The Ranch Hotel / Polokwane Weekend Tour November 2006
The Ranch Hotel is situated near Polokwane (Pietersburg) in the Limpopo Province, about 2 hours North of Pretoria. It was a popular destination for Bentley Drivers Club outings in the 1960's and 70's, so it seemed an appropriate destination for the first weekend tour organised by Classic Rolls SA. It is also interesting to note that the hotel was the first home to our Silver Shadow in 1974. The car was delivered new to Mr. Basil Shearer, founder of the hotel, which is to this day owned and managed by his family. Pictured above is the lineup of cars that attended the weekend.
On Saturday morning after breakfast we decided to drive out into the scenic countryside to the quaint village of Haenertsburg, situated East of Polokwane on the road to Tzaneen. Here we had lunch while waiting for Tony to catch up with us after leaving Johannesburg earlier that morning...	...he duly arrived in his stunning 1927 4.5 litre Bentley.
Our son Jamie relaxing in the back of the Shadow, oblivious to the beautiful view of a vintage Bentley in the back window.	What would a classic car weekend be without a bit a spanner swinging? By day three they could not resist it any longer, so a toolbox was produced in the hope that something might require tightening or fixing...
...but search as they might, nothing was found amiss and the tools were packed away again. Maybe next time! For now the mighty 8-litre wins and remains untouched.	Current owner of the hotel Tom Shearer and his two sons posing in front of Tom's dad's old car. It was a wonderful emotion returning the car to it's first home.
Clive loading up for the journey home while his mascot "Bertie, the Brooklands Bentley bear" gets ready for the open road.
A quick group photo before we depart. From left to right: James & Lynn (Continental T), Roy & Jane (R-Type), Clive (8-litre), Tony (4.5 litre) and KC, Jeannette & Jamie (Silver Shadow)
The exhilarating view from the passenger seat of the 1931 8-litre Bentley. Looking over acres of bonnet and with another vintage Bentley in the foreground are some of the ingredients that fond motoring memories are made off.
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