Thatchers at the Old Mill

 [by Cathy Gatland in Franschhoek, South Africa] On this originally French Huguenot farm close to the middle of the town of Franschhoek in the Western Cape, buildings are in the process of being beautifully restored according to heritage requirements into hotel, dining areas and accommodation, to join already remodelled guest cottages. This old watermill was used to grind maize, or corn, into meal and has gone through various stages of disuse, rejuvenation, neglect and vandalism. Its water wheel and big grinding stones are broken and it’s unlikely to ever function as a mill again, but is a lovely feature under the oak trees.

I spent an autumn morning watching and sketching a team of thatchers which was brought in to give it a new ‘hat’. The skills of these men are quite amazing as they deftly turn bundles of long grass into a neat weatherproof carapace for this little whitewashed building. Here they were busy with “toumaak”…rolling and looping grass by hand into long threads of twine.

The bundles of grass were rhythmically tossed up to the roof, lined up in rows and then stitched into place with long needles. By this time I needed to go inside for some tea and a rest – shamefully as the much harder work carried on outside – but checked at intervals over the next day or two as the roof was layered, combed and knocked into shape, with a new cap of cement to hold it in place.

I spoke to the foreman who told me that this team comes mainly from the town of Macassar. The craft of thatching has been passed down from father to son, as his father and grandfather did to him. He doesn’t know how long his family has done this work but I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes back to the late 1600’s as do the Huguenots and Sheikh Yusuf, the founder of Macassar.

I returned after a long weekend’s break to sketch the mill again as they completed the finishing touches, before packing up and moving on to the next job. Let’s hope the sons of these fathers carry on the good work for generations to come!