The Pavilion

The Pavilion

Wine Tasting at Grangehurst Winery

When Eddie and Betty Walker moved from Camps Bay to Stellenbosch in 1973, they didn’t want to give up the sporting activities – tennis and squash – that were such an important part of their lifestyle. They were both members of the Clifton Tennis Club for many years and Eddie was the co-founder and first chairman of the Camps Bay Squash Club. So the first two projects that they embarked upon after settling in at Grangehurst were the construction of a tennis court and a squash court.

There was a ramshackle building at the southern end of the tennis court. This building had been used by the previous owners as a mushroom shed, and Eddie converted this shed into what we referred to as “The Tennis Pavilion”. Eddie, Betty and friends enjoyed many years of tennis on the Grangehurst tennis court – and sipping gin and tonics in “The Pavilion” after their tennis sessions.

Another early project at Grangehurst was the planting of saplings as there were only a few trees on this smallholding in 1973. Unfortunately some of these trees led to the demise of the tennis court due to the roots damaging the surface. It was a matter of either removing the trees and reinstating the tennis court, or leaving the trees and writing off the tennis court. In the mid-1990’s Jeremy decided on the latter option. The squash court was also sacrificed to become the start-off building for the winery that we established in 1992, and from then on we had to play squash elsewhere!

The original “Tennis Pavilion” was an improvement on the mushroom shed, but wasn’t a great building. We therefore decided to demolish this building and construct the new “Pavilion” on the footprint of the previous building. It has been a long, unhurried process but we have finally completed the construction of “The New Pavilion” which comprises offices, wine store and a private tasting room on the ground floor, and the main tasting venue on the first floor. Half of the original tennis court is now an outdoor patio adjoining The Pavilion.

Eddie and Betty are no longer with us, but we know they would be pleased that their Pavilion has been reconstructed and is now being put to good use by Grangehurst’s guests, who can enjoy our range of wines whilst taking in the breathtaking views from Cape Point to Table Mountain and beyond.