Balgowan, KwaZulu-Natal

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Balgowan is a valley in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands in South Africa.

The Midlands Meander Route (a unique mix of more than 160 places to eat, drink, sleep, shop, play and have fun) on the R 103, runs through Balgowan in the heart of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.

Balgowan is not much more than an old trading store and a train station where locally grown timber is picked up. However, there is something special about Balgowan: Michaelhouse, the Anglican boarding school for boys in the Diocese of Natal, widely regarded as one of the top schools in South Africa. The school complex, built in the English gothic style from red Pietermaritzburg brick, includes a beautiful chapel, featuring a stained glass rose window by Ervin Bossanyi, which is open to the public.

As elsewhere in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Balgowan has some wealthy farmers, mostly in the timber production industry (pine and eucalyptus) or in dairy and cattle farming.