Today made up for all my recent days of sloth. I was up and ready for the pool guy before my podcast. Laundry, appointments shuffling and I was in my lovely car by 11.
I met up with some friends to celebrate the year end at one of my favourite buildings in Johannesburg, The View. It was built in the late 1800s for Thomas Cullinan of the diamond fame.
He was a wise man in that he realised where the diamonds must originate in order to flow downstream and insisted on purchasing the upstream farm. The original farmer wasn't selling but he then died and his daughter sold the farm to the persistent Cullinan. This is now the premises of the the Premier mine in the Pretoria town of, you guessed it, Cullinan.
They built the View as their Johannesburg home on the Ridge and no doubt it had a spectacular view to the north. Sadly now, there are big ugly buildings blocking the view but the building is still charming.
Thomas and his wife, Anne, had 10 children and after Thomas died in 1936, Anne continued to live in the mansion until her death in 1963.
Today, we sat in the bar area and had a pub lunch. I sneaked some photos on route to the bathroom. I have been on an extensive tour of the building before but I am not great at remembering specific details unless it really grabs me.
It is now home of the Transvaal Scottish Regiment and museum and there are lots of details about the various wars, weapons and soldiers. I focused on the wallpaper. Well almost...
The older I get the less impressed with wars I get. But they are doing a fine job in keeping the mansion in great condition. We were the only people there for lunch which is a pity.
It's really worth a visit and I think I was in such a tizz today, I need to go back and see it properly. I had visions of sitting on the stoep as the horses go past... ( a girl can dream)
📷 of Thomas from Wikipedia.
All others are my own.
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