Touws River

Touws River came into existence because of a single engineering problem: how to get a railway line from Cape Town to the diamond fields at Kimberley over the Hex River Mountains. The Worcester to Matjiesfontein line opened in 1877, and the station originally named Montagu Road was established at the point where the track crosses the Touws River. It was renamed Touws River in 1883. For decades it was a critical locomotive depot — the steam engines that had climbed the Hex River Pass from Worcester were changed here before continuing northeast across the Karoo.

The railway history is still legible in the town's layout and architecture. The station buildings, the locomotive shed, the water tower — the bones of a working railway depot are still standing, although the operational role is gone. Matjiesfontein, one of the best-preserved Victorian railway villages in South Africa, is about 20 kilometres northeast on the N1 and makes a natural pairing with Touws River for anyone interested in the railway era of the Cape.

The town sits at the point where the Cape Winelands meets the Karoo, at about 770 metres elevation, east of the Hex River Mountains and north of the Langeberg. The landscape is dramatic — open plateau, mountain silhouettes, the particular quality of light that the Karoo does. The Hex River Valley is 35 kilometres west, the vast flat interior stretches north and east. The night skies are exceptional.

Touws River is struggling in the way many single-industry South African towns have struggled since the industry changed. The population of 8,000 is mostly dependent on agriculture and whatever remains of the railway services. The infrastructure is functional but worn. What it offers is authenticity and access to a landscape most people pass through on the N1 without stopping.