The Groot Drakenstein Games Club is a social club, whose aims and objectives are to promote the interest of sport and the spirit of true sportsmanship in the district of Groot Drakenstein . The club provides family recreational and sporting facilities for the residents of the Groot Drakenstein Valley, and for sports lovers from further afield.
Situated in the picturesque Groot Drakenstein Valley, on the R 45 between Paarl and Franschhoek it is surrounded by farmlands, with views from the club grounds extendimg over the orchards and vineyards to the majestic Groot Drakenstein mountain range, the Simonsberg mountain and the Wemmershoek mountain range.
Dating back to 1895, the GDGC was first formed as a cricket and hockey club. Players would meet and play on a field ( normally a cow paddock) on the farm Rhone, belonging to Rhodes Fruit Farms, or travel to Paarl, Elsenberg or Stellenbosch in a wagon pulled by mules. In 1921 H.E.V.Pickstone, a farmer in the district offered for lease( at a nominal rate), a piece of ground, and together with H.O.Arton , 10 acres of land, covered with fir trees and sunken roads was chosen on the farm Delta. The beginnings of the club as we know it today. This piece of ground was leased to GDGC by H.E.V. Pickstone for the princely sum of 10 shillings per year for 50 years with an option to renew the lease at the end of the 50 years. From October 1921 the members at the time( known as The Forest Span) , including Nicholas Gray, Tom Micklem, Jimmy Taylor, and Messrs. Baldwin , P. Bick, Buller, Davis, Franceys, Manning, Solomon, and Mayo, spent many a Saturday afternoon clearing, levelling and ploughing the ground. This magnificent gesture by H.E.V.Pickstone of this piece of ground came with just one proviso – that at least one game of cricket be played on the field each year. This has increased over the years to more than 60 games per year on the field…
