Joburg tours to celebrate Heritage Month

The foundation will run 18 tours across the city, catering for all tastes and interests, in September.

On 20 and 21 September, Heritage Weekend, sightseers can visit imposing mansions on Joburg’s ridges, designed by great architects and built by fine craftsmen, or walk through the city centre and enjoy its architectural grandeur and mining heritage.

“Take a bus north, south or east for great views and fascinating insights into this city built on the Highveld,” said foundation spokesperson Eira Bond.

A tour specifically designed for children will include some time in a beautiful Edwardian attic classroom, where they can experience what school was like 100 years ago.

“Two tours commemorate significant anniversaries,” said Bond.

“The 50th anniversary of the Rivonia Trial will be commemorated in [the tour] Bram Fischer’s Johannesburg, which explores sites in the city connected to this great man; and the 100th anniversary of Joburg’s most enduring criminal tragedy will be commemorated in The Foster Gang and Kensington tour.”

All Heritage Weekend tours will be massively discounted to only R50 per person, and booking is not necessary.

The tours will depart from Holy Family College, 40 Oxford Road, Parktown.

“On Heritage Day, 24 September, the foundation will visit places beyond the usual tourist sights in Soweto – the magnificent Soweto Theatre in Jabulani which is exceedingly modern, the Credo Mutwa Village, James Mpanza Sofasonke’s house in Orlando East, and Freedom Square in Kliptown,” said Bond.

This tour will depart from the Sunnyside Park Hotel, Princess of Wales Terrace, Parktown.

Many of the sites to be visited are privately owned and not usually open to the public.

Sightseers should wear comfortable walking shoes.

No prams or pushchairs will be allowed inside buildings, and pets may not be brought on the tours.

Homemade bacon butties, boerewors rolls, cake, tea, coffee and cooldrinks will be on sale.

Details: Johannesburg Heritage Foundation 011 482 3349; www.joburgheritage.co.za

Heritage Weekend tours:

20 September

• Johannesburg’s historic heart walking tour, 9am.

Visit the fine buildings on Beyers Naude Square and in the financial and mining districts.

 

• The View, Hazeldene Hall, and Sunnyside Park walking tour, 10am.

This tour includes a visit to the former homes of Sir Thomas Cullinan and Lord Milner.

 

• Glenshiel and its neighbours walking tour, 10.30am.

The tour will begin at the grand, rambling home built for Sir William and Lady Dalrymple.

 

• Holy Family College and Annerley Road bus tour, 10.45am.

The college, formerly Parktown Convent, was established in 1905 and is the home of more than a few illustrious alumni, including Helen Suzman.

 

• St Margaret’s to Northwards bus tour, 2pm.

Herbert Baker’s architectural contribution will be explored in a series of homes, starting at St Margaret’s and ending with an interior tour of the glorious mansion built for the Dale Laces, Northwards.

 

• The Foster Gang and Kensington bus tour, 2.30pm.

Between April and September 1914, the Foster Gang embarked on a spree of violent robberies in and around Joburg, culminating in the death of two policemen on 14 September. The tour will retrace the gang’s tragic journey to their death in a cave in Kensington.

 

• Villa Arcadia house tour, 2.30pm.

Built on a site chosen by Lady Florence Phillips after a horse ride to this “wild and lonely place”, Villa Arcadia has been restored by Hollard and now houses an impressive collection of contemporary art.

 

• Yukon house tour, 3pm.

Yukon has been a landmark on the northern edge of Bez Valley for over 100 years. Home to two mayors, and host to the cream of Johannesburg society, the house has been lovingly restored.

 

21 September

• Jubilee Road and Villa Arcadia via the Church of Latter Day Saints walking tour, 9.30am.

The tour will begin at Emoyeni before the group takes a leisurely stroll down Jubilee Road to visit the gardens of Savernake. The last stop is Villa Arcadia via the Church of Latter Day Saints.

 

• The Romance of Northwards house tour, 10am.

As enchanting as José Dale Lace herself, Northwards is the most romantic house in Parktown. Standing on the Parktown Ridge with a view of the M1 to the Magaliesberg, this house was designed to be seen and for entertainment.

 

• Views from the Ridges bus tour, 10.15am.

Joburg’s ridges are its defining feature, and they have provided inspiration and building material to generations of architects. Explore the city’s ridges, impressive passes and marvellous architecture on this tour.

 

• A Meander through Upper Houghton bus tour, 10.30am.

A world away from the grime and poverty of the yellow mine dumps south of the city, Upper Houghton was initially purchased for the purpose of mining. The diggings were disappointing, and the land was developed into one of Joburg’s most distinctive suburbs.

 

• Bram Fischer’s Johannesburg walking tour, 1.30pm.

50 years ago, Bram Fischer led the defence in the Rivonia Trial, the most dramatic political trial in South Africa’s history. This tour will take in sites in the city centre, seen through the eyes of this great man.

 

• Take the Plunge Down the Ridge walking tour, 2pm.

Experience the dramatic drop from Wynford Eagle high above the Parktown Ridge via Biarritz to Le Thalonet and along Annerley Road, and visit Winstead and House Schneider in Oxford Road. This tour is restricted to 20 people.

 

• The Valley Road walking tour, 2.15pm.

Originally called “Prospect Terrace”, this road once enjoyed a view of the plantation of Sachsenwald and the Magaliesberg beyond. The view may have changed, but the remarkable architectural heritage remains intact.

 

• The Deep South bus tour, 2.30pm.

Keeping people in touch with the city’s mining roots and the deplorably sinful habits President Paul Kruger avoided, this tour will visit the haunts of Sir Abe Bailey, the Hanekom brothers, and Daisy de Melker.