Midlands Meander/ Mandela Capture Site

We depart Durban, and make our way out of the city into the gently rolling countryside towards Pietermaritzburg, the Capital City of Kwazulu-Natal, and Howick.

Upon arrival, we view the Howick Falls, an approximately 100 metres of spectacular display almost in the centre of the picturesque town itself. You have time to browse around in the little shops in the area. We proceed and visit the site, where Nelson Mandela was captured on 5th Aug 1962. We continue via some local arts and crafts shops, if participants are interested to one of the highlights of the day: Ardmore Ceramics.

Ardmore celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010 and saw the launch of the Ardmore Design Collection, which translated Ardmore’s distinctive imagery and styling into functional, superb quality ceramic and non-ceramic products including dinnerware, tapestries, furniture, fabrics for soft furnishings, and more. The artists from the Ardmore studio are given training, direction, materials, a studio and a guaranteed market for their work, supported by a skilled marketing and administrative team.

Over the years, Ardmore’s artists have won numerous awards and exhibited widely in South Africa and around the world. Ardmore artworks feature in leading galleries and collections, including the Museum of Art & Design in New York, the Museum of Cultures in Basel, Switzerland, and the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

The acclaimed auction house Christie’s has acknowledged Ardmore artworks as “modern day collectibles”. We continue towards Nottingham Road, and after a light lunch in the area, and further browsing in the arts and crafts shops, we return to Durban in the afternoon.