Abandoned Gold Mine Knysna South Africa | Millwood Deserted Gold Rush Town
People know about the gold rush at Pilgrim’s Rest & Barberton in the 1870s and The Witwatersrand in the 1880s - fewer know about the Knysna Gold Rush in 1884. Millwood Gold Mine is near Jubilee Creek, Rheenendal in the mountains around 30 kilometres from the Garden Route town of Knysna.
Millwwod has it's origins in 1876, when ostrich farmer James Hooper found a gold nugget in the Karatara riverbed. Hooper took the nugget to Charles F. Osborne, a government engineer who was working on a new road between George and Knysna, Hooper confirmed that it was gold.
Osborne did some prospecting but was transferred away to the west coast, but returned to Knysna in 1885 and continued his search for gold in the remote forests surrounding Knysna. On finding a promising reef in 1886, he, along with Thomas Bain, the famed pass-builder, compiled an unfavourable report and tried to discourage other gold seekers. Others though spread the word and within weeks a village of 135 stands, hotels, boarding houses, general stores, a post office, police barracks and a hospital had been erected, with fortune seekers from as far away as the UK, California and Australia flooding into the area.
The “town” even had it’s own newspapers and a 3 times a week postal service to Kynsna. The Millwood Diggings were proclaimed in 1887 and by 1888 the goldfields had a population of over 1000 people, 400 of whom were living in the village itself, one thousand four hundred claims were being worked. The yields were too low to sustain such a population and within 5 years most prospectors started drifting away to find richer pickings around the Witwatersrand.
The town was soon completely silent and abandoned. The Bendigo mine, named after the gold bearing Bendigo reef with it’s equipment and sorting sheds still stands as a silent, abandoned testament to the gold fever that thrived here over 130 years ago.
A mystical aura still seems to lurk here, people were born here, people died here and were buried there in the cemetery. The abandoned gold workings can still be visited, the area falls under SanParks who maintain the roads. In the past there was a museum and a tea room, these have since be closed down, these days it really is abandoned, on my visit I was the only person there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0V-dmtyDo__B6mxsW0bQZw?sub_confirmation=1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m Chris, video creator, and lover of road tripping & the great outdoors. Now exploring the off the beaten track, hidden places of Africa, and sharing the adventure in video, photos and words. Kangela is aimed at those who want to experience gravel road travel and off road adventures, but who don’t care as much about the vehicle that gets them there, as they do about the journey itself and the destination.
I try to provide useful tips and background information about the unusual places that we visit, as well as endeavouring to draw attention to conservation, my intention is always to inform, educate and entertain.
Kangela: "to look at with curious eyes"
Available for collaborations: hello@kangela.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect With Me:
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Kangela_Chris/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KangelaChris/
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/KangelaChris/
On Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Kangela/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
1:46:24
Glenn Greenwald
6 hours agoThe Pentagon's Secret Disinfo Campaign Discrediting China's COVID Vaccine Unveiled; France's Unprecedented Elections, China, Ukraine, and More with Commentator Arnaud Bertrand | SYSTEM UPDATE #285
55.5K129 -
40:31
Michael Franzese
5 hours agoHow Russian scammers make MILLIONS from INSURANCE FRAUD | Sitdown with Michael Franzese
40.1K15 -
39:09
Candace Owens
6 hours agoI Say Ban Porn, Cardi B Defends It | Candace Ep 8
43.5K117 -
1:37:06
2 MIKES LIVE
6 hours ago2 MIKES LIVE #80 NEWS BREAKDOWN WEDNESDAY!
38.1K2 -
54:53
LFA TV
17 hours agoDems Begin Attacks on SCOTUS in Preparation for 2024 Election Steal | Trumpet Daily 6.19.24 9pm EST
28.6K6 -
1:25:54
TENET Media
5 hours agoGuest Mark Fitzpatrick, ‘Hetero Awesomeness Month’ Bar Owner, Biden’s Amnesty Plan | The MC Hour #31
18.1K1 -
33:31
Patriots With Grit
5 hours agoHow 'Ya Gonna Call | Brett Miller
25K1 -
1:16:26
RealitySurvival
6 hours agoNATIONAL PREPPER SITREP - We Have Big Problems!
22.3K5 -
1:42:37
The Quartering
7 hours agoKamala Harris Replaced With Hillary, Biden's Short Circuit Problem, Fauci Admits Another Bombshell
61.4K66 -
1:18:40
Dr. Drew
10 hours agoExclusive: Julian Assange's Brother Defends Wikileaks Founder From US Espionage Charges w/ Gabriel Shipton & Dr. Aimee – Ask Dr. Drew
47.5K6