AT FIRST glance, leafy little Stanford in the Western Cape could easily be mistaken for an English village, despite it being founded by an Irishman, Robert Stanford, in the 1850s. With a mix of Edwardian and Victorian architecture and its 180-erf "inner core", a protected heritage site, the village exudes a typical Cape Colonial atmosphere, about which the locals are fiercely protective.
An active Conservation Heritage Trust chaired by resident Royd Frith does its best to preserve the traditional village status and has even published a handbook of local protocol, titled Simply Stanford, which encourages new home owners and renovators to follow set guidelines. However, houses within the inner core — which front onto their boundaries and are referred to as nagmaal (communion) houses, as they are located where the original settlers took communion — must retain their original edifices and any other alterations the owners wish to make must be approved by the trust. These were once the homes of the wealthy but today not even a window may be added to the frontage.
Frith says the trust covers all aspects of conservation, including fauna and flora and the environment. The trust’s guidelines are obviously adhered to as the village is characterised by the many preserved Cape cottage-style houses, some of which date back more than 100 years and which face onto the street as they did in the past.
The trust’s initiative has recently been acknowledged by SA Destinations, which has again nominated Stanford for its Best Village award and it continues to attract visitors from Cape Town at the weekends, as well as many from further afield.
Just off the busy road between Hermanus and Gansbaai, the village atmosphere is apparent as soon as we leave the main road and the quietness descends upon us. Bird song, not surprising as more than 243 species have been recorded here, breaks the silence.
The main street immediately conjures up images of an English high street with its little shops and restaurants, though there is less traffic than an English village and parking is not as difficult to find.
Walking down the street, we come to the Meent, Afrikaans for common, which as its name implies, is for the people, a centre for the community, Frith says. And here, beside the 150-year-old Anglican stone church built by the coloured community long before it was evicted as part of apartheid policies, the community gathers regularly.
They come to watch that most English of traditions, cricket on the common, where the local team, the Stanford Eagles dress in white with their Fish Eagle crest, much to the enjoyment of their vociferous supporters. Frith says the cricket season reaches a crescendo on Boxing Day, better known everywhere else except Stanford as the Day of Goodwill, when a team made up of Springbok rugby players and others come to town to show off their prowess in white.
If cricket represents all that is English, the common frequently plays host to that most traditional of South African sports, jukskei. And to prove the sport’s status, Frith shows off a photograph taken during the 1947 visit of King George VI, with the monarch playing jukskei at Stanford while then prime minister Jan Smuts looks on.
The common is also a popular venue for rugby matches, athletics and other sporting events and it hosts the village fair, a farmers market on the last Friday of every month in summer, as well as a vegetable market every Saturday.
The common is not the only attraction for those living in and visiting Stanford. It is one of the few villages that has a river running through it, although, as its name implies, the Klein is one of the shortest rivers in the country. It starts in the Hemel en Aarde valley outside Hermanus and meanders behind the mountains and past Stanford to join the lagoon at Hermanus, a distance of just 15km. But it is not short of attractions, and although jet skis are not permitted, many other water sports are. As the chairman of the tourism organisation, Martin Ranger, points out, the scenic river with its mountain backdrop and its waterside walkway offers huge tourist potential and there can be few more pleasant pastimes than paddling silently down the river while bird-watching, taking a cruise on the 6m Platanna river boat and enjoying the mountain views, swimming in the river on a warm day, or cycling beside it.
For those seeking more of an adventure, the African Queen, a double-decker boat with braai facilities and tables and chairs on the lower deck and garden chairs on the top deck, is an ideal way to explore the river and watch Stanford pass leisurely by.
One may even spot the five South African icons uniquely found in the area — the national bird, the Blue Crane; the national flower, the protea; the national tree, the yellowwood; the national fish, the galjoen; and even our national animal, the springbok.
For such a small village, Stanford has a large number of restaurants, nine in total, with a similar number of wine farms nearby ensuring no one will go hungry or thirsty. One of the restaurants, Marianas, is recognised internationally as being among the Cape’s finest country restaurants. Anyone wishing to sample a taste of unpretentious Cape cuisine while overlooking a vegetable garden, fruit trees and distant mountains needs to make a reservation weeks in advance.
The new owners of the nearby Springfontein Wine Estate are also catering for the connoisseur’s palate and are looking to upgrade their restaurant with the appointment of a Michelin chef.
Not far from Stanford is a "beer farm", the Birkenhead Brewery, which claims to be the first brewing estate in the southern hemisphere. Here one can sample beers with names such as Black Snake, Chocolate Malt stout and, of course, Old English, but I find the range of wines more appealing — the brewery is situated on the Walker Bay Wine Estate.
With all its quirky attractions, Stanford is worth a longer stay than a day visit from Cape Town or a lunch stop en route to view Gansbaai’s great white sharks. As with the restaurants, there are more than enough bed and breakfasts to make this a pleasant break in a little bit of England with Cape roots.
• Stanford Information Centre: (028) 341-0340
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