The Oude Meul is one of the oldest farms in that valley. Schoeman Plat, bought the whole valley, in 1765, to farm. He had 16 children, so he could give everybody a piece of land to grow up and make such a living. Because the water was near the farmland, the first farmer could easily get water from the river to irrigate his crops.

After the Schoemans, the Spies bought land in the Klein Le Roux River. The Terblanche bought ground at Mattjies River, the section just left before you drive the Swartberg Pass. The Bothas at Boomplaas, the section next to the Cango Caves. From Matjiesrivier to Oudtshoorn is 40 km, just too far to do the whole trip with a horse, back and forth, in one day.

Schoemans (derived from Schumacher) & Spies (derived from Spiess) come from Germany. Although people came from Germany, all the people spoke Dutch here and consequently everyone learned the language in time. Similarly, the French Huguenots who fled here in 1688, for their freedom of their faith. A family of Scheepers fled at the time and hid at Schoemans farm. The Spies have small community’s , especially those in the Netherlands, of which they originally came.

The Schoeman who stayed here at De Oude Meul, soon saw an opportunity to build a stable and exchange horses here. So people could travel from Matjies River early in the morning, after two hours of horse rides and with fresh horses continue the ride to Oudtshoorn. Late afternoon, when they return, they used their horses again to tackle the next 20km. This old horse stable is still in its original condition. Old mud walls & yellowood barn.

The Old Mill has also emerged from distress. Because the farm is halfway between the Swartberg and Oudtshoorn, the Meule has been built here and farmers could grind their corn and maize for a part here. The Mill was built in 1850 and has been working for almost 100 years.

In 1836 the population in the provinces became too big and many family’s packed their wagons and moved out of here, to the plains. The Spies established into many cities, in the Free State and Transvaal, with German names, such as the places from which they came from Germany. The Schoemans went to Schoemansdal, where they started farming with tobacco. The Spies were the first tobacco growers (light dry) in the Cape. The Spies and Schoemans later opened tobacco factories here. The Cango Ostrich Farm is currently in the old Schoeman tobacco factory.

Here is an old cemetery still on our farm, with gravestones written in Dutch. The many piles in the cemetery are due to the black flu at the time. So many children died, parents could not afford tombstones for all.