So of course one of the first buildings built in the dusty mining town of Johannesburg was not a church, not a school, not even a hotel. It was The Rand Club which served as a refuge for the first gentlemen mining magnates, the so-called Johannesburg Randlords. I visited the legendary Rand Club today for tea and a tour with Past Experiences.
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| the Heritage Trail information placard |
Conceived and established by Sir Cecil John Rhodes in 1887, the first Rand Club building was a simple single story thatched structure with a bar and meeting hall. It soon became too small for the growing club membership and was torn down after only 18 months. It was replaced on the same site by the second larger and grander Rand Club.
The club soon outgrew the second building too. Joburg was booming! Instead of demolishing and rebuilding on the same site, a new site was chosen nearby to build the third and much larger incarnation. The outgrown second building was occupied by the ...
... Guild Hall Pub which is still a going concern and is considered the oldest pub in Johannesburg.
The third and present incarnation of the Rand Club is an Edwardian era building erected in 1904 just around the corner from the Guild Hall pub on Fox Street.
It has a grand staircase worthy of Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind or maybe Leo DiCaprio in Titanic
It has the longest long bar in all of Africa!
I couldn't do this a couple of years ago. No woman could.
The library is famous.
He wrote this book!
Zulu weapons on the armory wall.
Tea on the landing with a portrait of statesman Nelson Mandela in the background.
The Rand Club offered an Afrikaans version of a cream tea serving their scones with apricot jam, cheddar cheese and clotted cream. Different but okay.
Half of the formal dining room was set up for a wedding ceremony the next day.
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