Tradouw Pass

ThomasDocumented

Thomas planned and built it with about 300 convicts. A foreman finished it after Thomas was transferred. Opened by Governor Sir Henry Barkly and named Southey Pass.

R324Route

Approximately 15 kmLength

351 mSummit

TarSurface

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Before you go

Tarred pass, extensively revamped with Bain-style stonework retained. Take normal care on a winding mountain road.

Road conditions change with weather, floods, fires and roadworks. Check the latest conditions with the road authority or local tourism office before you leave, and carry offline maps.

About this pass

Thomas Bain's pass links Barrydale and Swellendam through the Langeberg and is listed among the best tarred passes in the Western Cape. Its length is approximately 15 km (14 and 16 km are both quoted); the summit is about 350 m, and its altitude range is about 220 m. It was extensively revamped in recent times, but no dates are given.

SAHO lists it among Cape passes on which convict labour may have been used, but gives only its location. Tradouw is a Khoi word given as "women's path" or "ravine of the women". In 1858 farmers asked for a route to Port Beaufort at the mouth of the Breede; Klein Karoo farmers and Swellendam traders had been detouring to Cogmans Kloof (50 km west) or Plattekloof (30 km east), at ox-wagon speed of a couple of kilometres an hour. Parliament took up the proposal in 1867, with convict labour. Bain surveyed it and moved to the site in 1869; in the first year convicts blasted over 4 km of road, then numbers were sharply cut and work slowed, and after Bain was transferred a foreman oversaw the final stages. Governor Sir Henry Barkly opened it on 27 October 1873 (one source says Lady Barkly) and named it Southey Pass after magistrate Robert Southey; the name was unpopular and Tradouw stuck. The town of Barrydale is named for the Barry family, in whose house Bain stayed, and which still stands at the foot of the pass. The pass was once a main route to the interior and the Kimberley diamond fields. Engineers kept Bain's stonework in later upgrades. Ross's chronology: a petition came from Swellendam in 1858 and Parliament resolved in 1867 to build it with convicts. A small party under Mr Hendy made a bridle path in 1868, with a convict station at Gat Plaats at the southern end and a second two kilometres from the northern end. Bain arrived in June 1869 (the main convict body followed a month later from Robinson Pass) and his family lived at "Lismore" at the southern foot; 300 convicts, with the Divisional Council contributing £1,000 and buildings. He left for the Tulbagh Kloof railway in February 1873 with Overseer Stephens in charge, and Sir Henry Barkly opened it on 27 October 1873 as Southey Pass. 500 m near the old toll washed away in 1875 and was rebuilt higher; floods in 1902 and 1906 led to a new line 20 m above the river. After the 1902 flood the Divisional Council was authorised to spend R40 getting it passable. It was reconstructed and tarred 1975–79. Ross (2001) dates Tradouw 1873 and Garcia 1877, and says the unconstructed Plattekloof Pass (pioneered by farmers in the mid-1700s, Thunberg 1772) fell out of use once they were built. Barrydale's tourism text describes the pass as 17 km long between Barrydale and the R62 at Suurbraak, with protea-covered slopes, waterfalls in wet weather, springs by the road, baboons, dassies and small antelope, and Verreaux's eagles; the ruins of the South Station convict camp, the old stone pass walls south of Stone Haven (the northern work camp) and the old toll house are still visible. On the day the Governor was to open it, in September 1873 per this source, a convict ran forward before the all-clear and was killed by a blast of rock. The 1970s tarring took "extraordinary care" to preserve and replace vegetation, with new stone walls replicating Bain's.

History

Built by: Thomas planned and built it with about 300 convicts. A foreman finished it after Thomas was transferred. Opened by Governor Sir Henry Barkly and named Southey Pass.
Built: Appointed 1868; work began 1868–69; opened 27 October 1873.
Location: R324, Swellendam to Barrydale, Western Cape
Later work: Upgraded.Major upgrade 1974. Described as 'extensively revamped in recent times' without a date.
Notes: The upgrade kept Bain's alignment and stonework. Ross (2001) agrees on 1873 for its building. Length is 13, 14, 15 or 16 km depending on source. Later work is given as a 1974 upgrade, or a 1979 reconstruction. Wikipedia and SAHO say Governor Barkly opened it; another page says Lady Barkly. The Heritage Portal's Bain article lists it as Boschkloof or Southey Pass, 13 km, 1869–73. Completion is given as 1873, 1874 (Tomlinson) or 1879 for the rebuilt pass; the pass is given as 13 km. Opening is given as 27 October 1873 (Burman) and as a September 1873 luncheon (Barrydale); the lunch may have preceded the official opening.

Tradouw Pass

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