Lady Grey, an ideally placed hamlet, with the potential of becoming the most desirable holiday/retirement village in the Western Cape - what a future!   But it didn’t happen.  It did become a farmers’ village with a Church and school but still it failed to develop.  In its spectacularly beautiful setting it remained remote, unknown, literally ex-centric.  

It even had a name change. Yes on the 6^th April 1906 the towns name was changed to McGregor – why?  Well mail was getting mixed up with another lady Grey in South Africa and to, honour the Scottish Minister who came to save the souls of the town, it was re named McGregor!

The lack of development was due to the failure of two roads.

1)     The Bosjesveld road from Villiersdorp to Stormsvlei  which was used by wagons and the coach which carried to carry post and passengers to and from Swellendam;McGregor was, with its two converging streams, considered a necessary watering stop.  

2)     And the road to Greyton which was supposed to have linked the Breede River Valley to Caledon and the coast.   

With the coming of motorized transport the Bosjesveld road this road fell into disuse and it is now it is not even possible to plot its route.  As for the road to Greyton, it stops in mid-air – at the top of a mountain!.  You can go up the Riviersonderend Mts but at “Die Galg” the road becomes a  track and you have to walk.   Suddenly you can go no further and you’re scared even to look down.

It is difficult to sustain creative practices and alternative thinking with people peering over your shoulder and the sounds of the multitude in your ears, so an ex-centric village such as this is a natural draw-card for eccentric people; artists, innovators, people of the dream who need a measure of isolation and an unwritten slate upon which to make their mark. 

Don’t be surprised then if we tell you there are up to seventy people in the village who are, were, or would like to be artists (WHO’S WHO OF MCGREGOR ARTISTS)  a dozen who write (stories, poems, even novels), singers in plenty and a sprinkling of professional musicians, at present a foursome of wonderfully entertaining actors.   And there are dozens path-finders in alternative agriculture, religion, building, healing, eco-practices in general. 

We pride ourselves on our “skewed” statistics and the community we have created thereby.   We foster our sense of place by telling “only-in-McGregor” stories to each other.  Come and see us to experience this ambience of this creativity.  You’ll find  entertaining veins of eccentricity in the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker and your own creative juices will quicken in the process.

We will show you the work of some of our artists on these pages but this web site is an ongoing “work in progress” and new artists are to be added shortly.

We have wonderful galleries and a pottery in our village, Mulberry Studio which is affectionately known as the “home of McGregor Artists”, Gallery Art La Scala at Temenos, Jo’s Art Studio at the Lion House (Jo is the teacher of the majority of our artists) and Millstone Pottery.

Please visit our galleries on line here but, better still, come and visit us in McGregor

Click here for    Mulberry Studio         Gallery Art La Scala