STANLEY’S LIGHT
“The mountain is my child, I love that mountain so much that I even take some toys for him. Nobody has ever thought to give him a small present to say thank you for all the water he supplies us with. That’s why I put a light in his hand.”
(Translated excerpt from “Presentjie vir die ou berg” from Abraham H de Vries’ collection of short stories “Volmoed se Gasie”)
Stanley’s Light History
Stanley was a keen mountaineer and during several trips up the mountain he noticed a perennial stream cascading down a vertical rock. This made him hit upon the idea of installing a light which would burn permanently and could be seen from town.
He carted 22 m of plastic pipe, electrical cables, cement and sand up the mountain to do the installation. Water was fed from the stream via the plastic pipe vertically onto a wheel (also designed by Stanley) which in turn was connected to a bicycle dynamo. The dynamo, driven at high speed by the wheel, was attached to a bicycle light with an electrical cable, fixed to a rock.
A study done by the Engineering Department at UCT years ago, reckoned that it is most probably the smallest hydro-electrical unit in the world that ran day-and-night – if the water supply is constant. The light is clearly visible from town as soon as night falls.
Stanley maintained the light for 30 years, undertaking 278 trips exceeding 3 000 km! Bulbs had to be replaced regularly, whilst the alternator lasted between one and two years.
Stanley often told the story of the baboon boycott against him. Apparently they did not like the fact that he and his light were in the lime light so often! One particular morning he started the climb at 04:00, trying to avoid the heat of the day. He thus had to take a torch along to light his way up the mountain. When dawn broke, he hid it under two flat rocks, as was his habit. He heard the baboons, but due to heavy fog, could not see them. Coming back later, he found the two rocks neatly rolled away and the torch missing! He suspected that they were watching him from a distance in order to lay their hands on this shiny object. He searched the area for a long time, hoping that they would get tired of this new toy, but all in vain.
He said tongue in cheek that he had to go up to the light more often than usual to take a supply of new batteries to the baboons for the torch!
He kept this up until his legs told him that it was time to stop and volunteers took over the job of looking after his light. Jackie du Toit undertook the task upon himself till his knees also started giving him problems. Jan Barnard from Nature Conservation then took over and changed some of the original patent. Later Hugh Sussens took it upon himself to attend to the light. As the alternator was dependent on the flow of water and would stop working during a drought, a photovoltaic system was installed to kick-start the alternator when there was water again after a drought. The bicycle light was also replaced by two 24V truck lights and the dynamo by an alternator. A photovoltaic LED light was installed by volunteers after the alternator was damaged by lightning. .
Stanley did not stop at this one light! He went even higher up the mountain and installed 5 wind-driven bicycle dynamo coloured lights at various sites (perhaps the first “wind-farm”?) along the peak of the mountain. The light were red, green and white and when the wind came from the south, the red light would go on. He often picked up the pieces, as the wind destroyed the lights and in the end he just attended to his “star”. Today there are still some rusty pieces left of this row of lights as silent evidence of his ingenuity.
He said that the people in the old age home could not sleep if the light was not burning and in the morning he would be told “to go and look” to see what was wrong – the light was all they had to look at.
David Kramer said of his old friend “all those years Stan went up the mountain to fix the pipes in order for his ‘star’ to twinkle, but now his pipes are not in such a good condition any longer, his dynamo is not working so well and the twinkle of his star is fading”, but as Langenhoven’s great-granddaughter, Willemien Brümmer said, “but his spirit will always roam around his light”.
‘Die Liggie’ is not only a beacon for the Ladismith people, but is well-known far outside the borders of the district. Stanley was honoured by a shoe-factory in Tulbagh when they dedicated their 10 000th pair of ‘velskoene’ to him. David Kramer wrote a song about him – “Stanley en die koei” and Willim Welsyn dedicated a poem to him after his death in 2012, and wrote the music for the lyrics in 2017.
Original System
Alternator
Stanley 1963
Wind Farm
Lied oor Stanley de Wit
RIP oom Stanley de Wit van Ladismith, he was the King of the Klein Karoo Kowboys:
Willem Welsyn – October 2012
Oom Stanley voor sy huis in Koningstraat
is al maande lank vir oom Koenie kwaad
oor die drankstoor se muur wat sy liggie verblind
in die berg, shame dit is erg
want in 1963 op 31 Mei
het die oompie ‘n fietslig in die hande gekry
en die styl swaar pad berguit geklim
om sy liggie te gaan bou
…
vir my en vir jou
laat ons kan sien, laat ons kan weet
laat ons nooit van die berg vergeet
hoe kwater word die water
hoe skerper skyn die lig in ons gesig
ek is jammer David Kramer die koei is ou nuus
ek vra ook hartlik om verskoning vir Abraham de Vries
dat ek julle weerlig so lelik moes kom steel
jy sal jou wat verbeel, jy sal jou wat verbeel
Henk Bom was die bouer van die drankstoormuur
hy was ‘n staatsgetuie en so sterk soos ‘n tier
maar so mal soos ‘n haas, so kens so ‘n mens
wat baklei het op die grens
wat baklei het op die grens
laat ons kan sien, laat ons kan weet
laat ons nooit van die berg vergeet
hoe kwater word die water
hoe skerper skyn die lig in ons gesig
tant Hennie Ellis is oom Stanley se beste maat
hulle altwee is nog steeds vir oom Koenie kwaad
oor die muur wat die liggie verblind in die berg
shame, dit is erg
maar ten minste kan die oompie in die straat gaan staan
onder die arms van ‘n Klein Karoo-maan
en as hy mooi gaan kyk sal sy liggie nog skyn
hy sal nooit verdwyn, hy sal nooit verdwyn
laat ons kan sien, laat ons kan weet
laat ons nooit van die berg vergeet
hoe kwater word die water
hoe skerper skyn die lig in ons gesig