We decided during December to take a short breakaway trip to the Cape, in particular Stellenbosch, the famous University town and centre of all things wine-related.

Our eldest granddaughter has a small flat close to the university and central Stellenbosch and as she was not due to return there until late January, it was a good opportunity for us to spend a few days there.

The town itself and the wine farms in the area are very busy at this time of year, attracting as they do visitors and tourists from all parts of the country and the world in fact, while the university campus area is exceptionally quiet, with hardly a soul in sight other than the campus security guards on every street corner that make it a safe place to walk about.

And walk about I did, taking in the beautiful architecture and pleasant streets of this delightful part of the town – here’s a selection of the images I collected on the way.

The Streets

In a few weeks time these streets will be busy with students walking, riding and driving between their residences, town and the campus buildings, but now they are dead quiet

This old restored lorry belongs to one of the men’s residences and would probably have a few stories to tell if it could …..

The Architecture

The faculties are housed in handsome buildings such as this one, each with an elegant style of their own.

Some of the old houses are privately owned, others house specialist sections of the university – all have one thing in common : they are beautifully restored and in pristine condition, ranging in style from Victorian to Cape Dutch

Leivore

Some towns in the Western Cape still have leivore – the traditional water furrows used to supply water for irrigation, usually emanating from a spring in the nearby mountains and channeled alongside the streets through the town. Leivore is pronounced ‘lay-foora’

Sluice gates such as this one (missing the upper part) control the flow of water in the leivore and where they branch off to a property

Truly a special place ….