and rapidly advanced to the Tugela river, laying siege to Ladysmith, some 40 km north of the river and entrapping some 8,000 British regulars. Estcourt effectively became the front and this is where General Sir Redvers Buller first established his Natal headquarters and where Winston Churchill, then a war correspondent based himself. On 15 November a raiding party ambushed an armoured train at Frere, 20 km north of Estcourt taking 70 prisoners including Churchill. After another raiding party was surprised on 23 November at Willow Grange, 10 km to the south of Estcourt, the Boers withdrew to a position behind the Tugela River. British reinforcements arrived and once Ladysmith was relieved on 1 March 1900, formal Boer opposition melted away and the colony was secured. 20th century As the twentieth century dawned, Estcourt's position as a communications hub was enhanced by the building of the Estcourt - Weenen railway line in 1907 to enable agricultural produce from Weenen to reach the main cities. (This line was closed in 1983). Municipal development Estcourt became a municipality in 1914. The Augustinian Order of Natal, having been present in the town since the 1890s built a chapel in 1929. In the last census of the century, taken in 1991, the population of Esctourt was recorded as being approximately 3 407 whites, 710 coloureds, 5 432 Asians and 1 296 blacks. Industrial development During the twentieth century, Estcourt developed from being a market town serving the local farming community to one in which the products from the farming community were used in the manufacture of consumer products. At some time close to the start of the twentieth century, Joseph Baynes, a Byrne settler and dairy industry pioneer, established a milk processing plant in Estcourt under the name of the Natal Creamery Ltd. This factory was located adjacent to the railway station. Baynes died in 1925 and in 1927 the factory, which by this time was owned by South African Condensed Milk Ltd. was bought by Nestlé. Today the factory produces Coffee, MILO and NESQUIK. In August 1917 the Farmer's Co-operative Bacon Factory Limited was founded and the building of the factory commenced. The factory was opened on 6 June 1918 by the Prime Minister General Louis Botha and marketed its products under the brand name Eskort. In August 1920, the company secured the services of Mr. H.W. Lambert of Scotland as 'sausage maker', thereby