Old Nick

One of the landmark destinations on the Garden Route at Plettenberg Bay is the Old Nick Village, a shopping and lifestyle centre next to the N2.  The Old Nick Shop, the main shop in the complex, is housed in the building that was originally built by Aaron Toplis in 1880 as the Gansvlei General Dealers Store.  Later on a certain English-man, Spike Devine, ran an antique shop in Plettenberg Bay village, housed in the old gaol or ‘Old Nick’, in the slang of his home country.  He became the new lessee of the Gansvlei shop and the site has been known as Old Nick ever since.

The complex consist of several buildings housing a veriety of shops and galleries...

... ranging from pottery and ceramics...

... to weavers and hand made proiducts.  There is also an excellent restaurant on the premises.

One of the buildings also contain a weaving museum.  Being the only one of its kind in South Africa, this is a working museum housing 19th century power looms, sampling and producing speciality fabrics for Mungo Design, also located in the complex.  The museum is open daily and there is usually somebody on hand to inform people on what they see.