |
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Owen Clarkson
died suddenly of a heart attack on the Kearsney
Campus on Friday 18 February.
He was one of the school’s most passionate
and loyal old boys and his death will be
deeply mourned by all his colleagues.
He will be remembered as a man of great
integrity, courage, courtesy, a true sportsman
in every sense of the word with a wonderful
sense of humour.
He was highly respected by all of those
who had the privilege of being his colleague
and friend.
His father, Wally Clarkson, together with
his Springbok and Natal colleagues Alf Walker
and Bill Zeller were some of the original
members of the "Old Crocks" formed
in 1932 to play against Kearsney College.
read
more
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