Lindley

Lindley was laid out in 1875 on the farm Brandhoek and proclaimed a town in 1878, named after American missionary Daniel Lindley, who was the first ordained minister to the Voortrekkers in Natal. Before European settlement, the area was home to the Dihoja, a Basotho group who built the beehive stone huts whose ruins still turn up on surrounding farms. The town grew as a service point for the surrounding wheat and maize farms and has largely remained that. It sits on the R57 in the Riemland Route, a heritage drive through the eastern Free State that connects a string of similarly proportioned agricultural towns.

The sandstone architecture is the most visible feature. Several buildings from the late 19th and early 20th century are still in use and in reasonable condition. The mill near the edge of town is functional and worth a look if it is open. The churches, built in the Free State sandstone style, are well maintained. The Lindley affair of the Anglo-Boer War, a significant and embarrassing British defeat, occurred nearby and is documented in town.

For anyone who has grown up eating ProNutro, there is a minor pilgrimage to be made. The cereal was developed here, which says something about the kind of town Lindley is. It produces things quietly and does not make much noise about them. The Vals River runs through the area and there is fishing available, with some guest farms offering accommodation and access to the water.

Lindley is genuinely off the main tourist circuit. There is no scene here and no curated experience. What you get is a working Free State farming town with better bones than most, honest hospitality, and the particular calm of a place where nothing much has been performed for visitors.