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Klip River

Coordinates: 26°40′15″S 27°57′15″E / 26.67083°S 27.95417°E / -26.67083; 27.95417
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Klip River
Kliprivier
Map
Klip River is located in Gauteng
Klip River
Location
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceGauteng
Physical characteristics
MouthVaal River at Vereeniging
 • coordinates
26°40′15″S 27°57′15″E / 26.67083°S 27.95417°E / -26.67083; 27.95417
 • elevation
1,414 m (4,639 ft)

The Klip River (or in Afrikaans: Kliprivier, lit.'Stone river') is the main river draining the portion of Johannesburg south of the Witwatersrand, and its basin includes the Johannesburg CBD and Soweto.[1] The mouth of the river is at Vereeniging where it empties into the Vaal River,[2] which is a tributary to the Orange River. Besides Vereeniging, other towns along the river include Henley on Klip, Lenasia and Meyerton.

The Kidson Weir

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The Kidson Weir is a weir located in the village of Henley on Klip on the Klip river in South Africa, and was named after Fenning Kidson, the grandson of an 1820 settler.[3]

Kidson Weir - Henley on Klip
Flooding at the Kidson Weir - January 2010
Flooding at the Kidson Weir - December 2010

History

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Fenning was educated in England, but returned to South Africa as a young man and became a transport rider, a contemporary of Sir Percy FitzPatrick. Soon after the outbreak of the Anglo Boer War, news came to Kidson that a commando was on his way to his farm to arrest him. Under the noses of the Boers he escaped, riding sidesaddle, his burly frame crammed into his wife’s riding habit. He finally made his way to Natal, but returned to the Transvaal after the war, settling in Henley on Klip with his wife, Edith. The family home was named Tilham, which is the manor house on the river at the corner of Regatta and Shillingford Roads.[4]

Today

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In December 2010, the village of Henley on Klip experienced heavy floods, after which, it was decided to do some work on improving the weir. In January 2012 work has started on the repairs to the pipes on the western side of the weir. In March 2012 plans were being drawn up to build a new bridge across the weir.[5][6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Klip Basin map". Archived from the original on 2005-05-05. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  2. ^ Upper Vaal Basin map, Government of South Africa
  3. ^ "Kidson Weir - Henley on Klip - Water Dams on Waymarking.com". Groundspeak, Inc. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  4. ^ "Henley on Klip". The South Entertainment, September 2004, Issue No.59. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Henley on Klip" (PDF). The Henley Herald. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  6. ^ "MIDVAAL APPROVES A BUDGET OF R930 MILLION FOR 2012/2013" (PDF). Midvaal Local Municipality. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
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