Cache series overview:
This cache forms part of The Mill Stream series (7 caches in total). The golden thread in the series is the fact that you will have to get wet to retrieve the caches - to a lesser or greater degree. It should therefore be more fun to retrieve in Summer. In order to aid in planning your cache trip, use the Mill Stream Wetness (MSW) scale below.
The Mill Stream (MS) runs through the town of Stellenbosch and covers a distance of approximately 4.4 km (from first to last cache; as the water flows).
These are the 7 caches in the series:
In addition, you may be interested to also do these two caches along the MS which do not form part of this series (while you're at it):
MSW rating: 2/5 (hands and feet only and perhaps a couple of splashes here and there...)
GZ marks the historic origin of the MS. You can park at the indicated waypoint. When you enter the reserve area (through pedestrian gate), turn left and follow the footpath in an Eastern direction for less than 400m.
Type of container: small plastic lock-n-lock (big enough for trackables) with TB as original content.
History (cache specific):
Originally a temporary weir had been constructed with rocks in the river in Summer to ensure sufficient build-up of and a constant flow of water into the sluice / canal system of which parts remain in tact. Lower down in town the water was then used to mill flower from the grain harvests.
Today this upper stretch of the MS flows through several posh private gardens in the Mostertsdrift residential area.
History (MS general):
(If you have expert knowledge on the subject, please send me a PM and I will happily expand the text below. In stead of brooding any longer on historic research I decided to rather get the caches out and refine the text over time, as may be required)
The Mill Stream (MS) or “Het Molenwater” dates back about 320 years to the time when commander Simon van der Stel (first governor of the Cape Colony) first arrived in this area and coupled to his name the bush ("Wild Bosch") that dotted the banks of the now famous village river – hence Stellenbosch (or “Het bosje Van der Stel” as commissioner Van Rheede referred to it during his visit to the little town in 1685)!
In 1687 permission is for the first time granted to erect a “Water Koringmolen” (wheat mill), to be leased to the highest bidder each harvest season. The first mill was probably established on the farm Oude Molen and survived in dilapidated form until about 1916 (the
sixth cache in the series is located at this spot).
The second mill was built not long after the first, at the top of “De Wagen weg naar de Kaap” – today called Dorp Street. Given its close proximity to the river it did not get its water from the MS.
The third mill came into being in 1749 (the
fifth cache in the series is located at this spot) and Jan Willem Palm became the first private owner in 1804. He spent a lot of effort to reconstruct large parts of the MS with river rocks and cement, to improve the flow of water; and so the MS became the first water scheme for the town. Pipes were first introduced in 1852 to relay the water to different parts of the town. Only the fourth water scheme (1910) sourced water directly from the river (iso the MS) to address the water needs of the population of 5,000.
The mill(s) were powered by the MS water over the centuries; later with oil during the summer months when water was in short supply; and from 1956 with electricity only.