Further information about Hops Hollow B&B Guest House accommodation in Sabie and Hops Hollow brewery near Sabie and Lydenburg

Hops Hollow Country House B&B accommodation and Brewpub is situated on the highest point of the Long Tom Pass, 22 kilometer from the town of Lydenburg, and 34 kilometers from the town of Sabie.

Boer War Historical Site

After General Roberts formally annexed Transvaal on 1 September 1900, General Botha continued fighting using unconventional methods of deployment.

However, General Louis Botha lost Lydenburg to General Sir Redvers Buller on 8 September 1900 during skirmishes in the Longtom Pass. Botha retreated and re-organized his men, fighting in Utrecht, Wakkerstroom and Vryheid during December 1900. Buller was send home after the Lydenburg skirmishes, being declared incompetent, and remained for many years the sole scapegoat for the poor performance of the British army.

These attempts by Botha and his men had little effect on the outcome of the war, as many Boers had fled across the border to Mozambique, and those remaining were thinly spread. Negotiations during 15 May to 31 May 1902 finally brought an end to the war.

On the 1st of September 1900 Lord Roberts, after having won the battle at Bergendal, proclaimed the annexation of the Transvaal to the Queen. The battle at Bergendal consisted of Buller’s artillery and a couple of his battalions against 74 Boer’s. Botha retreated from Bergendal further north towards Lydenburg, with Buller following him. Buller’s march north was concentrated on the Machadodorp-Lydenburg road. Botha set his defensive positions up at Badfontein, waiting for the English troops following them. After having set up a strong post at Schoemans Nek, Buller split his column into two, one following the road to Dullstroom and the other moving on towards Badfontein.

A fierce battle commenced on the 3rd of September. Buller brought in Ian Hamilton (from Belfast), Howard’s brigade, the 53rd battery, the Royal Scotts and Brocklehurst’s cavalry. Botha retreated on the 6th to the Paardeplaats mountain overlooking Lydenburg from the East. When Dundonald and Brocklehurst entered Lydenburg, Botha opened fire with their long range guns (Long Tom’s). Dundonald and Brocklehurst withdrew for the night, and when Buller and Hamilton closed in on Lydenburg the next morning, they received the same treatment from Botha’s Long Tom guns.

On the 7th the English troops were in a good position to corner the Boers against the Portugese border at Mozambique. In total the British forces amounted to 30 000 troops and 88 guns against the Boer forces consisting of 3500 troops and 3 Long Tom guns.

The attack against Botha at Paardeplaats commenced on the 8th of September, lead by Sir Redvers Buller. From their position the Boers commanded the main road to Sptizkop, a small mining station about thirty miles east of Lydenburg, near the Sabi river. Also drawn into the attack was Hamilton, Brocklehurst, Lyttelton and Dundonald. Under severe attack, Botha was forced to withdraw by noon on the 8th. They retreated through the narrow neck and onto the plateau further east from Paardeplaats. Aided by a thick mist, the Boers managed to occupy some rocky ridges at Mauchberg and Hops Hollow (de Kuilen), approximately 5 miles south east of Paardeplaats. On the 9th the 1st King’s Royal Rifles and 2nd Gordons drove the Boer’s from the mountain. They had to follow the road down the valley, past the Devil’s Knuckles and into the valley towards Spitzkop.

The Boers’s occupied positions again behind the Devil’s Knuckels from where they opened fire with the Long Toms and pom-poms. On the 10th and 11th all the dominating points of the valley were occupied by the British troops.

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