School children tour Melville Koppies

June is the perfect month for school tours.

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The chances of a clear and warm day are good and there are still plenty of things to see and experience.

Grade Four learners from Jan Celliers Laerskool in Parkview were recent visitors to the Melville Koppies.

They were shown evidence that early farmers lived on the Koppies from more than 500 years ago right until the early 1800s.

Not only were they farmers, but they also knew how to recognise rock containing iron ore and how to build a furnace and smelt the iron-bearing rock to extract the iron.

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Then they would forge the smelted iron into hoe-heads, spears or whatever was needed.

The grass on the Koppies was not too fertile for growing crops like sorghum, so the community traded their hoe-heads and spears for bags of sorghum from the settlement at Kliprivierspruit in the south or Lonehill in the north.

Learn more about the history of the Koppies by booking a guided tour on a Sunday morning or being there by 08:30.

Alternatively, visitors can take part in the self-guided heritage trail or they could choose to test their fitness on the 5km self-guided trail.

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On the first Sunday of the month, join the 8km guided hike or take a map and take part in a self-guided hike along the many different paths that criss-cross the Koppies.

Melville Koppies is open between 08:00 and 11:30 every Sunday.

Entry fees are R80 for adults and R40 for children.

All income raised is used for maintenance of the Koppies which amounts to R22 000 per month.

Security on the Koppies is provided and visitors can park in secure parking opposite the entrance at Marks Park in Judith Road, Emmarentia.

Contact wendavid@mweb.co.za or call 079 532 0083 to find out more.