South African Country Life – September 2019

CathcartArmshotels,oncesuchpopularbeer

holesforstudentsanda fewlecturersin the

1980s.PastGrahamstownandontheroadto

Bathurst,I wipethesweatfrommybrowand

drivemyvisualdelightsintotrue 1820 Settler

country.

Bathurstis a quaintEasternCapevillage

inhabitedbya colourfulbrandofnewsettlers,

manyalternativeandcreative.Alongthefew

streets,somegravel,giantmilkwoodtrees

hideanassortmentofinterestingdwellings.

Slapbangin themiddleofthevillage,the

oldPigandWhistleInnstandsproudly.

Witha naggingirritation,myCanonitches

to startreminiscing,butfirstwesettleintoour

ensuitebedroomonthefirstfloor.Likein the

innsofold,otherroomsleadoffpassageswith

large,communalbathroomsat theend.English

settlerThomasHartley,in theearly1820s,built

thishistoricinnin Bathurst.Afterhisdeaththe

namewaschangedto theWidowHartley’sInn

but,asthelegendgoes,thisdidlittleto subdue

thelocalrevelling.

Bathurstwaswellsituatedgeographically

TOP LEFT: Up to the left, the road leads to Grahamstown and to the right it goes to Port Alfred, but at the corner of York Street, things are humming at The Pig and Whistle
in Bathurst. TOP RIGHT: The beauteous carved wood of an antique chair smiles back at a charcoal drawing at the entrance. BELOW LEFT: Real nice guy is Carl Penn,
the award-winning chef at The Pig. “And a damn fine cook,” I tell him later, after my supper. BELOW RIGHT: I slowly level my head to the counter and listen intently to
a plastic skull telling tales of human bones found in the basement and the ghost of Sarah Hartley.

Thomas Hartley, in the

early 1820s, built this

historic inn in Bathurst.

After his death the name

was changed to the

Widow Hartley’s Inn, this

did little to subdue the

local revelling

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