Province:
Platinum Provincial DugoutDistrict:
Lowveld District DugoutAbout us and Our History:
The serene village of Sabie, surrounded by forests, mountains and waterfalls can only be reached by one of four mountain passes. This village is the home of one of the most vibrant Shellholes in the MOTH. Like the runt of the litter after which it was named, Jock may be the smallest Shellhole in the Lowveld, but it is tenacious, respected and admired by all for its lively, fun-filled meetings at which it achieves a 100% attendance.
Jock has two distinct faces—the dedicated loyal and obedient Jock owned by Sir Percy FitzPatrick, and the rough tough no-nonsense Jock we use on occasion like the All Blacks use the “Haka”.
Jock Shellhole was first established in 1946 with an initial membership of 35. After mucking about for a couple of years, the Shellhole was eventually chartered on 4 December 1949.
With the closing down of the gold mines around Sabie as well the changing landscape around the forestry industry, our numbers have dwindled over the years to our present 10 which makes Jock the smallest Shellhole in the Lowveld.
For the first few years of its existence, the Shellhole met at various venues until 1955 when, on application, sufficient 
money was received from the Ndola Sweep to purchase the present Shellhole building. The building, originally with a thatched roof, is believed to have been built in the late 1930s when it was used as a youth organisation meeting place. In the earlier years the Moths rented the building out to various churches and organisations. The NG Kerk Sabie and 
Living Waters Church Sabie both started in the Jock Shellhole Hall. Yearly Christmas plays, bingo evenings and such activities used to take place regularly from 1950 till the late 1980’s.
A cutting of the European Hornbeam tree (Carpinus Betulus), the only surviving tree from Delville Wood, one of seven such cuttings, was planted in front of the Shellhole and as can be seen in the picture, is still standing tall and healthy today.
The Sabie War Memorial Hospital opened in its present location on the 19th of February 1941. At that stage, the 2nd World War (1939 – 1945) was still in its infancy. In keeping with the decision that this new hospital was going to commemorate the men of Sabie who fell in the Great War (1914 – 1918), it was decided to erect a memorial plaque in its entrance foyer.
The 2nd World War eventually came to an end, our boys came home, but Sabie had again paid a price. A second memorial plaque bearing the names of our fallen heroes was again mounted in the entrance foyer of the hospital alongside the first one.
These two memorial plaques remained in place for many years, perhaps noticed, perhaps not.
As the years passed, the name of the hospital was, somehow or other, changed to Sabie Hospital, the memorial plaques deteriorated and seemed to have become insignificant.
In 2006, the plaques were recovered from the hospital, refurbished and today occupy pride of place alongside other wartime memorabilia inside the MOTH Shellhole – And the memory lives on.
Besides these memorial plaques the memorial stone which once stood outside the Sabie Town Hall has also been recovered and now stands in pride of place in front of the Jock Shellhole.
If you ever served in the armed forces, miss the camaraderie of your service, want to relive some of the old memories, the good and the bad, or just curious; come along to a meeting. Come and experience true comradeship, the meaning of mutual help and feel the deep gratitude of remembering those who gave their tomorrow for our today.
