South Africa: Western Cape: Leeu-Gamka

This small village straddles the railway line and the N1 between Laingsburg and Beaufort West. Leeu-Gamka began as a pleasant outspan where travellers stopped to rest and refresh near a grove of indigenous sweet thorn trees where the Leeu and Gama Rivers meet. The last of the now extinct Cape Lion, was shot here in 1857 and Private Schultz, said to be the tallest man in the British army, died here from wounds received in combat during the Anglo-Boer War.

What to see and do:

Imagine the scenes at the dressed stone railway station in Victorian days when famous men trod the platform, including President Paul Kruger, Cecil John Rhodes, President Jan Brand of the Orange Free State, President Marthinus Theunis Steyn of the Transvaal and Lord Alfred Milner.

Visit the grave of the tallest soldier in the British Army and the first Australian to die in the Anglo-Boer War. Private Schultz, of the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, stood almost 7ft tall. He was said to be a favourite at Royal functions, but obviously also an easy target for the Boers. He and Private J Lynn, of the first Scots Guards, were wounded at the Battle of Belmont on November 23, 1899. They share a grave and headstone erected by their comrades bears the inscription "and there was no more war." Sgt P Fallon, 3rd Battalion Royal Lancaster Regiment, who was accidentally killed at Luttig station on November 2, 1901, is buried in the same little cemetery.

See the ruins of an Anglo-Boer War blockhouse near the bridge over the river. Erected in 1901 by the British forces on the banks of the Leeu River in order to guard the railway line and the bridge over the river.

Buildings of interest include the tiny post office, the original Dutch Reformed Church and the Dutch Reformed Mission Church on the opposite side of the N1.
Information provided by www.patourism.co.za and www.princealbert.org.za

The Travel-Informed Team

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