Yellowwoods Farm 

Yellowwoods - derived from the orginal Voortrekker name, ‘Geelhoutboom’ - was built for James Methley’s son, Willoughby in 1896 on a portion of his own farm Newstead. James Methley had noticed that apples did well on the farm as well as peaches and oranges, however it was the plum trees that brought ‘fame and fortune’ to the family with the mutated ‘Methley Plum’ (believed to be a cross between the Blood and the Mirabella). The family planted these early ripening plums in 1900 and by 1929 there were 7000 plum trees between Newstead and Yellowwoods and it gave them a lucrative early monopoly on the market. The farm was ideally placed for access to both the transport routes and markets and the plums were transported by ox-cart to the railway station at Balgowan. From Balgowan they were transported by train to Durban and by ship to London where they were sold at Covent Garden. The Methley’s managed to educate their six children from the proceeds and there are still some last remaining Methely Plums in the orchard below the house today.