PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - The Van Plettenberg Historical Society will be ending their year of celebrating local history on a spicy note with a curry lunch and talk about another landmark property in Plettenberg Bay.
This follows very popular events through the course of the year including the recent talk about Forest Hall in the Crags.
The talk on 4 November will be about Peter Rattray and the evolution of the Fairview House in town - a home that has been in the Rattray family since 1980.
The speaker is Andrew Rattray, who will not only share his knowledge about the history of the house, but also about his grandparents Peter and Gillian, his father David and his uncle Martin.
His talk will start in 1924 with the birth of Clifton Grey (Peter) Rattray, growing up in Johannesburg with his grandfather William Grey Rattray and his time in the merchant navy on board the Rochester Castle with reference to Operation Pedestal and the relief of Malta.
He will tell about his grandfather's career as a patent attorney and meeting George Bunting from Fugitives Drift in KwaZulu-Natal, which led to the purchase of the adjacent property where his son David later built Fugitives Drift Lodge.
He will also touch on his parents' retirement at Fairview and his involvement in all things local. It was at Fairview where Gillian, an acclaimed novelist and artist, wrote two of her books – A Cape Country Chronicle and In a Country Garden – which detail her life on the property. Andrew will also talk about how his uncle's design work on Fairview House came to be what it is today.
Andrew, his wife and three daughters moved from Fugitives Drift to Fairview in January 2019. Peter died at the age of 97 earlier this year. Tickets to the event will include a butter chicken or vegetarian curry with naan bread and sambals and a selection of salads.
This will be followed by a malva pudding with crème anglaise. Tickets can be purchased on www.quicket.co.za or at Barney's Kiosk at Market Square. For more information, e-mail info@pletthistory.org or phone Len on 082 452 1799.
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