Nottingham Road

Nottingham Road sits in the Midlands, the belt of rolling grassland and plantation between Pietermaritzburg and the Drakensberg foothills, and it is the anchor of the Midlands Meander - a route of studios, farm shops, potteries, cheese makers, weavers and country hotels that has run since the mid-1980s and now lists well over a hundred stops. The village itself is small: a hotel dating to the nineteenth century, a store, a brewery whose beers are sold across the country, and a scatter of guesthouses on the surrounding farms. The appeal is the driving between them - cool, green, misty in summer, with horse studs and trout dams either side of the road - and the fact that the crafts are working businesses rather than displays. Going without a car makes no sense; the Meander is a road route and the stops are spread over tens of kilometres.

History

Scottish settlers came in the mid-19th century, the railway arrived at the end of 1885, and the station, first called Karkloof, was renamed after Fort Nottingham down the road. The Nottingham Road Farmers' Association, one of the oldest in the country, was founded on 26 October 1887, and the Railway Hotel, now the Nottingham Road Hotel, was finished in 1891 (Wikipedia, Nottingham Road).

What's there

• The Meander - studios, potteries, cheese makers and farm shops spread over the district.
• The village - a nineteenth-century hotel, a store, and the brewery.
• Midlands country - rolling grassland, horse studs and trout dams, misty in summer.
• Working craft - businesses that produce rather than displays for visitors.

When to go

All year; December to March is green and misty, winter is dry and brown. A weekend.

Practical notes

A car is essential and the stops are far apart. Many studios keep short hours and close on Mondays. Quality varies widely along the route - some stops are gift shops. Winter grass is dry and the landscape less appealing.

Nearby

Howick and its falls are south-east; the Drakensberg foothills are west.

Key facts