S1 - Ep 261 - Petrusville - A Small Village South of the Orange River!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ก.พ. 2023
- We were warned about the road between Philipstown and Petrusville and were expecting many potholes. To our dismay, we found those reports to be true. This was the worst road we have been on since we started our travels in South Africa. Arriving in Petrusville, which is about 10km south of the Orange River we took a slow drive through the streets of this small village. We also saw the pillar fountain dedicated to King Edward VII, across from the town library. We also happened upon an old wooden bell tower next to the library, completely intact with bell and all! The Dutch Reformed church was very beautiful and the grounds very well-maintained. We do believe this town was a stunning place back in the day. #DustBugs #adventuretravel #southafrica #southafricavlog #travelongravel #northerncape #petrusville #karoo
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Evidence all around of a very neglectfull Municipality - I cannot help but wonder what they do with their budget. Thankyou for taking an armchair traveller along with you.
Yip what do they do with their budget????
They used it for their own purposes.. to enrich themselves
@mk Petrusville could certainly do with a major cleanup to begin with, the town would immediately look better afterwards. I struggle with the fact that the decline must've been gradual and surely they could've put a stop to it if they really put in the effort and the budget to good use. 🤷🏼♂️🚗
@Simone Mason They certainly don't clean up the town. 🤷🏼♂️🗑
BAIE dankie, Om te dink mense met waardes en trots het eens op n tyd daar gewoon , Even so, there may still be a small minority left, but the devastation ,as in all our towns and cities . Must be a sin on our God's eyes ! I like your travels,you take me to places I will never reach in my lifetime.GREAT, THANKS !!
It was clearly an attractive town in the past, remnants are on display everywhere. I'm glad you enjoy travelling to all these places and towns with us, it's great to have you along! 😁🚗
Had to smile at Sonia's comment, the town needs a bit of a shower 🚿😜"the good, the bad and the ugly" Guy's you are so diplomatic. Really made me sad driving through Petrusville with you.
It actually needs a bath and then a shower! 🛁🚿 We travel for our own enjoyment and it serves no purpose to moan, complain and criticise all the time. Although we're sometimes saddened by what we find in a town, we still love seeing these places, despite the obvious neglect that has been going on for years. 🚗😥
Thank you for taking us on u our travels. Wonderful to hear the Afrikaans. Love the church.
I specifically kept the Afrikaans in while editing, so glad you picked that up! 😁 The church is magnificent and the grounds superbly maintained. 💒🚗
I worked in this town, teaching at the High School for 6 years. It's an experience I will never forget.
Love your music playing with the drone.
Thank you, glad you liked the tunes too! 🎶😁
There seems to be a pattern to many small towns in the OFS, they look beaten-up. This is just too close to the OFS. Thanks for the episode.
Petrusville was clearly once a pretty place, which makes it even more heartbreaking! We may find decay and destruction in many of these places, but we still love visiting them for the good that does remain. 🚗😁
Guys, you are not kidding about the potholes!!! When I was driving through this area in 2020, some of those potholes could swallow the car. Getting used to driving on the left, passing these big trucks, dodging the potholes was wrecking my nerves, but part of the fun on my solo journey. I must tell you, some of the rural roads here in Louisiana, the poorest state in the Union, are not much better. Be safe, Greg
Those potholes were really bad and if we looked at how some people were driving, I'm surprised we didn't see a few wrecks next to the road! 😳 Neglect happens in every single country on the face of the Earth, it's just harder when it happens to a town or place that once upon a time must've been a pretty little village. Good to hear from you again! 🇿🇦🚙
Those potholes look seriously bad! Pillar fountain! Wow! Never seen that before. In honour of King Edward 7? Hmmmm....looking at it, I am starting to wonder which part of King Edward 7.....🤣😂but let me not go there! Yes, all these small places are so rich in history! I grew up with danger gevaar ingozi....even made a poster of it and stuck it on my bedroom door to keep my brother out! I was wondering who the town was named after. Thank you for filling me in. He must have been a real pillar of strength. It must be a strong pillar to remain standing after so many years. So good to see the place from the air. Love the drone view. All these old buildings are so beautiful. Thank you for showing us around Petrusville.
Yup, my research shows King Louis VII for the fountain! ⛲ I was so happy to drive down the street and it was still there, that in itself was unbelievable to me! Those potholes were some of the worst we've seen and we don't moan easily, about anything! 😨🚙 I'm glad you enjoyed the drone shots, everything looks so much more beautiful from the air! 🤩
Those houses are fantastic, love this place. I will visit here fore sure next time I am in that area. Great video once again.
It doesn't matter to us that a town isn't perfect or pretty, it's about the buildings and the history and the people. We were also crazy about the houses and I'm glad you enjoyed them too! Do pay Petrusville a visit when you can, you'll enjoy it even more in person! 🚗🏘️
Hi guys fountains very historic but mother nature took over with bee's lovely church looking well maintained in contrast to town I love the the old tin roof buildings I can remember those danger signs amazing. The drone is with mountains in back ground stunning sad to see little town has become run down body of christ church sounds Catholic?? I agree with Sonia I think at one time it was a lovely place. What I can't understand is so many people sitting around but no one can pick up the rubbish thanks for another interesting video adding to my education about South Africa in2023 thanks for the video cheerio till the next one
I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the aerial view, I loved the vast expanse in the distance behind the town! I really don't know whether the Body of Christ Church is Anglican and I haven't been able to reach anyone either who can either confirm or correct. You hit the nail on the head with your comment about folks sitting around while the whole town is scattered with litter. That I struggle to understand! 🗑️🤷🏼♂️
Thank you for this episode, showing the birthplace of one of my grandfathers! He was born in 1929, the year after that old NG Kerk was built! That must have been the church he attended as a child! Perhaps they lived in one of the old houses that are still there today.
Hi you two! Thanks for taking me along with you again on this interesting potholed trip across the empty plains.
Another town founded by a church! The church building is obviously in use and well kept. One can not but ask why most of the rest of the town is so delapidated, although some buildings and old houses were beautifully kept and reflected a better past. But then again one should not judge a place on its potholes and broken walls, but rather on its people, of which there were unfortunately few to be seen.
Interesting nevertheless, with spots like poor King Edward VII's waterless pillar fountain (um...). I wonder if that wooden bell tower may have been used to call community meetings?
Your drone views (with the catching music again!) really captured the town in its romantic isolation on the plains.
Thank you again for making my day! and
Keep safe!
The church and its grounds are clearly lovingly maintained, which was fantastic to see! 💒 The rest of the town not so much as you rightly say. This was particularly sad for us, because we could clearly see that it must've been a pretty place in its heyday! Interesting thought about the belltower, that sounds like an intriguing possibility and one we've never seen before! 🚗👌🏻
Im new to ur channel but I must say I just love all ur vlogs especially the Karoo ones...keep it up😊😊
Welcome to our channel! Thank you, that's wonderful to hear. We hope you'll accompany us to many more places as we explore and discover interesting buildings and things. 🚗🤩
My dad was a builder all over the Karoo. I remember working for him in Petrusville during a 3 week school holiday back in the 70's. The town was not that dilapidated back then.
I must say those potholes are awful, hope they fix them soon. Interesting town. Your drone footage shows how pretty it is from afar. The water fountain was something unusual reminder but not quite of the tap with water for travellers on one of your previous episodes. Thank you once again.
Those potholes were really bad and we didn't even catch the worst ones on film! The drone shots make the town look pretty like I'm sure it was once upon a time, I'm glad you enjoyed them. I was just too happy that the water fountain was still there after all those years, that was amazing to me! 🤩🚗
Love all your travels. Thank you so much for taking us along. Sad to see how this town has been allowed to fall into such a state of neglect.
Love you guys; keep up your amazing videos.
We appreciate you coming along and are very happy to hear that you enjoy our videos so much! 🚙😁 It was indeed sad to see the town being in such a state of disrepair and so much litter lying around. 😥 We can only hope that the rest of the town cleans up their act and look at the church as an example of what can be accomplished with dedication and hard work. Those sleeves need to be rolled up! 🤷🏼♂️🗑️
Its just great that you are putting these forgotten places on the map and hopefully generating an interest in them! Some developers could take an interest!!!!! Miracles have been known to happen🙏
I hope alongside you that these towns can undergo some kind of revival or resurrection. The problem I see is that there are so many of them and things have been allowed to decay so much that it'll cost fortunes to bring them back to life properly. And you know investors, they'd want to be sure of a good return and with so many folks having left the areas for the bigger centres, I'm not sure how feasible such projects would be. I'd like to believe in those miracles you refer to though, so let's hope! 🤞🏻😊
Hello, phew, finally caught up on all the episodes. I now qualify as a seasoned traveler🥳. Sincere thanks till next time 🚗🚗🚗
Wow, that must've been one marathon session! 😁🚗 Well done for catching up! It should be easy to stay up to date with the four new episodes a week now!
@@DustBugsTravel you don't understand, this ic VERY addictive 😂😂😂😂
Lucky you! I still need to catch up from episode 1 to 150. Once hooked you can’t stop! Thank you guys for these videos🥰👏
Sad, sad, sad story of a town going downhill. Hope that some day it will flourish again.
It was rather sad to see, especially since we thought it was most probably a thriving and pretty town back in the day. 🚗😥
I'm excited to see the next town you will be visiting.
You don't have to wait too long! The video of the next town is up already! 🚗😁
@@DustBugsTravel thank you, that will make my day. Woke up this morning after having freezing rain all night, so I'm going to enjoy this episode with my first cup of coffee. You guys are great!!!!
I seem to remember that the type of court you were talking about used to be called a Circuit Court
That could very well be! I found the entire concept of a Periodical Court quite interesting. We happened upon a much bigger one in an actual building in another town we visited on our trip. That one will feature in an upcoming video. 🏦🚗
Yes...from Petrusville to PE...potholes from those big trucks...and they get repaired...and there they are again...but no doubt you will find a gravel road instead of the tar to Hanover. In the 80's when we stayed in Vanderkloof my late wife use to work in the Bank in Petrusville. Vanderkloof did not have a church then and we all use to go to Petrusville on a Sunday. That building you saw at 12:12 use to be the hotel of Joey Engelbrecht, the entrance was actually just around the corner.....yes it could be called a social facility 🙂. If that building at 16:44 is a new Municipal Office then I want to say...what a waste of money. Why do they need such a big building for a little town that they do not even care about any more. We all can see the decay and deterioration of the place.. Ok...where to next?...there is a gravel road on the east of Petrusville going to Colesberg....
We just love to keep you guessing where we were headed to next! 🚗😁 There was no indication of there being a hotel at some point, so thank you for that info! I can't help but wonder whether you attended a social function or two there! 🤩 The municipality should surely have enough manpower to clean up the town! 🗑️Oh, and this was for sure pothole country! 😳
@@DustBugsTravel oh yes...many functions were attended there...and Joey later had the hotel in Vanderkloof. But that is more long stories...
Hey there....im glad you did the drone footage, gave me an idea how big 'ol petrusville is. The church did stick out like a sore thumb....so there is hope. I wish people who do work remotely would go live in these old towns again and bring them back to their old glory. So much opportunity to live off grid and sustainable living. As always backseat driving is the best.....heeeeheee😋
Yup, Petrusville looked quite cool from the air. I agree, if the towsfolk can maintain a magnificent church and its grounds like that, surely they can polish up the rest of the town too! 💒 The problem is how much neglect and decay have been allowed to happen. It will take a collective effort and lots of money to fix. 🤷🏼♂️🚗
@@DustBugsTravel mindset issue. Only once people change the way they think and their expectations then it will turn around.
My home town❤❤❤
Wow!!!! Them potholes!!!! I’ll take the gravel roads any day yhoooo😮
The gravel roads were actually much better than what's left of the tar roads, so us gravel lovers were sitting pretty! 😁🚙
Beautiful church though 👌
Absolutely! 💒 An example to the rest of the town as to what is possible if a place is clean and maintained. It was really a shining light in Petrusville. 👌🏻🚙
Must have been quite a nice town in the days but the writing is on the wall. Wonder how the guys survive there. Thank you i enjoyed the video and your hard work to make it pissible
We could definitely see glimpses into a pretty past while driving through town, which made the neglect so much more poignant! I read on the karoosouthafrica.com website that 'the village serves as a centre for the local agricultural community and farming with livestock especially sheep predominates in the region.' 🐑 There were quite a few businesses, banks, etc in the main road too. A large percentage of the residents most probably also rely on social grants to come by. 🤷🏼♂️
The churches of South Africa. Pillars of civilisation in days gone by. The mainstay of the communities.
And it seems no different in Petrusville! 🚗💒
I think you drove right past that Anglo Boer war trenches on your way to Petrusville("Potholes").😜
I hear you! Had they just been the ABW trenches, you wouldn't have heard a single complaint from us! 😨🚗
Hi, not sure if I might have missed it in the comments, but the orange wall at end off street with the board convo used to be the hotel.
My grand parents used to live there back in the day.
Another viewer also mentioned that it was the hotel, but we always appreciate any info, thank you! 👌🏻 It must've been a very pretty town all those years ago when your grandparents lived there. Thank you for watching our video. 😁🚗
Town established in 1877 by the two sons of Petrus van der Walt on the farm Rhenosterfontein
Appreciate the info. 👌🏻
A potholed dumpsite showcase,so depressing.
The church and its grounds were in immaculate shape and there were clearly beautiful houses in the past. I hope the town can clean itself up! 🚗🗑️
😪 Depressing
I know. 😪 At least the church and its grounds were fantastic and an example of what can be achieved in the rest of the village! 💒🗑️
I loved your videos. I only see you and not your partner on the videos. When stopping at various towns, I think you must do more research about the town
A lot of litter on that main street eishhhh
They can most certainly do with one major cleanup operation, I really hope they do that soon. 🤷🏼♂️🗑️
Place needs a litter picker.
Indeed! Perhaps even a dozen! 🗑️
as i was watching your channel, this town remind me of smithville, wepener, rouxville, bethulie and the other small town which which was the worst in Free State and i forgot its name its located in between Wepener and Zastron i guess Petrusville is beaten up just like those town but more familliar with the town i forgot its name
You may be referring to Van Stadensrus which we visited in Episode 208. Wepener is in Episode 209, Rouxville in Episode 206, Smithfield in Episode 205 and Bethulie in Episode 204 if you haven't seen them yet. 🚙😁
yes vAN STANDENRUS
This place looks sooo sad 😞
I believe it was once a very pretty town. We were rather sad too to see all the decay all around. 😥🚙
Dirty decaying little town.Barely hanging on.
It can most certainly do with a major cleanup operation and I hope they get around to doing that! 🗑️🤞🏻
I can almost guarantee Curtis, you and Sonia have not been in a more decaying and dirty place in your travels. If I am wrong, please tell me where is worse. A spade remains a spade!!.
We've seen some pretty dirty and run-down towns and we're not in the business of comparing one town to any other. Petrusville can most certainly do with some cleaning up and fixing up, but so can a very large number of towns. If we moan and complain about how dirty and neglected the towns are which we choose to visit, the enjoyment will be gone in an instant. No matter how dirty or neglected a town are, we still prefer to look for the positive. That makes us happy travellers! That's our spade! 🤷🏼♂️🚗
@@DustBugsTravel I accept my deserved rap on the knuckles for my uncalled for comment and apologize. Sorry! Not being there does not allow me to be so mindlessly critical.
This road is really dangerous potholes all along the roads in the entire area are dangerous tourist from Israel I was there five months ago and there is no improvement
I have to agree with you, the roads are really bad in places! 😨🚙 I hope you enjoyed your visit to our country and the area despite the potholes and I really hope that most of them have been repaired by the time you visit our shores again! 🚙🇿🇦
sad state of affairs and very neglected
The church and its grounds should really serve as an example to the rest of the town. Let's hope they pull things back and it once again becomes an attractive town, like it clearly once was! 🗑️🧹
Sjoe seker een van die mees verwaarloosde en vuilste dorpe wat julle nog besoek het!
Petrusville can certainly do with a major cleanup. 🗑️ The rest of the town can take a leaf from the church book about maintenance and upkeep. The church was a beacon of light in the town, which was good to see. 💒🚗
This looks like the most depressing and shabby place you have yet visited..?
We're not really keen to compare places, but I think we've seen a town or two with as much litter as this. 🤷🏼♂️ Petrusville will benefit greatly from a large-scale cleanup operation, I sure hope the townsfolk stand together and organise that. 🗑️🤞🏻
the bell was used by the apartheid government where by at 9pm you need to be out of pertrusville and the whole town needs to be quiet and peaceful
We're not a political channel, so won't engage in any political discussions whatsoever. Ours is a travel channel and we share our experiences in small towns and places in South Africa, as can clearly be seen on the other 320 videos on our channel. 🚙
Another dorpie that would have seen tremendous investment, development and economical revival, all thwarted by myopic investors, greed and corruption. $2.75 billion down the drain.
I'm not up to speed on the $2,75b. 🤷🏼♂️