Pic from the road
When driving along Cogmanskloof Pass, the route between Montagu and Ashton in South Africa’s Klein Karoo, the tunnel in the rock is unmissable. But it’s easy to miss the fort on the top left if your eyes are on the road or if you’re not familiar with the area.
Constructed in 1899, the ‘Old English fort’ was built during the second Boer war and was manned by a company of the Gordon Highlanders, survivors from the battle of Magersfontein. The four similar forts in Montagu are said to have kept Boer commandant Gideon Scheepers and his men away.
Cogmans or Kogmans Kloof, is a ‘poort’ or gateway in the Langeberg Mountains. The pass was built between 1873 and 1877 by Thomas Bain, following the course of the Kingna River, and is named after a Khoi chiefdom that existed at the beginning of the 18th century. Along the route there are spectacular examples of the Cape Fold belt with elaborately folded bands of sandstone, which were formed over 500 million years ago.
(Ref: Cogmanskloof - Information on Montagu)
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