Relief of Ladysmith - Special Anniversary Tour 25-27 February 2022

Expiry:

Sunday, February 27, 2022 - 00:00

Below is the itinerary for this special anniversary tour. Book with Pam - pammcfadden1@gmail.com

Friday 25th February 2022

Arrive in Dundee
17:30 MOTH Shellhole to meet guide and evening talk on setting the scene of the Siege and Relief of Ladysmith. View MOTH Museum and the Christmas shell.
Supper included. Cash bar available.
Overnight Battlefields Country Lodge B&B

Saturday 26th February 2022

8:00 Depart in own cars for Ladysmith. View of Ladysmith from Platrand Memorial on Wagon Hill for orientation for rest of the day.
Travel to Clouston outside Colenso - site from where Gen Buller commanded and viewed the Battle of Colenso on 15 December 1899. It is now a Memorial Garden as many of the memorials from the battlefields in the vicinity have been relocated to this site. Also where the first moving pictures of warfare were taken. Then proceed to the site of the guns. Hear the story of the 3 men who won VCs for their actions here.
Travel on to Ambleside cemetery, where so many of the men who died in the loop of the Tugela are buried.
Stop at The Aloes for lunch (own account)
Then we move on to the position of the Boer trenches along the Tugela from where there is an excellent view of the loop and how the British forces were pinned down by the murderous rifle fire from the entrenched Boer forces.
On the way back to Dundee we travel via Tugela heights and view some of the cemeteries, Somerset Light Infantry Memorial and as your guide points out landmarks he will recount events of those assaults that eventually relieved Ladysmith on 28 February 1900 - after a siege of 117 days.
Evening: 18:30 Stargazing talk at Battlefields Country Lodge before dinner. Complimentary sherry will keep you warm and make the stars shine brighter, as your guide explains legends and myths connected to the stars and the planets.
Overnight Battlefields Country Lodge B&B.

Buller over seeing British Artillery at Colenso via Talana Museum.jpg

Buller overseeing British Artillery at Colenso

Sunday 27th February 2022

After breakfast and checking out we depart - once again in your own vehicles - for a visit to Longfields farm, the site of the American Irish Brigade camp. Hear the fascinating story of these men who fought for the Boer cause and their activities in northern Natal and the Siege of Ladysmith.
We then move on to Rietfontein farmhouse - used by the Boer forces as their headquarters for the Siege of Ladysmith, their hospital (the operating theatre is used as the dining room today) and the railway station for trains to and from the ZAR (Transvaal) moving wounded men, equipment and stores to and from Pretoria during the siege.
After a late morning tea at the farm we pay a visit to the private Blockhouse museum on the outskirts of Ladysmith.
This is the end of the tour.
From here it is very easy to get onto the N3 east of Ladysmith or use the N11 to Newcastle via Memel back to the N3 to Johannesburg.

Rietfontein Farmhouse Ladysmith (Talana Museum)

Blockhouse museum on the outskirts of Ladysmith (Talana Museum)

Booking Details

Tour fully inclusive of accommodation and meals, tour guide and entrance fees - unless indicated. Use own vehicle.
Price: R2800 per person sharing | Single supplement R400.
Bookings: pammcfadden1@gmail.com