Smithfield News

Halfway to Anywhere in South Africa may be a bit of poetic licence but it can be excused if you consider how remarkably convenient Smithfield is if you are contemplating motoring in South Africa.

Maybe the old pioneers of 1848 knew something when they opted to put another dot on the map of the sparsely populated and wide-open Southern Free State. And to send it on its way, the dashing Sir Harry Smith, Governor of the Cape Colony, was persuaded to lend his name to the new settlement. Even in those early days it became popular as a break in the arduous journey faced by travellers heading north from the coast and Grahamstown.

But the town owed its continued existence mainly to the fact that the grassland in this area of rolling prairies might have been created specifically with the needs of sheep in mind. The Smithfield area became famous for the quality of its wool, largely Merino, long before any thought of synthetic alternatives. A town, indeed, built on wool - large quantities of the stuff.

A dip in the economy of this country town came about with the collapse of the international wool market. A remarkably prosperous community, complete with its regular ball in the town hall, various fairs, rugby and cricket teams, dentist, doctor, tailor, took a bad knock.

A rebirth came about in the final years of the 20th Century. A couple of pioneering guesthouses led the way for Smithfield to benefit enormously from the Government’s major campaign to attract foreign tourists to the country. The large numbers of visitors who found their way to the little town provided it with as new role in life. It became the ideal stopover enroute to many other parts of the country - and its position on the map was complemented by the growth in the number of quality guesthouses and restaurants catering for the needs of the visitors.