The Milkwood Grove transports you into a fairytale forest; the gnarled trunks and branches bearing testimony to the hundreds of years these magnificent slow-growing trees have been growing next to the Mill Stream. They produce small white flowers, whilst the strong-smelling fruit of blackberries is loved by birds. These trees are extremely fire-resistant.
The Mill Stream originates from a spring (the Eye) to the southwest of Stanford (left of the R43 on the way to Gansbaai). Until the early 2000s, this was Stanford’s only source of water.
Further upstream, the water was used in the 1800s to power a mill which dressed the wheat grown on the local farm. Unfortunately, the mill no longer exists. Abundant bird life can be found along the Mill Stream section (Vlei Street) between Queen Victoria and De Bruyn Streets.
