Somerset West, Western Cape
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Somerset West (Afrikaans Somerset-Wes) is a town in the Western Cape Province in the Republic of South Africa. It is situated in the Helderberg area (formerly called Hottentots Holland), about 50 km (30 mi) southeast of Cape Town and 10 km from Strand.
Somerset West lies within easy reach of several beaches bordering the Atlantic Ocean and lying within False Bay. The nearest, the beach at Strand, approximately 6 km from the centre of the town, is popular with those having young children and holidaymakers, as is Gordons Bay, a quaint village complete with harbour and other innocent attractions.
The town is overlooked by the imposing Helderberg (meaning "clear mountain"), a part of the Hottentots-Holland range of mountains but clearly distinct from the continuous aspect of its contemporaries.
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[edit] History
The land was initially bought from local tribes and a cattle post was established here by Dutch soldiers in 1672.
A town developed around the Lourens River (originally "Tweederivier") and the farm of Vergelegen (Dutch: "remotely situated"), an 18th century farmhouse built in the historic Cape Dutch style by Willem Adriaan van der Stel, governor of the Cape and son of Simon van der Stel, who gave his name to the nearby town of Stellenbosch. Willem Adriaan was later sent back to Holland after being charged with corruption and cruelty towards local farmers. The farm is now owned by a subsidiary of the large mining company Anglo American, who have restored the farmhouse to its original magnificence and continue to produce some of South Africa's best wines there. The farm is open to tourists.
The town was named Somerset after an English governor of the Cape Colony during the 1800s, Lord Charles Henry Somerset, with the suffix 'West' being added after 1825 to differentiate it from Somerset East, another South African town in the Eastern Cape. In the 1830s, Sir Lowry's Pass, named after later governor Sir Lowry Cole, was constructed to link the town with outposts further east over the Hottentots-Holland mountains.
In the 1960s, the AECI factory between Somerset West and Strand was the second largest dynamite factory in the world. Today the town boasts the largest concentration of millionaire residents in the country.
[edit] Local Attractions
Somerset West has a fairly decorative display of Christmas lights erected atop the street lights of the Main Road. The Helderberg Lights Festival (aka the Strawberry Festival), a flea market and parade, normally complements these lights.
The area also has its own community radio station, Radio Helderberg, broadcasting community notices and playing adult orientated pop music.
The Helderberg Nature Reserve, a 363 hectare natural wildlife preserve opened in 1964, contains a wide variety of smaller fauna (buck, tortoises and other reptiles) and outstanding specimens of indigenous flora such as protea and fynbos. A small cafe offers food and beverages. The reserve also offers a variety of nature walks for ramblers. Entry fee as of August 2007 is around R11.
Somerset West contains a number of sporting facilities; primarily golf courses.
The historic town of Stellenbosch, founded by the Dutch in the 17th century, is reachable via the R44 motorway. Stellenbosch contains a number of buildings recreating typical life in the the 18th century. The area between Somerset and Stellenbosch also encompasses a number of wine farms, where visitors can sample and purchase wine.
[edit] Education
The town has a range of primary and secondary educational facilities.
Primary schools
- Somerset House
- Somerset College
- Somerset Private
- Helderberg Primary School/High School
- De Hoop Primary
- Beaumont Primary
High schools
[edit] List of suburbs
- Parel Vallei
- Spanish Farm
- Jacques Hill
- Land en Zeezicht
- Heldervue
[edit] Trivia
- The vehicle registration code for Somerset West is CFM.
- The post code for Somerset West is 7130 for street addresses, and 7129 for post office boxes.
- In 2006 a Metrorail train collided with a truck at Faure near Somerset West, killing 19 people. See 2006 Cape Town truck-train collision.
[edit] External links
- The dedicated Somerset West info site
- The Helderberg website
- Local website
- Local website
- Helderberg
- South African Travel blogs
- Helderberg Jobs
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