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BARRYDALEToday we find ourself surrounded by the Langeberg and Warmwaterberg Mountains in the town Barrydale situated on the famous Route 62 the longest wine route in the world. Not only does this town produce outstanding wines but this is also were some of the Overberg best Brandy’s are formed. Barrydale is mostly sustained on the local agriculture, as the area has very rich and fertile soil, with the perfect whether conditions for fruit produce.
Barrydale act as a gateway to the Overberg to all visitors coming from the Klein Karoo, and though Barrydale is not one of our larger towns it always seems to entertain. In 1882 when Barrydale was founded on local farms Tradouw’s Hoek and Moerasrivier there was already a Trading Store and Church build by the Barry Family for the Local farmers of the area. Barrydale all started with a man called Joseph Barry who founded an enormous trading territory in the Overberg and Klein Karoo areas. He wasn’t only a benefit to himself and his family but he benefited the farming community. In those days taking a trip the cape was much harder and dangerous than today the route to the cape was still very little developed and took travellers weeks to reach the Cape. Joseph came up with the great idea of transporting products by ship to the Cape. He got him self a steamship and started to transport goods up to and from Malgas on the Brede River close to Swellendam to the Cape. Unfortunately with the development of roads and railways along with the depression and economy the Barry Family ended up bankrupt and was forced to close down shop. But the Barry Family was not known to give up they pulled through and so the next generation of the Barry Family founded the Village and named it after Joseph Barry, today the town is a popular destination to travellers, with amazing restaurants, guest houses and wine farms. A popular destination is the Warmwaterberg Spa a Hot Mineral Spring only a few kilometres outside of town, a perfect destination for a romantic weekend or a fun getaway for the whole family. But let’s not forget the well known Ronnie’s Sex Shop a small pub on the R22 outside of Barrydale. Now some might have heard the story before but here is to them who have not. Ronnie a local farmer converted a vacant building at the side of the R22 on his Farm into a small little shop for passing travellers. After a while Ronnie decided it was for the better to close the place down. A while after one night a few of Ronnie’s friends decided to pull a prank on him and painted the word ‘sex’ with red paint between Ronnie’s name and the word shop. The big red sentence seem to attract a lot of a attention from people passing and so Ronnie so the potential and turned the place into a small road side pub known though out South Africa and even to some internationally. Only 23 km South of Barrydale lays the Sanbona Wildlife Reserve where you can view Cheetahs, White Loins, other local fauna and flora as long with some historic rock art. A popular stay over is the Barrydale Hotel who as I hear was especially very popular in the early 1800’s just after the WWII when it was owned by the very peculiar Fullard sisters. As you can see Barrydale is definitely not a drive by town there are still many stories so way not stay a day or two on your next trip you may be surprised but most definitely not disappointed. copyright |