S1 - Ep 190 - Cookhouse - A Village on the West Bank of the Great Fish River!

After our fantastic trip through the Slagtersnek Pass we arrived in the village of Cookhouse. Situated on the West bank of the Great Fish River, the first thing we saw as we entered from the Slagtersnek Pass road was the train station. Our first impression was that the station was a major functional station in the area but later we found out that a train only passed through this station once, maybe twice, a year. The only church we saw needed some TLC as I think did the entire village. Our thoughts are that it seems that the farming community is what is keeping this town alive. On our way out of Cookhouse we stopped at the Thomas Pringle monument, as well as the Slagtersnek monument. We hope you enjoy this one. #DustBugs #adventuretravel #southafrica #southafricavlog #cookhouse #slagtersnek #easterncape #thomaspringle
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[@aginn9506]

Hi guys, wow cookhouse is run down and I agree very dirty especially the litter. I dont think I,ve ever heard you complain about anything.But that litter is worth a mention. One of SA,s biggest problems. Such an eye sore in an other wise good video. Keep safe.

[@DustBugsTravel]

We always focus on the positive, but couldn't overlook the litter which was just everywhere. 😏 🗑️With a good cleanup, the town will immediately look so much better. 😎🚗

[@pietergouws8912]

Morning It used to be.But look at it now.

[@barryrahn5957]

I've taken a couple of weeks long trips through the western US, and I get a lot of the same feeling: space, brilliant sunshine and always mountains in the distance. A great way to get city noise out of your head. I love getting to see the out of way places, it reminds you that a country isn't just big cities.

[@DustBugsTravel]

I couldn't agree with you more, we live about 30 miles from one of the greatest cities in the world, Cape Town, and while it most certainly has loads of natural beauty, a gorgeous mountain and all the conveniences we could ever ask for, we run away to the countryside every few weeks. I can just imagine a lengthy roadtrip through the US, we never got to do that when we were there. Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico look a lot like our kind of vibe. One day ... ✈️🚗

[@nicopretorius795]

Grew up in Cookhouse, was a beautiful town. Great school, great people. Most people worked at the train station, cheese factory back in the day. Great memories made. Use to walk to school and swam in the FIsh River. Thanks for the great program.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you for sharing your special memories of Cookhouse with us, we appreciate that. You'll be happy to know the cheese factory is still there, but was closed at the time of our visit. It's great to hear that you enjoy our videos and we're glad that you were reminded of some special tines in your old hometown. 😁🚗

[@Leonorha-co1gk]

My father used to work at the train station back in the middle 70's. He later was transfered to Golden Valley train station not far from Cookhouse. It was a beautiful town back in the day. There use to be a cheese factory as well. Thank you for the memories. 🙏

[@DustBugsTravel]

We're glad that our video brought back some good memories for you. 😊 We wanted to stop by the cheese factory, but it appeared to be closed at the time of our drive through the town, that would've been interesting to see. The surrounding farmlands are truly gorgeous in that area, no wonder they call it the Golden Valley. Thank you for watching! 😁🚗

[@munesumangava9751]

Love the new nicely painted station buildings. I love train rides….. my mode of transport here in the UK! And that big fenced tree…..wow!!!

[@lebrad7301]

Remember taking a train from PE to Joburg in 1983 (I was 10). We stopped for a while at this station, was great to see it again. Later in the journey we changed trains at Welkom station 3am, nearly missed the stop we were fast asleep 😂 Wow Cookhouse needs a bath 😓 really dirty and neglected. Hope Paterson is much better ☕☕ will be ready for the next episode as usual

[@DustBugsTravel]

How amazing that not too long ago we still used to take trains to travel from one town or area to another. Your journey with your family sounds like a fun one and it's so interesting that you remember stopping at Cookhouse. 🚉😎 No doubt it looked much different back then. We look forward to meeting you in Paterson tomorrow for coffee and hearing your thoughts afterwards, as always. 😁🚗

[@tendaimudarikwa3942]

I discovered this channel 2 weeks ago and lm loving it, brings lots of memories. I do RF for a telecoms company, so we travel a lot into these small towns upgrading the network to LTE or 5G

[@DustBugsTravel]

You must see a fair bit of the country while you're travelling for work, that sounds quite cool! 😎 I'm glad you enjoy travelling with us, it's good to have you along for the ride while we explore these smaller towns, most of which we haven't been to before. 😁🚗

[@flodillon991]

Those mountains are beautiful no matter where you go through the town you can see them amazing. The bright pink house caught my eye at least it was neat. Slagtersnek memorial interesting cant imagine the horror of being hung twice ugh. Thank you for this town I have now many places I have never seen before thanks to you two. Well done.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you for joining us on our drive through Cookhouse, glad you could experience it with us. 😊🚗

[@lulamantshephe5595]

What??? Being hun gg

[@lancewalton4807]

Really enjoying your videos and travels. Cookhouse still looks ok, drive safely. YL

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you so much! We're glad we got the opportunity to drive through the town. We did think it needed a little bit of a cleanup and hope that the station could somehow get more rail traffic. 🚉😊

[@bcs993]

Hi, So I am not often someone to comment on videos, but I'd just like to thank you guys for these experiences. I am actually a blind subscriber of your channel, so rely a lot on what things sound like in each particular video, depending on which town you travel through; I love to learn about the history as well as the war monuments. The way you describe stuff helps me to picture myself right there alongside you. The Karoo always had a soft spot in my heart (the solitude), so it's great to follow you guys through each town; was so happy to see the video on Richmond as I was lucky enough to have passed through that town earlier this year. Same goes for Graaff-Reinet and Willowmore, very special places as far as I am concerned. I love just putting the video on loud to hear the silence of the Karoo, as weird as that may sound (a fassination I had with it since I was a child and just traveling past on the N1). It does a lot to alleviate stress as I'm working in the middle of the bustle of Pretoria every day. I hope to be able to do this one day, just going from town to town and meeting up with the locals. Looking forward to your next video. I can't wait for the day you get to visit Nieu Bethesda, it's on the other side of Graaff-Reinet from where you are at the moment, there is a nice gravel road going from the N9 onwards (which I know you'll love); unfortunately I missed out on that. So many people left the bustle of the city and made careers for themselves in the Karoo, that town is no exception. Thank you for your work, much love to the both of you!

[@DustBugsTravel]

Hello there! We so appreciate you watching our videos and for taking the time to write your very kind comment, thank you. We're exceptionally glad that you enjoy our chatter, we struggle to travel in silence and it's hard to keep quiet when we see and experience places and roads which excite us! 😁🚗 Our videos go live between three to five weeks after a specific trip since the editing is so much work and we only get to that once we return to our normal lives at home. We'll most certainly visit Nieu-Bethesda on a future trip, but we haven't been there just yet. We also love the absolute silence of the Karoo and could also listen to just that for hours, that's part of the charm and attraction for us and why we always will return. We look forward to you joining us on many more travels and hopefully you will leave many more comments too. We would certainly love to read them. 👌🏻🚗

[@bcs993]

@@DustBugsTravel Thank you for the reply! You can definitely keep up the comments, now you know it serves a few purposes 😄 Makes sense about the time difference from recording to uploading. I'll stick around and I'm looking forward to the next episode! 😄

[@altaappel4568]

I love to travel with you guys. Saddest part for me is the toads full of potholes and houses falling apart. So sad. to think all these places was thriving when the stations was operational.

[@altaappel4568]

sorry roads.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you for spending time with us on the road. The railway seems to have been the lifeblood of this town as well until the number of trains coming through here was drastically reduced. Sad, we agree. 😏🚉

[@DustBugsTravel]

All good, we knew what you meant. 👌

[@montenell7940]

As an old railway man i like your videos of the buildings and infrastrature of the bygone days. Look at that station building. If it is properly maintained i could last another 100 years. Drive safely and prepare to answer tons of questions when we ever meet🤣

[@DustBugsTravel]

😁 Glad you also enjoy the stations and their buildings. They always make us feel nostalgic. We agree that they would last very long, if just maintained. Sad to see such a stately building with no windows and no longer in use. 🚆🏛️

[@robertraine1953]

Railway staff based in Cradock would work the old steam trains to Cookhouse in the one direction and Noupoort in the other. I did the trip in the guards van with my father back about 1950. They would stop at every siding to drop off and collect. Farmers would leave cans of cream that would be delivered to Cookhouse cheese factory. The old man would heat up his billycan of cold tea at the staff room and then back on the next goods train back to Cradock.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Wow, it felt like we were also there as we read your comment. Thank you so much for sharing this special memory of yours. There are still so many dairy farms in the area, so that makes so much sense to us. We appreciate you watching! 👌🏻🚗

[@Predikant]

Fascinating, as school kids we would catch the midnight train from Pretoria to Pienaarsriver, many stops were made to pick up post, parcels and milk cans. Most of the consist would comprise of freight wagons, a few coaches at the back were for passengers with one of them being for Blankes / Whites. The last coach was for the conductor. This was in the late 1970's, early 1980's.

[@joshuasteenkamp3277]

Baie dankie

[@DustBugsTravel]

Anytime! 🚗

[@patshes1951]

Cookhouse is a beautifull place.

[@DustBugsTravel]

I'm glad you like the town. It was an interesting part of the Eastern Cape for us. 🚗

[@PieterCox-p3u]

Grew up there in the fifhty and sixties. Started school there. This little bok dorpie was a very busy place. It's got such a great history but due to it looks nobody is interested in it. You are right it was called Cookhouse because the cookhouses was built there to supply food for the British soldiers who gaurded the Fishriver against the Xhosa in those years. As child l saw as child how the church and the garage was built in 1962.

[@charlietreston4035]

View of the mountains fantastic must have been a lovely place back in the day so much history after seeing the memorial to the rebellion and the guy being hung twice I can understand why the great trek started in and around this area thanks to you for these amazing videos

[@DustBugsTravel]

The mountains to the one side of town really make for a scenic backdrop. Actually four of the five were hung twice, that's a really grim part of our history. Thank you for being on the road with us! 😎🚗

[@capefox8321]

The four rebels were hanged twice because the 4 ropes broke the first time; although they and the onlookers pleaded for them to be spared, the executioner went ahead and hanged them a second time.

[@Vasbyt6540]

Hi guys,enjoyed this video,i live on a dairy farm close to cookhouse,there are still trains running daily,but the station is no longer in use,it's mostly manganese just passing through,also the cheese factory has been bought over and revamped and is beautiful and their cheese is awsome.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Hello to you! Wow, thank you for the info! It's certainly good to know that trains still do run there daily. The cheese factory was unfortunately closed at the time of our visit, but we'll remember to go past on a possible future visit to the area. The surrounding farmlands are certainly spectacular, we may have just seen some of your land too! 😍🐂 We appreciate you watching.

[@Vasbyt6540]

@@DustBugsTravel awsome, yes you drove past our pastures,i love your channel,thank you for taking us along.

[@irenemasterson146]

What a filthy town. Thank you for your video.

[@1812nico]

Hi you two. I enjoyed the video as always. The village is run down a bit but its history reflected in the monuments makes the visit worthwhile. I read somewhere that the area is (was?) known for sheep farming but it seems there are only some goats left on the streets! Keep safe!

[@DustBugsTravel]

😁 There were certainly enough goats to keep us entertained! We didn't see much sheep as we approached town, but loads and loads of cattle. It could be though that we just didn't pass the sheep farms. The town could most definitely do with some upliftment and cleaning. It was still a good experience to visit though and we're glad you came along. 🚗👌🏻

[@graemekruger5039]

Love the view

[@DustBugsTravel]

So glad you liked it. ⛰️

[@mariusroos4146]

A great vidoe. Very informative. Also thank you for the research you do to give us as viewers solid info on the towns you visit. Well done

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thank you, we appreciate that. Cookhouse was quite an interesting stop. 🚗

[@elzbiecronje6620]

I love your channel. Only recently discovered it, on recommendation of my daughter. So calming and seeing places in my own country that I have never been to. I must tell you that where you stopped at the Slagtersnek monument (I hoped you would go a bit further), if you look down the valley in PE's direction, just passed the bridge over the Vetkuil river, the house near the road on your right you will see the house I have grown up in. It is on the farm Erinshope, and the same time it was a railway station, called Longhope. The station is of course now broken down. My mother had a thriving little shop about 100 metres from the station. She was also one of the first to be murdered in her shop in 1983. (Girlsey Marais)

[@DustBugsTravel]

Welcome, we're so glad you've joined us on our travels! 😁🚗 Thank you for that very interesting info you shared with us. We actually did continue on with that road to Paterson, which you may have seen in today's video. We didn't know about the places of interest you mentioned though, so missed them this time. We'll be sure to look out for them when we're in the area again. 👌🏻

[@joshuasteenkamp3277]

Cookhouse station was eens a besige plek daars glad nie meer so baie treine daar.

[@DustBugsTravel]

The person we spoke to said trains only come through towards the end of the year now and not regularly anymore at all, which is rather sad. 🚆😏

[@sindingwenya603]

It is functional.The train runs three times or more a week from John to PE. Cradock to Somerset East one alights there and takes other mode of transport to Somerset East

[@patshes1951]

Cool driv!e

[@DustBugsTravel]

Thanks, glad you visited Cookhouse with us! 😎🚗

[@yuliussaragih9454]

Lived in a farm near Cookhouse for 3 years, I would say this town is really in sad condition looking at your footage. Back home to Indonesia, I miss this town, as we went for small shopping quite often in a keffie(?) after the subway on the way to Somerset East. My son also went to pre-primary school near the church, where he picked-up Afrikaans very quick, (shame he lost it now). The people were great and very helpful. Hope things are getting better fot this town. Thanks a lot for video guys..

[@DustBugsTravel]

Yes, the good old corner kêffie, which became a commonly-used word for café back in the day. 😁 Those are few and far between now. It was indeed sad to see Cookhouse in such a poor condition and so dirty. 😥

[@yuliussaragih9454]

@@DustBugsTravel Oh, I wonder what happens to Golden Valley Hotel now...We used to have Sunday Brunch there and the food was fantastic. You would have a very good and large steak there with best price in SA. Tuesday pool night at the bar also great, where you could see and make friends with the locals nicely...that was back in 1999, haha...

[@BrendonSchaferCT]

Interesting stop. I vaguely remember Cookhouse. But travelling by train up and down between the Western and Eastern Cape, there are some stations we went passed at night. So never saw anything. Was it my imagination, or were there many railway style houses in the area.

[@DustBugsTravel]

There were indeed many railway houses in the area and it was clearly a very big station in its prime. The town needs a bit of a cleanup too! 🚙🚉

[@joshuasteenkamp3277]

Go visit Somerset east as well

[@DustBugsTravel]

We have. 👍 You're welcome to check out Episode 165 which is of our visit to that pretty town. 😎🚗

[@HenryGates-vr7fn]

Was employed as a Guard on trains. Cookhouse was turn-a-round station to go back to East London for were I have station year 1981 to about 1982 😪😔😌🤥😮‍💨

[@wildchild6247]

So sad to see all the litter 😢 unfortunately most of our Eastern Cape towns are like this. Western & Northern Cape towns are so clean. We have a beautiful country.

[@sindingwenya603]

not John but Jhb 😂

[@frederikbrits9559]

Town in really sad state

[@DustBugsTravel]

Most of it unfortunately so. 😏

[@lulamantshephe5595]

What happened to our country?????

[@DustBugsTravel]

My opinion. Too many folks in charge on national, provincial and local levels didn't and don't apply the allocated funds for the purposes they were intended. Instead they chose to enrich themselves and a few select others, leaving the vast majority of our people poor and struggling and too many unemployed. All our infrastructure and buildings got neglected and many of it even completely destroyed. Now we're at the point where the country can't even supply basic services like water and electricity to all its residents, let alone clean up and fix up everything. Sad. 😥🇿🇦

[@siegfriedwurth5928]

Nicely destroyed by the new SA. Unbeliveble how neat Cook House was just 20 years ago, look at it now it's a disgrace!!!

[@DustBugsTravel]

The town certainly needs a good cleanup. Thank you for watching. 🚗

[@foxi-n2u]

What a sad disaster our beautiful country has become...

[@DustBugsTravel]

It was a rather sad sight, but still interesting to visit for the first time. As another viewer said, Cookhouse 'needs a bath'. I'm sure it'll look a lot better when the town is cleaned up. 😏🗑️

[@boerplaas388]

Lekker mense. Pragtige ou treinstasie.

[@DustBugsTravel]

Indeed. It would be great to see trains running there on the daily again. Hopefully they can make that happen someday and somehow. 🚆