Pennington, KwaZulu-Natal

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Pennington is a small coastal town on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Apart from a large sugarcane and dairy farming, it also hosts scores of holiday makers who flock to the seaside during the December holidays.

It is named after an English family named Pennington, who began farming here in the late 19th century. Sir Frank Reynolds, the sugar magnate, bought part of the farm and developed a country home which he called Umdoni Park after the mdoni (water myrtle) trees in the area. Sir Frank built a seaside residence for South African prime ministers as a sign of his admiration for the first premier of the Union, General Louis Botha. King George VI of Britain was offered use of this home when his health was failing in 1952, and was planning to visit it just before he died.

The town is set on a hillside looking down onto the Indian Ocean. It has its own shopping Mall with a pub, supermarket, post office and a dozen or so assorted shops.

The railway runs between the town and the beach (as it does all the way along this coast from Durban to Port Shepstone, but trains are few and cause little problem for visitors. The beach is worth the visit. Long wide sand with rockpools scattered about. Good for surfing but with no shark nets only for the brave!

Well served with roads as the motorway N2 runs down from Durban connecting with the airport and passing Pennington. More fun is the old Coast Road which follows the coast more closely and offers good views over the sea.

There are two really good golf courses. The Umdoni near the town centre and across the Old Coast Road lies the Selborne Hotel with another course. Nearby in Scottsburg is another course with good facilities.