Shops
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Richmond - Northern Cape A few years ago the little dorp of Richmond was established as the first Book Town in the country and on the continent. Today there are a dozen bookshops in the village.
The bookshops specialize in Africana with a focus on early travellers, explorers, hunters and missionaries, South African fauna and flora, fiction, bibliographies, history, the Anglo Boer war and Rhodesia.
These bookish attractions are established in six Karoo-style houses, six converted stables and other outbuildings – housing used books ranging from art to warfare, aviation to natural history, biographies and children’s literature.
Shops are open seven days a week, from 07:00 to 19:00 during peak season and from 09:00 to 17:00 during the rest of the year.
Things to do near
Richmond - Northern Cape
*Distances are shown as the crow flies and not necessarily the actual travelling
distance.
Popular Attractions
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De Aar (66.2 km from Richmond - Northern Cape) The first Dutch Reformed Church was built in 1859, but later replaced by a larger building in 1907.
Today, visitors may tour this historical church on arrangement.
Galleries and Museums
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Hanover (66.7 km from Richmond - Northern Cape) Housed in an original farmstead, the Hanover Museum exhibits the interesting history of the town. The museum is run on a volunteer basis by the community, and most artefacts have been donated by the townsfolk.
Hiking Trail
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Nieu Bethesda (76.1 km from Richmond - Northern Cape) Compassberg is 2502m high. From Ganora it takes about 1 hour todrive to the back from where you can start climbing. If you do not have a 4X4 it takes about 3 hours up and 3 hours down. With a 4X4 you can get further up the mountain to a point from where it will take you 2 hours up and 2 hours down.
Galleries and Museums
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Nieu Bethesda (84 km from Richmond - Northern Cape) Ceramicist Charmaine Haines and her husband studio potter Martin Haines have created themselves a wonderful studio after settling in Nieu-Bethesda. They often exhibit all over South Africa but guests are always welcome to pop in and see how they create their beautiful ceramics in the studio.
Bars Nightclubs
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Nieu Bethesda (84.2 km from Richmond - Northern Cape) Situated behind the Karoo Lamb Restaurant in a converted stable, this cosy and authentic pub is where you will find the locals of Nieu Bethesda’s warming up or cooling down. Grab an ale or two and be entertained by stories of the dorp at the fireside.
Die Ramstal Pub occasionally screens movies and documentaries and hosts well-known South African performers such as Koos Kombuis, Steve Newman and Greg Georgiades.
Galleries and Museums
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Nieu Bethesda (84.3 km from Richmond - Northern Cape) You ate dust on the winding Karoo roads getting to the beautiful dorp of Nieu Bethesda? You visited Miss Helen's Owl House? Now just around the corner from the Owl House is a fascinating stop - the Bethesda Arts Centre. Here you will receive a warm welcome and a full tour. Catch a rehearsal or a starlit performance in the open air theatre.The Courtyard Theatre began its life in 2002 with a play from a visiting company about domestic abuse. The play, Behind Closed Doors, was followed by an animated discussion. The theatre was officially opened in January 2003 with a live reading of new work by Athol Fugard.After two successful productions – The Rainbull and The Conference of Birds – playing to packed houses in the Centre’s own Courtyard Theatre, the Bethesda Theatre Company was established. They have performed at the Grahamstown Festival as well as at various schools and nearby theatres. Members of the Company are encouraged to learn all facets of theatre, including writing, directing, theatre design and stage management.The Gallery A conversation between Kudus, San dancers around the fire, the extraordinary mass of rock that forms the gateway to Nieu Bethesda – the artists from the Bethesda Arts Centre are as varied and individual in subject matter as they are in style.From Hartlief’s striking animal prints to Booysen’s linear, timeless landscapes or Swiers’s spirited snapshots of daily life, each of these artists has captured something of the parched land and dusty Karoo town of Nieu Bethesda.In all of these upcoming artists, despite their varying age and experience, is a feeling of Africa, in all its richness and variety, and a sense of their place within it.Centre artists can exhibit and sell their work in the Centre’s own gallery. Income from sale of art goes directly to the artists, in many cases making it possible for them to support their families. Where can I stay? Dive under the quilts in the magical Bethesda Tower Accommodation.
Galleries and Museums
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Nieu Bethesda (84.3 km from Richmond - Northern Cape) Once upon a time in the tiny Karoo dorp of Nieu Bethesda... Helen Martins lay ill in bed, with the moon shining in through the window, and considered how dull and grey her life had become. She resolved, there and then, that she would strive to bring light and colour into her life. That simple decision, to embellish her environment, was to grow into an obsessive urge to express her deepest feelings, her dreams and her desires. And so the the Owl House began.Starting with the interior of her house, she used the emblems of sun-faces, owls and other images. This is all set against a luminous backdrop of walls and ceilings coated with elaborate patterns of crushed glass imbedded in bands of brightly coloured paint.Over twelve years, she and her assistant, Koos Malgas, created fthe hundreds of sculptures and relief figures that crowd the 'Camel Yard' and cover the walls of the house. Her favourite animals, owls and camels, predominate, but all manner of real and fantastical beings are to be found. A procession of shepherds and wise men lead a vast, almost life-size camel train toward an 'East' as designated by Helen Martins, and integrates Christianity with her fascination for the Orient.A stoic double-faced owl watches over the arched entranceway from the street, significantly barricaded by a tall mesh fence and a stand of tall Queen-of-the-Night cacti. Like the elaborately bottle-skirted hostesses within the yard, this arch must have been intended to welcome the visitor into her 'world', but the fence speaks plainly of an increasingly troubled relationship between Helen Martins and the outside world.
Hiking Trail
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Nieu Bethesda (86.2 km from Richmond - Northern Cape) Of all the many things to do and see in Nieu-Bethesda, the Owl House grabs first place. Once you’ve ticked off the surreal and quirky home of Helen Martin’s, lace up your walking shoes and do something different. Follow the quaint network of Nieu-Bethesda’s water furrows to the source of this fresh water – a pretty spring on a plateau above the village.