Tucked away behind historic Lord Milner Hotel is the Matjiesfontein Transport Museum, a must-see for the curious.
David Rawdon, the laird of this Victorian village, built up the collection over his lifetime.
Located in the unlikely dry rocky Karoo, it includes a London bus, vintage cars, bicycles in all styles, a fire engine, locomotives and transport-related memorabilia.
The imitation Victorian building, a popular wedding and conference venue, is not without some controversy. In 2001 an article in Rapport said there had been fireworks between the owner of Matjiesfontein and the SA Heritage Resources Agency about building a transportation museum in this national monument village near Laingsburg. But it went ahead.
At the entrance to the museum is an old petrol pump, while inside is a buttercup yellow 1952 four cylinder Renault.
Its neighbour is even older, a black four-cylinder Opel Olympia, a visual and technical delight with a crackly leather interior.
On the opposite side is Rawdon’s last car, a navy Honda. Alongside is a penny farthing bicycle, raising the question of to how to climb on to its high seat.
At the rear is a private courtyard leading to a large hall with some beautiful vintage cars, including a few hearses, one dating from 1936.
Side by side are two straight 8 cylinder engine Royal Daimlers from King George VI’s 1947 tour of South Africa. He was accompanied by princesses Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II) and Margaret.
According to Wikipedia, the general aim with these engines was “to give the greatest luxury in travel as expressed by quietness, smoothness, flexibility, and general ease and safety of control rather than great speed”.
Each vehicle must have many stories to tell such as a blue 1965 Hillman Super Minx.
Standing in a corner, this gracious old lady, named Molly after Molly MacDonald (who was a great friend to David Rawdon’s mother), now stands with pride in her final resting place.
Wanting the car for his museum, Rawdon was disappointed to hear it no longer belonged to his friend Pierre de Villiers, to whom it had been bequeathed when he was 12 years old.
Kept in storage until Pierre could take his driver’s test, he drove the car until he was in his 20s, when he sold it for something more modern and racy. Later in life he decided to find the car, but somehow it found him.
He tracked down the owner, who had already decided to sell it, and almost 10 years later the car found its way back to Pierre’s garage.
He and his dad spent four months restoring the Super Minx to her former glory, and in 2005 they donated it to Rawdon’s museum in Matjiesfontein.
Pierre thought it would be fitting to name the car after the woman who bequeathed it to him, as she “held a very special place in David’s and my own life, and so I thought it would be fitting for her to be honoured in this way”.
At the rear of the complex are some old timer vintage trains which arrived in 1982 from SA Railways.
The 1927 steam train features a dining car with shimmering wood, mirrors and blue leather upholstery.
Next to the museum is a large field which once hosted the first international cricket match played in South Africa. This was on March 13, 1896, with Lord Hawke’s team from England.
The renowned George Alfred Lohmann was the bowler, and he eventually retired to Matjiesfontein due to a chest complaint.
He is buried in the cemetery at Pieter Meintjiesfontein 10km west of the village towards Cape Town.
l For more information on the museum, call 023 561 3011