I’ve always had a soft spot for the cattle grids scattered far and wide across our gorgeous great Karoo. Each one feels slightly different — shaped by weather, use, and time — each with its own quiet character.

This one, though, has reached the end of the road. The left side has rotted away and collapsed, no longer doing the job it was built for. And yet, in its broken state, it seems to tell an even stronger story — of years gone by, of work once done, and of a landscape that carries on regardless.