Parsonage Street Home

Make Parsonage Street Home your "warmest home away from home" when the time comes to scale down. You'd love it here.

"The Graaff-Reinet College for Boys was founded in the 1860s with lofty goals of providing a full education to the boys in town, going up to university level.

After initial success, the university-level education soon fell away, and it became just another government school by the 1880s.

The economic hardships of the Graaff-Reinetters continued to put the school out of reach of most, until matters came to a head around 1915.

A major, but stormy, reorganization of the Graaff-Reinet public school system followed, which resulted in the formation of Union High and Volkskool, bringing stability that has now lasted more than one hundred years.

Come meet the people, the problems and the progress of those early, worthy Graaff-Reinetters at the next Stoepstories!"

Speaker: *Johannes Haarhoff*
Topic: *The Rise and Fall of the Graaff-Reinet College for Boys*

📆Date: Tuesday, 2 December 2025
🕰️Time: 10:00-11:30
📍Venue: Brenda Horwitz Court Community Centre, 17 Parsonage Street, Graaff-Reinet

🫖🍰Tea, coffee and scones served afterwards.

💰A small donation to cover costs would be greatly appreciated.

The Prickly Pear

Now that the plant no longer poses as much of a threat and can be kept under control through insects and an injection of MSMA (monosodium methanearsonate), a herbicide which can target individual plants, increasing attention is being given to how the prickly pear can be cultivated and utilised.

For fruit, jam, preserves, beer, wine, medicine, fodder and as a host to the cochineal which can be used to produce dye.

Join us for the

Next interesting StoepStories talk

Speaker: Tim Murray
Topic: The story of the Prickly Pear in South Africa

Date: Tuesday 4 November 2025
Time: 10:00-11:30
Venue: BHC Community Centre

Tea, coffee and scones served afterwards.

A small donation to cover costs would be greatly appreciated.