Beaufort Lions Traditional Geocache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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NOTE:
*** It is no longer a magnetic micro with logsheet and pencil. ***
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This granite ridge is one of two sections of the ridge which has remained undeveloped. It separates Dunkeld from Craighall Park, the former being office park development and the latter quiet residential.
The bluegum trees on this ridge are about 80 years old. The original trees were planted for timber for the mines as well as to break the barrenness of the grasslands.
Although no trace can be found, it has been documented that during the Boer War of 1898 - 1902 there were block houses built along the ridge to protect what is now Jan Smuts Avenue which was the main route to Pretoria.
After the establishment of Johannesburg in 1886 William Gray Rattray purchased a section of the farm Klipfontein in 1891. He named his portion Craighall after his birthplace in Scotland. The portion consisted of what is now known as Craighall, Craighall Park and Blairgowrie. In the early 20th Century Rattray built a series of weirs on the Braamfontein Spruit where he created a recreational area and built an hotel as a getaway for the weary city dweller.
Rattray subdivided his farm off and sold off the plots to form the suburbs of Craighall in 1902 and Craighall Park in 1911. These were both incorporated into the city of Johannesburg in 1938. Round this time the then property owner at GZ kept lions as pets, hence the name of the cache. Some of the older residents of the suburb can still remember the lions.
After the Second World War the streets were tarred and street lights installed. This house adjacent to this reserve is now the Backpackers Ritz which was established in 1989 when the property was sold after the death of the widow of Baron von Oetzen, the then owner of Volkswagen in South Africa. He had bought the house at the end of the Second World War. Before that, the property was used as the Dunkeld Preparatory School.
Don't let your GPSr deceive you, even in pedestrian mode! The cache is accessible from both road culs-de-sac as there is a pedestrian thoroughfare between them. This is another reason why the residents' association vehemently fought against the development of this ridge as it would inevitably cut off this access to the suburb which is used extensively. Thus appropriate levels of stealth may be required at certain busy times of the day.
Reference source:
ASSESSMENT OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ROAD RESERVE SITUATED ADJACENT TO ERVEN 163, 168 and 169 NORTH ROAD & BEAUFORT AVENUE CRAIGHALL PARK
Compiled by: JEAN BEATER
HERITAGE MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT (August 2005)
I was truly amazed to find three signatures already when I returned to confirm the coordinates an hour after it was published. Congratulations to all of you:
1 : Far-Jar-Hug
2 : The Krugers
3 : pelican's briefs
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Svaq gur fvta va gur cubgb. Oruvaq gur 40.