CHAMPAGNE COLLECTION CC THE
Accommodation Services in Hermanus

Our story started with our own family and a move from the city of Cape Town to the village of Hermanus in Hermanus was nothing more than a village then; one main street and no supermarkets. My earliest memories are nostalgic; the clanging of the milk truck which collected our coupons and left our milk on the doorstep, the Butchery and the sound of the noisy saw cutting the chump chops my Mum would order over the counter every Friday. We had a Green Grocer too, Freddy, and on Fridays Freddy and the folks from Hawston would make an early trip to Epping market and come home with their trucks loaded with fresh fruit and veg. The trucks parked in a row on the Market Square where they set up for the day to sell their fresh produce. Then it was off to the dairy depot, fresh eggs and chicken were ticked off Nannies shopping list. Nanny was nanny and she ran the household; a legend of a woman who moved to Hermanus with Mum and Dad. She was to be loved and feared, especially when venturing into HER kitchen. Lastly was the visit to JJ Du Toit, the general dealer, he stocked tinned foods and hardware mostly, all neatly stacked on crude shelves stretching the length of his deep shop. Other speciality shops were the toy shop, a tiny shop but packed ceiling height with everything a little one could dream of, Lemm’s Corner, an old double story building with ornate balcony, in my memory it has suitcases and our school uniform and The Princess Cafe where Mum would buy The Sunday Times and our lucky packets after church at St Peter’s on Sundays. Dad and Mum set up business as Property Agents and went about Selling and Managing Holiday Homes for those fortunate enough to own them. Mum had green fingers and her clients arrived to beautifully staged flowering gardens complete with thriving vegetable and herb patches.