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Museum paying tribute to Natal’s coal mining heritage

17th October 2014

By: Jade Davenport

Creamer Media Correspondent

  

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I was recently invited to attend a friend’s wedding at the Thendele Camp of the Royal Natal National Park, overlooking the magnificent amphitheatre of the Drakensberg mountain range.

I had been meaning to take a trip to Natal for quite some time if only to visit the Talana museum, in Dundee, a section of which I knew had been dedicated to the rich coal mining heritage of the area. I have been particularly intrigued by this attraction, as it is the only museum that deals with the subject of South African coal mining in any great detail. So, regardless of the fact that Dundee is absolutely nowhere near the Royal Natal National Park and convincing myself that it was at least in the same province, I decided to extend the trip by a day so that I could first pay a visit to the Talana museum.

The Talana museum, established in 1979, is essentially dedicated to displaying memorabilia and depicting the growth of the Dundee area and hosts displays as diverse as mining, war, agriculture, industry and domestic life. The museum itself takes its name from the Talana hill, at the base of which it is situated. (‘Talana’ means the ‘shelf where precious items are stored’.)

Significantly, the museum is situated on a 20-acre section of the original Dundee farm, which is famous for not only being the site of the first commercial coal mining activity in the area but also the site of the famous Battle of Talana hill. (That battle is famous for being the first significant confrontation between the Boers and the British during the South African War and it is said that, on each anniversary, October 20, the hill is haunted by the ghosts of Boer soldiers coming to reclaim their dead.)

From the perspective of visitors with an interest in South African mining history, the museum offers excellent displays relating to various aspects of the area’s coal mining industry – from the geology and history of the Natal coalfields to information on the province’s production and the role Natal coal has played in the broader South African economy. Perhaps the most interesting section is the ‘Iscor Hall of Mining’, which was constructed to depict and preserve the history and mining methods of the Hlobane and Durnacol mines, in Natal. This section was erected in the wake of the closure of the Hlobane mine, with each display illustrating a particular method of mining over the course of its 100-year life – from 1898 to 1998. Interestingly, the museum also has a large collection of original machinery on display that was used in the mining of high and low seam coal mining.

It is quite fitting that the Talana museum should have a section devoted to coal mining, as Dundee occupies a significant place in South Africa’s historical mining narrative, being the first place in Natal where coal was mined on a commercial basis. It was in 1864, many years before the discovery of diamonds and gold, that a local farmer, Peter Smith, discovered and began exploiting a rich coal seam on his farm, Dundee.

Unfortunately, during the fledgling years of commercial mining, the trade in coal grew little, primarily owing to the fact that Natal coal faced stiff competition from its imported counterpart from Wales, which many colon-ists believed to be a far superior product, as well as the fact that the only available mode of transporting the coal was by ox wagon. Demand for local coal was limited to the mar-ket places in Pietermaritzburg and Durban and such was the poor level of demand that, in the 17 years between 1864 and 1881, Smith sold no more than 7 000 t of coal.

It was only with the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand and the extension of the railway from Durban into the economic heart of the Transvaal that coal mining in Natal began to grow on a significant scale. In fact, such was the boom in coal mining in Natal that, by the turn of the century, there were 19 operational collieries, produc-ing over half a million tons of coal a year. Owing to the fact that quite a large number of those collieries were situated in and around Dundee, the town flourished and was soon dubbed Coalopolis – the Coal Metropolis. While coal mining in Natal was largely overshadowed by the far more extensive Witbank-Middelburg coalfield, Dundee continued to be an important coal mining hub in the province throughout the twentieth century.

However, coal mining forms a mere section of the extensive Talana museum estate. For those interested in the various conflicts between the Zulus, Boers and British during the nineteenth century, the museum is a definite ‘must see’, with detailed information, explaining the nature of all the major conflicts as well as displays of original weapons, uniforms, artefacts and photographs. Also of interest is Smith’s house and farm buildings, which have been restored to their original condition and provide visitors with an evocative picture of the lives of those hardy pioneer farmers.

While I would certainly urge all and sundry to visit the museum and fascinating heritage park, my only negative comment is that, while it is certainly engaging and informative, the museum’s displays, particularly relating to coal mining, are in most definite need of updating, with most of the illustrations belonging firmly in the 1980s and facts and figures only covering the period to the early 1990s. Perhaps one of the museum’s many sponsors, among them the Chamber of Mines, would do well to consider investing in modernising or, at least, updating the information on certain exhibits.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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