The Rissington 30th Birthday Rag - March 2025

• WELCOME TO THE MARCH 2025 RISSINGTON RAG

• MARKING THREE DECADES OF FINE HOSPITALITY 

We are shaking things up a bit this time. This March 2025 edition of the Rag is largely pictorial, to mark Rissington’s 30th birthday. I think we have all had more than enough Rissington Rag words during the past year to keep us going for a while, so … here’s a Photo Shoot Rag, albeit with a few paragraphs of explanation here and there.

Thirty Years in the Life of Rissington, if you like, and it is probably best viewed on as large a screen as you have available. It’s going to give you plenty of happy reminders of just how far we have come, so settle in and revel in it, maybe with a good coffee or a glass of wine. I hope you enjoy the memories.

And yes, of course there are prizes and deals. In fact, there's also a year-long discount for Rag Readers. Details below. So here goes!

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE TEAM

In a rare (and rather random) reference to the new Bridget Jones movie/film/fliek (which is well worth watching by the way), it is interesting to bear in mind that, when Rissington opened in 1995, I was only 31. I was just a boy. Now, 30 years later, it’s no longer about me at all. It is ALL about the team. The shot below – taken this week – is, I think, only our second ever full team photo. What a wonderful group of people. There are plenty more photos, further down, of the chaos that ensued right after this shot was taken!

These are some of the most admirable people I have ever met. I am constantly amazed at their total dedication to Rissington, always giving it their all and always smiling and laughing, despite the long hours and busy days. And all of this is achieved whilst juggling their endless responsibilities to their children, their extended families and their communities. They really are remarkable.

The earlier team photo, shown below, was taken in 2005, when Rissington turned 10 years old. There are actually only three people who feature in both the 2005 and 2025 photos and Sipho (along with me) is the only remaining member of the original 1995 team of seven still to be working at Rissington. It's also heartening to bear in mind that everyone in the current team above receives a remuneration of at least 30 times the salaries that we were able to pay to the 1995 Rissington pioneers. Heartening indeed ... and sobering. This is all thanks to you and to your support for Rissington.

Today's team means the world to me. And you mean the world to them. Thank you.

In one more staff memory along the way, in 2003, we also took the team to Cape Town on a four-day trip by rail, road and plane. It was one of the highlights of my life. Here's a little collage (below) of that great event with some old favourite faces you might remember. We went down by train. They saw the sea for the first time, they went up Table Mountain in the cable car and wandered around the Waterfront marvelling at the sights and sounds, they visited Cape Point, saw penguins and ate prawns and then finally flew home exhausted! So many firsts - and so much fun.

OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW

In a selection of 1995 vs 2025 then-and-now photos and some others in between, here's a pictorial diary of some of the changes at Rissington over the years.

I bought the farmhouse which was to become Rissington, in a very run down state (the house was run-down, not me), in April1995. Here you can see the roof going onto the stoep as part of the major renovations and changes we had to make. The building work took five months altogether. The picture on the right was taken this week, in 2025.

When we opened, the bar was outside on the stoep. We knocked through in 2001 to increase the size of the dining room and reinstalled the same bar counter in the room behind, which had up to that point been my office and bedroom. Talk about sleeping on the job!

My 1995 office was very basic - a desk in my bedroom with a typewriter and a fax machine. (I am sparing you a photo of that.) This was before the use of email or the Internet. We then moved it into the 'cellar' in 2005 (left). Note the ancient computer and fax machine. On the right, you can now see Philippa. Natasha and Simphiwe running the much-bigger and more high-tech office today.

In 1995, the site of the bay window was in the kitchen - actually it was the larder. We knocked it out as part of the renovations and built the sitting room there instead (right and below).

1995 knocking out the larder and converting the kitchen into the sitting room/library you see today..

Opening up Combretum and Kapok and increasing the size of Camelfoot in 1995. And the same building today.

Another garden shot from before we opened in 1995 and the same view today.

A 1997 Kapok budget room interior photo and 2025 pic of the same room today.

1997 The view after we cut back and cleared out the bush and the grass in front of the lodge. Then 2025, the same distant view across the new pool during the day and at night.

The old staff accommodation from 1995 gave way, in 1999, for us to build Sycamore and Ivory, our first new rooms and the origins of the garden suites. Then, on the right, Sycamore and Ivory today.

2000, looking across at the lawn. 2024 and 2025, with the new pool in place

In 2021, we built three new superior rooms. Kigelia, Mahohany and Baobab. Here's the team that built those rooms, with Sipho directing operations on the left above the septic tank. And those rooms today.

The amphitheatre was a feature of Rissington for many years. A previous owner of the farmhouse had built it for when his tree-hugging friends came to visit. We inherited it as shown on the left, put a roof on it 1997 (second pic), held a few weddings there (including my own) and, among other thrills, also a concert by the Welsh Male Voice Choir of Johannesburg in 2001. (Happy St David's Day, today, to those men in red and to all our many Welsh readers - let's hope the rugby improves!). We eventually removed the amphiteatre after building the three rooms next to where it stood under the jacaranda on the west side of the new pool.

A 2001 interior shot of Kigelia, Mahogany and Baobab. Oh, those duvet covers! 2025 (centre and right) as the rooms look today, with king-size beds, white cotton percale and brand new bathrooms. .

In 2003, the building of Acacia and Coral, Ebony and Teak. Then 2025, Acacia and Coral today. These were followed by the Hillside Suite family rooms in 2007. These are pictured further down the Rag.

The final addition of the four newest rooms was made in 2019. Frangipani, Kiaat, Marula and Matumi. The pride of Rissington.

The old swimming pool, pictured in 2008. The terrace today in 2025, taken from the same spot, just outside the bar.

Of course Rissington would not be Rissington without the dogs. The top left photo is from 1998 and shows James (JJ's father, then 14 years old) with Sport and umQmbothi. The remaining photos show JJ himself with Rusty and Bruno. Below them, Rusty is 'home-schooling' during Covid, jumping on a trampoline with JJ and getting festive for Christmas. Bruno is (for some JJ-inspired reason) wearing my slippers!

CELEBRATIONS HAVE BEEN A HUGE PART OF OUR LIVES

We have had so much to celebrate in our 30 years. Here are just a few shots of some of the more notable events, including birthdays, weddings, staff get-togethers and Rissington milestones. I particularly love the look of total joy on my mother's face in the bottom right photo, taken at Rissington's 10th birthday celebration, 20 years ago. She was such an important part of the success of Rissington and she absolutely loved it here.

We have also obviously celebrated a huge number of birthdays with guests as well as giving parties for JJ. See top left, where he became a 6 year-old wizard....

Numerous people have become engaged here too. Last week, I was reminded by one of them just how unsophisticated we were in our early days. When she and her husband got engaged at Rissington in the 1990s, the only bottle of celebratory ‘champagne’ that I was able to rustle up was a bottle of rather disgusting South African sweet red sparkling wine called 5th Avenue Cold Duck. I think it must have been given to me by a car dealer when I had bought a cheap bakkie and I unashamedly sold it to the happy couple to mark their betrothal.

Since then, of course, we have improved our style and service in so many ways. Here are some photos of a few of some of the more recent innovations...

NEW R40 ENTRANCE AND SIGNAGE

Finally, our neighbours up at the main road have very kindly cleaned up and paved our turn-off by the R40 and we have supplemented this with some improvements to our own access, further down, with a new gated-fence and user-friendly access-control.

Here’s the new driveway and a photo of Rissington-regular Herman Kieft, with his tongue firmly in his cheek, receiving the first ever guest gate-tag from Anita at breakfast one day last month. Down on one knee, naturally!

THE BIG R  ®

We have also carried on with the upgrades to our branding and have received many compliments on our new uniforms, which you can see in the staff photos above and below. In addition, we have ® beer mats and ® drink stirrers and ® everything. You might say it’s our new (ahem!) trademark, I suppose, but Relax. Revive. Remember still remains our core principle. (Remember the early days when we rather pompously styled ourselves ‘Purveyors of fine South African food and comfortable accommodation’!?)

We’ve also branded the vehicles and we have commissioned a giant R to stand by the pool and enhance all those fabulous Instagram shots of the view. Next it will be the caps and we’ll be selling ® T-shirts as well. A guest sent us the photo on the right, which shows just how far our merchandise has travelled. All the way to Devon!

LOCAL EXPERTISE

We are also focusing on the team’s side-hustles. So many of our staff and friends have cunning little businesses to supplement their income and we are trying to support them whenever we can. For example, Betty Khoza (left below) one of our long-standing housekeepers, runs a sofa-, chair- and carpet-cleaning company and the lodge uses her little business regularly. Our new office genius Simphiwe has a husband with a railings business and he will be updating our balconies later in the year. Linda Nyoka (an old friend who used to teach the boys at their prep school) makes a superb chilli sauce which we now use in the restaurant. Side-hustles are the way forward and it’s great to be able to keep it ‘in the family’, so to speak. And, of course, the food leftovers still go to team members Aubrey and Lucky Mashaba’s exceptionally well-fed pigs (although I see there's some bacon in the photo, which might be entirely recommended for pigs to eat!).

THE ENVIRONMENT

We previously mentioned that we are selling off four 1-hectare off-the-grid plots at Rissington and, in the process, also changing our hot water heating systems at the lodge to solar and all our remaining globes (light bulbs) to LEDs. We now have a SWITCH IT OFF policy in place as well as a GET IT FIXED rule for any damaged items and for plumbing issues, in order to save water. There’s also a fair bit of spekboom growing around the place, to do our little bit for the environment. If you look at the Rissington MAX/MIN for 2024, you will see how important this is.

It is just possible that one of the Rissington plots might still be available. Please let me know if you think you would be interested or if you would like more details. I will be in touch with everyone on the waiting list during the next month to discuss the options. 

IN THE KITCHEN

A broad range of teas, a ginger dawa, cappuccinos and espressos, interesting sauces and relishes are now on offer throughout the day, along with some new cakes and scones. There’s also a tailormade breakfast picnic service. Gone are the days of the soggy sandwich and the brown banana. Rissington is now offering you the opportunity to choose a different breakfast picnic, perfectly suited to you. Every day.

IN THE RESTAURANT

We have DIY wet face- and hand-cloths on all the tables. Yes, they look a bit like Extra Strong Mints (see them pictured in the chilli sauce photo above) but just trickle on some water and watch them grow into smell-free wipes to clean your face and hands before you eat. People love them.

IN THE ROOMS

The Nespresso machines are a huge hit in all the rooms. You can also order room service at any time on WhatsApp. We have fresh milk in the fridges every day - no more UHT, no more sachets. There are also now blackout curtains on all the windows to improve your night's sleep in the summer months when it can be light at 4.30am. 

Importantly, we have expanded and improved our offering in terms of easily-accessed rooms for wheelchair and walking-stick users, specifically with better access ramps and easy-to-use showers and lavatories.

THE DAM HAS BEEN FULL

After all the rain in January and February this year, to our amazement, we found that we had our very own crocodile for a month or so. She seems to have moved off again now. I say ‘she’ advisedly, as there were some young as well. It was an interesting period, but I am slightly relieved that it all came to a happy ending before she grew big enough to take an interest in passing Jack Russells.

THE GREAT GARDEN UPGRADE

The Rissington garden has always been self-managing but that wasn’t Coco’s style, so when we put her in charge, there were some shake-ups. Out with the random old out-of-control bushes and in with plenty more indigenous stuff: aloes, cycads and herbs. The whole garden is booming and all the views are being opened up after the lovely rain.

THE HILLSIDE SUITES POOL

The team told me that a child had dropped a pot in the hillside suites pool, breaking the cement in a metre-wide ding. They were far too discreet to tell me who the guilty child might have been – but we took the opportunity to fix up and patch the entire pool. The large white bag (called a bladder) is where we stored all the water while we worked on the pool base. The patches will blend in over the next few weeks.

And just for fun, here are some more pics of the Hillside Suites pool as it has evolved over the years ... From farm reservoir to hotel pool.

What a position! As you can see, we have also now added a handrail.

BIKE AND WALKING TRAILS

Lungile and Thabiso have been opening up routes on the neighbouring property and we now have five mountain bikes for hire. The routes vary from 5km to 10km and the chaps will also gladly guide the cycling trips if requested.

The walking trail on Rissington has also been expanded and walks on the cycle trails alongside us can also be arranged. Here are Thabiso, Rusty and Bruno, all kitted out and ready to show you the way.

There’s plenty of excellent birding on the next farm and even the odd kudu and bushpig as well as all our usual red duiker, grey duiker, monkeys, bushpig and some porcupines, which can be seen from Rissington's rooms almost every night with a good powerful torch.

BAR STOEP CHAIRS

We love these. Comfortable and stylish. Very Rissington. Nothing stands still here for long. The bar has new ceiling fans as well. I was persuaded by the electrician that 30 years was a good innings for a ceiling fan and that the old ones should be gracefully retired. Resistance was futile.

EVER-FASTER WIFI

Of course, in the early days of Rissington, as I said above, we had a fax machine and a typewriter. And  a Post Office! No emails, no cellphones, no Internet. We had clock-radios in the rooms. Nowadays we have four computers in the office and high-speed internet in all the rooms. And yes, even televisions. Ridiculous, isn’t it?!

BEE REMOVAL

For a while in January, we were involuntary apiarists with one swarm of bees in the avocado tree near the pool and another by the water tanks, up behind the hillside suites. First attempts to relocate them led firstly to an attack by the first swarm on the gardeners every time they started up a lawnmower; soon after that, the second swarm flummoxed us by relocating inside the Shonalanga bathroom. Eventually they were all persuaded to move into hives for relocation.

A NEW BOREHOLE

To supply the new plots at the northern end of the property we have had to drill a new additional borehole. It was a fascinating exercise and it's hard to believe that, although we humans know where the water is on Mars, we are unable to know where it is right beneath our noses. The only way is to take pot luck or get a water diviner.

This is our diviner, doing his thing. It worked first time.  I didn’t feel anything at all, when copying his stick technique, until he put his hand on my arm and the stick then pulled instantly downwards. Yes. It is real and we drilled a good strong hole.

A SPA FOR RISSINGTON

As from this southern hemisphere winter, we shall be offering massages in Rissington’s very own spa. The masseuse will come in by request. You will be attended to in airconditioned Zen bliss without even leaving the property. More details soon.

BEFORE WE GET TO THE SPECIALS AND THE COMPETITIONS...

If our newsletter’s photography, old and new, has in any way inspired you, please take a look at JJ’s new photos on his new Instagram profile: @jjslensadventures 

There’s a lot more new content to come over the next few weeks. Those of you who were already following him (thank you) will automatically find the new content, as he has merely changed the name of the profile. For those who weren’t doing so, please do follow him now. He spent last year studying Photography and Videography in Cape Town and this year he’s still down there and following a course called Digital Content Creation. It’s the way forward and he’s posting (when he finds the time) some really good and creative content. There will be much more as the year progresses. (Sometimes the Instagram follow-links can be temperamental, so if the button doesn't work on your device just search for @jjslensadventures).

Also make quite sure that you are following Rissington on Facebook and/or Instagram.

Every month this year we are running a combined competition on both platforms to celebrate our three decades. So far, in January we gave away two free nights and in February we gave away a week’s accommodation, free, mahala and for nothing. Join up now in time to follow the March giveaway, which also features further down the Rag, as it unfolds. 

THE 30TH BIRTHDAY RAG READERS YEAR-LONG SPECIAL

For all Rag readers, but only if you are already on the Rissington Rag mailing list or if you already follow us and find the Rag on Instagram or Facebook, we are offering you a 20% discount on your bed and breakfast for any number of stays during the remainder of 2025. The deal is not transferable and can be applied to new direct bookings only. It rises to a 30% discount if you stay for a week or more.

Also, if you spend your birthday here during 2025 we will give you a free night as long as you book for two nights or more but you MUST be here on the actual night of your birthday. (NB Deals cannot be combined.) Unfortunately we are unable to employ the services of a magician for all birthdays, but we might rustle up a cake on request!

COMPETITIONS AND PRIZES 

The December Rag contained cryptic clues leading to six iconic places in South Africa. The winner of 3 nights for up to 5 people in a Rissington Hillside suite is Lauren Humphreys. Nice one Lauren. Come any time.

Here are the answers:

1) A refectory ridge perhaps,
The ocean way below me laps;
Standing flat, high above the Mother,
I am just an icon like no other.

TABLE MOUNTAIN

2) I was Bay of Rock, then a lagoon,
Here dolphins cruise and penguins croon.
By Coega’s coast swims many a seal.
St Croix is here, as is Jahleel.

ALGOA BAY

3) The sea’s my home, a hollow shape,
This place of thunder, Eastern Cape.
A cliff detached. You have it right:
A polo, topped with dolerite.

THE HOLE IN THE WALL

4) I am Jim’s crossing of the Buffalo
Where Officers Chard and Bromhead bellow
“Fire!” to red-coated heroes encamped
In fortifications tight and cramped. 

RORKE’S DRIFT

5) Where wagons lurk in every frieze
With tales of conquest, war and disease.
I am Moerdijk’s paean to history
But whose exactly is your mystery.

THE VOORTREKKER MONUMENT

6) I’m a peaceful defence which makes a crater
From two million years back, not one day later,
A meteoriticist’s deep-impact dream,
I’m a massive ancient astrobleme.

VREDEFORT DOME

THIS MONTH’S NEW COMPETITION - THE MARCH GIVEAWAY

This time, we are asking you to name as many people as you can (whether or not they are still working here) from the old 2005 team photograph or any of the staff in the Cape Town trip photos at the top of the page. (NB not the current team photograph, as the answers to that are at the bottom of the page!).

You will get a point for every right answer BUT you will also lose a point for every incorrect answer. This competition is obviously easier for those who have been coming here for a long time, but I think that is fair enough every now and then! The prize is a stay for two people of anything up to two weeks at Rissington at the 1995 accommodation prices of R160 per person per night bed and breakfast. Yes, that was the rate 30 years ago. Answers to [email protected] by 01 April 2025 please. The winners will be announced on Facebook and Instagram, so make sure you are following.

SOME MEDIA STUFF

While we are on the subject of media and prizes, some long-standing readers might remember that we used to have a very strong connection with the SAfm radio station, where we ran competitions, and specifically with the then-presenter (and station manager) Tony Lankester. Some of you may even have caught up with the recent announcement that, in a great result for him and for South Africa, Tony has recently been announced as the new CEO of the Edinburgh Festival (having cut his teeth on the South African National Arts Festival in then-Grahamstown). What a coup!

Anyway, whilst travelling recently, I finally got my head around Podcasts and if you are not already doing so, I am strongly recommending that you get into Legacy, produced by Tony’s wife Jayne Morgan, who is also one of my oldest friends. Clearly, I am unashamedly biased but, tired as I am of boring middle-aged white men bickering on various history podcasts recommended to me, Legacy is a triumph (and features no bickering).

You can find it on Apple HERE or wherever you usually find your podcasts, by searching for 'Legacy by Wondery'. Don’t settle for ‘The Rest is …’ anything. This is way better.

THAT’S ALL!

Here’s a photo the first Rissington birthday cake, made when we turned 10 years old. 

Happy 30th Birthday to Rissington and thanks to all of you for your ongoing love and support for our magic little place.

Looking at the photos, it may seem to have changed a lot over the years, but there are a couple of things that haven’t changed at all : our welcome, our food and our service are just as wonderful as ever and our team of 34 is just as wonderful as our team of six – Sipho, Joseph, Deborah, Lettie, Frances and Anna – who kicked it all off with me, three decades ago, along with those two memorable Rissington founder dogs, Sport the corg-ish and Fitz the Weimaraner.

For interest's sake. I have also copied in, below the sign-off, the first ever Rissington Rag from 1996. They have become a bit longer and more colourful over the years! How marketing has changed. Imagine sending out your newsletters in the post, with a brochure included!

Come and see us soon. We LOVE our return guests and all our other Rag readers. Actually we love everyone (except for the people who hang their laundry out on our verandahs).

All the best from beautiful, sunny Hazyview...

Chris, Shirley, Nonhlanhla, Natasha, Nkateko, Anita, Lindokuhle, Sindile, Andrew; Gertrude, Dudu, Yvonne, Angel, Conny and Dellina; Futhi, Betty, Noggs, Patience, Bonisile, Rosa, Lilian, Maureen, Thandiwe and Felicia; Sipho, Aubrey, Selby, Lucky, Peter, Thabiso and Coco; JJ and Lungile; Rusty and Bruno; plus Philippa and Simphiwe in the office, whom you may email on [email protected] for all your booking requirements. Or simply book online on www.rissington.co.za and tell us all about yourself in the ‘Special Requests’ box.