Heritage New Zealand Spring | Kōanga 2024

Heritage New Zealand

PARK LIFE

AT THE COALFACE

The renaissance of a West Coast mining town

ON THE RADAR

World-first research in the sub-Antarctic islands

PREMIER PROPERTY

Antrim House has a new look

Issue 174 / Kōanga / Spring 2024 /NZ$9.95 incl. GST

How do New Zealand’s heritage parks stay relevant?

Unmissable heritage experiences for your next roadie this spring.

Photography by Mark Russell and Mike Heydon.

Scan the QR code to view curated KERIKERI M I S S I O N S TAT I O N

itineraries of beautiful heritage sites across Auckland, Northland, P O M PA L L I ER M I S S I O N AND PRINTERY

and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Linger a while as you step back in ALBERTON

NORTHLAND

HIGHWIC CLENDON HOUSE

AUCKL AND

time this spring at these unforgettable places.

NGĀ KORERŌ O ROTO • CONTENTS

Heritage New Zealand

40

Kōanga / Spring 2024

Features 12 Picture this A small-town Kiwi upbringing sparked a love of heritage for photographer Grant Sheehan

16 Premier property The Wellington icon that is Antrim House has been future-proofed by a team of specialists

22 At the coalface The West Coast’s Blackball is experiencing a renaissance thanks to a community-led programme

30 A safe haven A passionate Samoan komiti is bringing an iconic central Auckland building back to life

34 A league of their own Alongside rugby union, rugby league has put down deep social and cultural roots in our society

Explore the list 8

34 46

Ahead of their time The Dorset Street flats in Christchurch paved the way for a new post-war style of modern urban living

10 Making connections A Taranaki community pulled together to save a much-loved bridge from demolition

Journeys into the past 40 Park life How do New Zealand’s heritage parks stay relevant as our perspective on heritage evolves?

46 On the radar

30

Remarkable revelations from a world-first research programme in the sub-Antarctic islands

Columns 3

Editorial

4

Noticeboard

52 Books 54 My heritage place Why The Hon Paul Goldsmith has long been fascinated with St Mary’s Church in Parnell

22 Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 1

From the Stone Store to Stonehenge, remember your member benefits!

Stone Store, New Zealand

Stonehenge, England

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga cares for 45 sites here in New Zealand that you, as a member, can access for free.

Your membership card opens the doors to over 1,500 heritage places overseas (including the Stonehenge UNESCO world heritage site).

Make the most of visiting unique heritage in Aotearoa this winter.

Check Members Hub for opening hours. To access the Hub, simply scan the QR code on the back of your membership card.

If you are heading overseas, remember to take your membership card to access a world of heritage during your travels. And if you need to renew before you go, please allow plenty of time for postage!

Ngā mihi | Thank you!

We are very grateful to those supporters who have recently made donations towards our work to preserve heritage in New Zealand. Whilst some are kindly acknowledged below, many more have chosen to give anonymously.

Mr Rod and Mrs Patrica Syme Mrs Kathryn and Mr John Peebles Mr Brian and Mrs Anne Silverstone Ms Eleanor Denton Mr Bruce Philpott Dr Pat Campbell Mrs Pam Lyons-Montgomery Dr. Colin Patrick and Mr Bryan Gibbison Mr Alan and Mrs Pamela Holdt Mr Angus Hodgson Mrs Gillian Clarke Tony [JA] Doogue Mr Kelvin and Mrs Sue Allen

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se return to: If found, plea post Zealand, Free Heritage New on 2629, Wellingt 3206, PO Box and Zeal 6140, New age.org.nz herit hip@ members 010 802 0800

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Mr Jim and Mrs Pat Sharp Dr Simon and Mrs Robin Barclay Mr Andrew and Mrs Bridget Read Mr Ian and Mrs Erryn Dawson In Memory of Ben Schrader Lisa, Gui, Millie, Lottie and Nellie Bryan Patchett & Graeme Austin The Willis Bond Team Ms Christine Hyndman Bruce Stirling Dr Richard Norman Sarah Boyd Mr Alex Nelson Mr Guy Somerset Melanie Lovell-Smith Staff and adjunct researchers at the Stout Research Centre James Jacobs Ms Bettina Schaer Mr Jeremy Scrivener MBIE Building System Performance Leadership Team Mr Andrew Nelson and Phyl Haydock

New Zealand

PARK LIFE

AT THE COALFACE

The renaissance of a West Coast mining town

ON THE RADAR

World-first research in the sub-Antarctic islands

PREMIER PROPERTY

Antrim House has a new look

Issue 174 / Kōanga / Spring 2024 /NZ$9.95 incl. GST

How do New Zealand’s heritage parks stay relevant?

Heritage New Zealand Issue 174 Kōanga • Spring 2024 ISSN 1175-9615 (Print) ISSN 2253-5330 (Online)

T

he West Coast of Te Waipounamu

Also explored in this issue is the

is a special place; rugged, wild,

restoration of Antrim House, the head

remote and forbidding. Drive the

office of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere

400 kilometres of untamed wilderness

Taonga, which reopened in June, after

from Haast to Westport and you’ll

a major upgrade project.

see raging rivers, pristine rainforest,

Seismic consultants, carpenters,

stunning glaciers and black sand

painters, and a roofer who had worked

beaches pounded by surf. It also has

on the Palace of Versailles were just

Cover image:

a rich history, from the deep-rooted

some of the myriad specialists who

Park life by Mike Heydon

connections of Ngāi Tahu to pounamu,

provided the heritage expertise needed

to the ‘gold rush’ of 1864 and the coal

to future-proof one of Wellington’s most

mining that continues today.

recognisable buildings.

Editor Anna Dunlop, Sugar Bag Publishing

The remoteness of the region means

This is my first note as editor of

Sub-editor

it isn’t an easy place to live in, even in

Heritage New Zealand magazine, and

Trish Heketa, Sugar Bag Publishing

these modern times, so what would

I’m excited to be learning more about

it have been like for the miners of the

the heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand

1800s? They must have been a hardy

and sharing these stories.

Art director Amanda Trayes, Sugar Bag Publishing

Publisher Heritage New Zealand magazine is published quarterly by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. The magazine had a circulation of 7717 as at 30 June 2024.

The views expressed in the articles are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.

Advertising For advertising enquiries, please contact Tony Leggett, Advertising Sales Manager.

Phone: 027 474 6093 Email: tony.leggett@nzfarmlife.co.nz

Subscriptions/Membership Heritage New Zealand magazine is sent to all members of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. Call 0800 802 010 to find out more.

Tell us your views At Heritage New Zealand magazine we enjoy feedback about any of the articles in this issue or heritage-related matters.

Email: The Editor at heritagenz@gmail.com Post: The Editor, c/- Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, PO Box 2629, Wellington 6140 Feature articles: Note that articles are usually commissioned, so please contact the Editor for guidance regarding a story proposal before proceeding. All manuscripts accepted for publication in Heritage New Zealand magazine are subject to editing at the discretion of the Editor and Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.

Online: Subscription and advertising details can be found under the Resources section on the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga website heritage.org.nz.

bunch, with indomitable drive and

Two years ago, as part of my first

determination, and formidable spirit.

writing assignment for the magazine, I

You don’t have to look far in this

went on a tour of Dunedin’s Southern

part of the world to see that this spirit

Cemetery with Gregor Campbell. Gregor

continues today. While many of the

is a taphophile – a lover of cemeteries –

West Coast’s mining towns faded

and sees them as “libraries of lives lived”.

into obscurity – some disappearing

I came away utterly stunned, not just

almost overnight when the mines

by the stories of some of Dunedin’s

shut – Blackball, a town of around 300,

most famous faces but by the tales of

30 kilometres south of Greymouth, is

the ‘ordinary’ people that Gregor had

experiencing something of a renaissance,

uncovered and brought vividly to life.

driven in part by an ambitious,

HE WHAKAARO NĀ TE ĒTITA • EDITORIAL

Not so ordinary

Heritage

My work on that story showed me

community-led development programme.

that heritage is about so much more

Let’s face it, you’d expect nothing less

than old buildings; it’s also about their

from the town that many view as the

social, cultural and historical significance.

birthplace of the Labour Party.

It’s about the people: the heritage

Most of the 20-plus projects that

specialists who offer their expertise;

comprise the programme focus on

the communities that refuse to let their

Blackball’s mining heritage: there’s the

towns die; the ordinary citizens buried

restoration of the Category 1 chimney

in unremarkable graves deep in urban

on the Blackball mine site, and the

and rural cemeteries and the people who

reinstallation of one of the town’s aerial

are interested enough to research their

ropeway towers, which was part of a

stories, bringing them to life in the

5.5-kilometre network that carried coal

tales they share with us.

across the Grey River. You can read more about it in this issue, and also hear from some of the residents who have poured their hearts and souls into their

Ngā mihi nui Anna

town’s revival.

Heritage New Zealand magazine is printed with mineral-oil-free, soy-based vegetable inks on Impress paper. This paper is Forestry Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified, and manufactured from pulp from responsible sources under the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. Please recycle.

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 3

PAPA PĀNUI • NOTICEBOARD

LETTERS...

I have been interested in the

It was good to see the

that Nick McQuoid has

article on Waihohonu Hut

been restoring and now has

in issue 173 of Heritage

heritage status. It will be an

New Zealand magazine.

interesting place to stay, and

story of the Futuro home

SOCIAL HERITAGE… with Paul Veart, Web and Digital Advisor, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga

It was one end of a horse

Futuro factory in 1976 for the

E

trek for tourists from Lake

year it was in production. He

which her father worked tirelessly to maintain.

Rotoaira via Ketetahi Hut

was the production manager

on the northern slopes of

and wrote about this time in

Bay, and her experiences living there in the early 1950s.

Tongariro, up and past Blue

his autobiography

Janice has put many of her memories of this time into

One aspect of the hut’s involvement in tourism in

I see it is already booked for two years ahead.

the years 1904-08 was, however, omitted.

My interest in it is because my husband worked at the

arlier this year we were lucky enough to be contacted

by Janice Cheeseman in response to our ‘Auckland Gas Company Christmas Pudding’ interactive. Janice

grew up in the shadow of the Franklin Road gasholders, Our conversation with Janice soon turned to Freemans

Lake and across the Oturere

He was very disappointed

Crater, to Waihohonu Hut.

when the trust closed it down

writing, capturing daily life in the inner-city suburb.

Then tourists rejoined the

rather than put more money

Makaurau in the 1950s, what makes Janice’s story unique

‘grand tour’ described in

into it! The workers were too

is her perspective as a child. She notes the rag-and-bone

the article.

successful, it seemed.

man with his horse and cart, the glistening rainbow oil

While there are a number of accounts of Tāmaki

A 1908 map available from

I do remember when

slicks on the tops of puddles and a copper money box in

Archives New Zealand shows

there was a truck strike in

the shape of a windmill that was made by her neighbour.

the route. In the early 1970s,

New Zealand and a house

Over a number of weeks, we worked with Janice to put

on a tramping trip that went

was ready to be delivered

together the interactive, as well as a series of social media

across the head of Oturere

to Nelson and erected by

posts based on her story.

Crater, I found the old cairns

a certain date. The three

Fortunately, from a social media perspective, Freemans

that marked the route.

managers decided to hire

Bay was heavily photographed during the 1950s and ’60s

trailers and take the parts up

due to the radical changes that were taking place there.

was not originally painted

Of course, Waihohonu Hut

to Nelson themselves, and as

To see images of the suburb during this time is to see a

red, as it is now – see the

it was school holidays their

world in flux: rows of workers cottages beside gaping holes;

photo [above] from 1911 with

young families went with them

historic gasholders looming behind newly constructed flats.

Jane Thomson at left, after

for the three days. It was the

a traverse of Ruapehu from

most exciting time for us all.

inspired a number of comments from our Facebook

Bryan and I have belonged

followers – people who had their own memories of

Rangitaua to Waihohonu Hut

The publication of Janice’s story with these photos

via the peaks of Tahurangi

to Heritage New Zealand

and Te Heuheu. She was quite

Pouhere Taonga for about

Some remembered the suburb’s trade union history;

a mountaineer, whose exploits

45 years and have always

others its celebrated parties in the ’70s. One Facebook

included the second Grand

enjoyed our association with it

follower even described experiencing the smell of bitumen

Traverse of Aoraki/Mt Cook in

and the number of places we

in their nose just from looking at the images.

1916 at the age of 57.

could visit in Britain and New

Graham Langton PhD, mountaineering historian

Zealand on our many visits!

their stories. You can view the related interactive here:

Rosemary Beechey

https://bit.ly/FreemansBay

4 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

Freemans Bay.

Thanks very much to Janice and everyone who shared

IMAGE: SUPPLIED, AUCKLAND LIBRARIES HERITAGE COLLECTIONS

BEHIND THE STORY... with writer Claudia Babirat For this issue you write about the restoration of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga’s head office, Antrim House.

What was something you were interested to discover during your work on the assignment?

Huirangi, p10

Places we visit

Auckland, p30

Wellington, p16 town of Waiuta. Working

Nelson, p12

alongside the passionate

I really enjoyed my

people who care for these

conversation with Carl

places is something I will

Bohnen, Project Director for

value forever.

Naylor Love, who told me

conducting an inspection

What’s your favourite heritage place, and why?

underneath Antrim House. He

I don’t have a favourite.

found an area of discarded

What excites me most is

tins, indicating that this

exploring heritage places

was where the tradies who

that are new to me. It’s like

originally built Antrim House

putting together the pieces

may have sat while having

of a jigsaw puzzle. The more

their smoko breaks. It’s such a

places I visit, the more stories

strong image in my head now,

I learn, and the richer my

an almost tangible connection

understanding becomes of

to the master craftsmen

the hugely varied people and

who created this beautiful

industries that have created

structure from the ground up.

who I am – we are – today.

about the ‘treasures’ he’d discovered when he was

You previously worked as Marketing and Communications Manager for Tohu Whenua. What did you most love about that role?

I loved seeing some of the Tohu Whenua flourish in those six years, especially on Te Tai Poutini/the West Coast.

Reefton has turned into

HERITAGE NEW ZEALAND POUHERE TAONGA DIRECTORY National Office PO Box 2629, Wellington 6140 Antrim House 63 Boulcott Street Wellington 6011

a hip destination, with

(04) 472 4341

new attractions such as

information@heritage.org.nz

the Reefton Distilling Co. The beautifully revamped Fox Glacier viewpoint Te Kopikopiko o te Waka now tells the celestial story of how Te Waipounamu/the

Go to heritage.org.nz for details of offices and historic places around New Zealand that are cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.

Christchurch, p8

Blackball, p22

MEMBER AND SUPPORTER UPDATE… with Brendon Veale From the conversations I’ve had with many of you while you’ve renewed your membership or rejoined us as members, it appears you have been travelling widely – and in particular, overseas.

This is great, because one of your major membership benefits is the free access to hundreds of heritage sites in countries around the globe.

However, while you often share your travel plans with us over the phone, we rarely hear about how they went. And we’d love to know!

So if you are one of those globetrotters who has just returned from a heritage-soaked European summer vacation, why not get in touch and share your stories, photos and insights? That way we can let other interested members know the spots to make a beeline for when planning their trips.

It might be a place that really stood out as a heritage gem, which you feel others must experience. Or it could be a place that means a lot to you because of the connection you have with that site.

Let us know and we’ll share the news. You can email us at membership@heritage.org.nz or use the ‘Contact us’ form in the Members’ Hub. We can’t wait to hear your tales from the road.

South Island came to be. And of course, all the recent buzz over the historic goldmining

IMAGERY: SUPPLIED

Brendon Veale, Manager Supporter Development 0800 HERITAGE (0800 802 010) bveale@heritage.org.nz

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 5

PAPA PĀNUI • NOTICEBOARD

Precious connections A new set of items with a strong link to New Zealand suffragist Kate Sheppard has “deeply enriched” the display at Te Whare Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard House in Christchurch

manager of the magazine, and William’s sister Lucy was an associate editor and

T

later editor,” says Margaret. “Kate served he recently donated collection

“Kate Sheppard and the Smith family

as founding editor until 1903.”

includes a Victorian chair and

(they later changed their name to

a locket with a book chain

Lovell-Smith) were working together

owned by Sheppard hint at the breadth

necklace that belonged to Sheppard.

in the New Zealand Women’s Christian

of her reading: The Sermon on the Mount,

Other everyday objects, ranging from

Temperance Union (NZWCTU), which

illustrated in the style of an illuminated

a canteen of fish knives and forks and

led the suffrage campaign, and singing

manuscript; a study on evolution; and the

a Chinese porcelain tea cup and saucer

together in the Riccarton choir from the

works of William Shakespeare.

to books and other publications, were

mid-1880s,” says Margaret.

all either owned by Sheppard or closely associated with her.

“My great-grandmother, Jennie Smith,

Three books among the donated items

The donated items are a welcome and important addition to Te Whare Waiutuutu

was an enthusiastic collector of signatures

Kate Sheppard House, according to

Donated by Christchurch historian

for the suffrage petitions, and my great-

Property Lead Helen Osborne.

Margaret Lovell-Smith, whose great-

grandfather, William, was the conductor of

grandfather William Lovell-Smith married

the Riccarton Choral Society.”

“Originally we only had about nine items associated with Kate Sheppard

Sheppard in 1925, the pieces are a legacy

One of the donated items is a copy

in the collection. Margaret’s donation –

of the long friendship between Sheppard

of White Ribbon magazine – the official

originally a loan for the opening displays

and the Lovell-Smith family.

publication of the NZWCTU, which began

at the house – has effectively doubled that

“The items were given to me in the

in 1895 with Sheppard as editor. Here she

number,” she says.

1990s by relatives who recognised their

continued to campaign for women’s rights

significance as having belonged to Kate,

while also promoting and reporting on

house’s display and provide deep and

and thought I would eventually be able

the NZWCTU and other women’s groups

tangible connections to Kate Sheppard

to find a permanent home for them,”

affiliated with the National Council of

and the campaign. We are so grateful for

says Margaret.

Women of New Zealand. Topics covered

the generosity the Lovell-Smith family have

“I had hoped and believed that one

by the magazine included social, political

shown to Heritage New Zealand Pouhere

day there would be a museum dedicated

and legal issues relating to women, as well

Taonga to ‘bring them home’.”

to Kate Sheppard and the women’s

as general health subjects, dress reform,

suffrage story, so I was delighted when

and home and family.

this became a reality with Heritage

“These gifted items deeply enrich the

Margaret’s book, Plain Living, High

“The Smith family and Kate worked

Thinking, tells the story of Will and Jennie

New Zealand Pouhere Taonga acquiring

closely together on White Ribbon, which

Lovell-Smith and their 10 children, and

Kate Sheppard House in 2019.”

was printed at the family printing business

touches on their relationship with Kate.

where William Smith and four of his

It is available to buy from Te Whare

children worked. Jennie was the business

Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard House.

Today cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, Sheppard’s Ilam house was where she lived when working on the New Zealand women’s suffrage campaign. It is here the contributions of Sheppard and women around the country are celebrated and their stories told, and the items newly donated to the collection convey further important information about her.

6 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

Ngā Taonga i tēnei marama, Heritage this month – subscribe now Keep up to date with heritage happenings with our free e-newsletter Ngā Taonga i tēnei marama, Heritage this month. Visit heritage.org.nz to subscribe.

IMAGERY: SUPPLIED

Cultivating heritage

T

he pre-European Maaori garden of Te Parapara, in Hamilton Gardens, is the world’s only traditional productive Maaori garden and tells the story of the settlement and exploration of the Waikato Tainui iwi, the first inhabitants of Kirikiriroa (Hamilton).

For more on Te Parapara, see ‘Sweet celebrations’, Winter 2021, issue 161, or scan the QR code to see our ‘Matariki at Te Parapara’ video.

The path into Te Parapara – Te Ara Whakataukii (the Path of Proverbs) – is where uncultivated

food from the forest and grassland can be found, while the garden itself is the realm of cultivated food. Te Taupa (the garden) is cultivated according to the traditions of Maramataka, and plants include seven heritage varieties of kuumara some dating back to the arrival of the first waka in the 13th century – as well as taro, aute, hue and uwhi.

In accordance with Tainui spelling, this article uses double vowels instead of macrons.

Te Parapara is open daily, and entry is free. Visit hamiltongardens.co.nz/ hamilton-gardens-visit-gardens/maori-te-parapara-garden for more information.

IMAGERY: GRANT SHEEHAN

aute: paper mulberry hue: gourd Maramataka: Maaori lunar calendar uwhi: winged yam waka: canoe

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 7

TŪHURATIA TE RĀRANGI • EXPLORE THE LIST

WORDS: ANNA DUNLOP / IMAGERY: DENNIS RADERMACHER

Listing:

Ahead of their time

the city. Busloads of bemused

7804

residents would drive past to view – and jeer at – ‘Fort Dorset’ and its radical, prisonblock-like appearance.

Sir Miles had worked in the

Once derided for their radical architecture, the Dorset Street Flats in central Christchurch paved the way for a new post-war style of modern urban living

UK in the early 1950s during the birth of New Brutalism, and was also influenced

by Le Corbusier in France and Danish architects in Copenhagen. Since Sir Miles designed the flats for himself

S

and his friends (he lived at

ometimes a building

important examples of post-

number four from 1958 to

comes along that

war modernist architecture in

1965), he was free to explore

completely transforms

the country.

his personal architectural

the architectural landscape.

However, while critics and

style, and he merged the

LOCATION Christchurch is located on the South Island’s east coast, 363km north of Dunedin.

The Dorset Street Flats

other architects lauded Sir

ideas he had picked up in

complex, a Category 1 historic

Miles’s design, others weren’t

the UK and Europe to create

bold colours, while built-

place comprising eight

so sure. When the flats were

his own concept for modern,

in fittings and furniture

one-bedroom apartments

built between 1956 and 1957,

minimalist, purpose-designed

showcase the architect’s love

divided over two buildings

their industrial materials and

residential living for young

of total design. Additionally,

in Christchurch’s central city,

severe lines were in stark

single professionals.

as Sir Miles considered

was one of them. An early

contrast to Christchurch’s

design of renowned New

The Brutalist influence

masonry construction to be

old Edwardian and Victorian

is displayed in the flats’

well suited to Christchurch’s

Zealand architect Sir Miles

houses, and earned them

axial planning, concrete

climate, the flats demonstrate

Warren, the flats have been

the reputation of being one

beams, contrasting textures,

one of the earliest attempts

recognised as one of the most

of the ugliest buildings in

negative detailing and

to construct a New Zealand

8 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

He was the perfect choice,

The experts thought so

having earlier worked for both

too: the restoration project

architects Warren & Mahoney

won a heritage award at

and the building’s original

the 2023 New Zealand

engineers, Holmes Consulting.

Architecture Awards.

“He was extremely

one of the restored Dorset

modern architecture, so was

Street Flats last year.

the ideal person to lead the

concrete blocks.

“By the time I bought the

“I love the juxtaposition of

repair and project manage

materials – concrete block

it,” says Craig.

walls and timber batten

The project initially aimed

ceilings with cork and ceramic

to just repair the earthquake

tile flooring – which has been

damage, but evolved into

enhanced by an exposed

also upgrading the flats to

shuttered concrete structural

modern living standards.

wall added during the repair.”

Grouting was slowly injected building from load-bearing

Campbell Johnson bought

passionate about mid-century

He says that much of the

underneath the buildings

inbuilt furniture that had

first one I knew about the

to bring them back into

been removed before the

Christine Whybrew,

history of the buildings, but

alignment, and new concrete

construction was reinstated –

Director Southern Region

I still didn’t really appreciate

pads were added to each

with the addition of a few

at Heritage New Zealand

the flats’ significance.”

block (along with underfloor

up-to-date kitchen appliances.

Pouhere Taonga, says the

That appreciation came

flats set new architectural,

heating). Thick structural

“My flat has many of its

later when, following the

walls were installed in each

original features, such as an

social and aesthetic

devastating 2011 earthquake,

flat, providing vertical rigidity

inbuilt living-room timber

standards for domestic

Craig and the other owners

(the restoration and repair

bookshelf, kitchen, bathroom

buildings in New Zealand.

came together to save the

seismically strengthened the

and bedroom cabinetry and

“[Sir Miles] Warren

buildings from demolition.

flats to 70 percent of the

the terrazzo shower base,

pioneered a building type

“The flats didn’t fare

New Building Standards).

around which modern kitchen

that influenced urban housing

well,” he says. “The concrete

“We modernised the

and bathroom conveniences

in post-war Christchurch,

blockwork cracked and in

kitchens and bathrooms but

like a dishwasher, microwave

and references to this model

parts collapsed, and the land

kept as much of the original

and induction hob have been

continue in high-density

under the buildings liquefied,

fabric of the building as

cleverly integrated.”

dwellings today.”

causing them to slump in the

possible,” says Craig.

Campbell says the flats’

Sir Miles's avant-garde

middle. We were unanimous in

The project took two

heritage significance was a big

design certainly appealed to

our desire to repair and restore

years, and in April 2022 –

factor in his decision to buy.

Craig Garlick, who rented one

them, but we had no idea how

11 years after the destructive

“Once I fully appreciated

of the flats for a few years

long, difficult and expensive

Canterbury earthquakes –

how important the flats are

as a young man just out of

the process would be.”

the flats were finally handed

to New Zealand, as well as

back to the owners.

the extent of the earthquake

university in the mid-1980s.

“It was completely

Mired in insurance delays and red tape, the flats sat

“That was a great day,”

different from anything else

derelict until 2019, when

says Craig. “We opened two

I’d seen,” he says. Craig went

architect Greg Young of

of the flats to the public

on to buy another of the flats

Young Architects finalised

during Open Christchurch

in 2007 (he now owns three,

a repair strategy and broke

not long after. We thought

including Sir Miles's).

ground on the rebuild.

they deserved to be seen.”

repairs, I just knew I had to own one.”

Search the listing number at heritage.org.nz/places to read more.

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 9

TŪHURATIA TE RĀRANGI • EXPLORE THE LIST

WORDS: NICOLA MARTIN

Making connections A Taranaki community pulled together to save a much-loved bridge from demolition

B

Aside from the loss of

time, offered his services,

historical significance, the

and a trust deed was drawn

bridge’s closure meant an

up, with Ross Allen, Allan

18-kilometre round trip for

Reed, Robert Mahy and Paul

Peter to visit his neighbour

Carrington as the trustees.

ridges are built to span

Living just 45 metres away

on the other side of the

The number of community

obstacles and provide

from it, he has witnessed its

river. It also made popping

members soon swelled.

unobstructed pathways

history first-hand.

to a friend’s house across

The trust's first initiative

that connect two or more

“My wife Lynda and I got

the river to borrow farm

was to sell engraved bridge

points. But in the heart of

married and lived on the farm

equipment impossible.

planks to donors. Peter and

Taranaki, a special bridge has

downstream from the bridge

The Taranaki District

trust member the late Ian

also connected a community,

in 1967. We’ve been in the

Council announced it had no

Vickers were responsible for

which overcame every

area ever since.”

budget for repairs and at that

etching donors' names onto

The bridge was built

point the community faced

each plank for the initiative,

between 1926 and 1927,

a stark choice: raise funds to

which raised nearly $30,000.

Suspension Bridge (a

replacing an older one that

restore the bridge or watch it

Using a small handheld router,

Category 2 historic place)

had been constructed in 1897,

being demolished.

Peter spent hours on the task,

crosses the Waitara River

and provided a vital link for

“It was an ultimatum that

near the small settlement of

local farmers and residents.

mobilised our community,”

that cemented the bond

Huirangi and is testament to

However, it was closed

says Peter.

between the bridge and the

both its historical engineering

to vehicles by the Taranaki

Peter and a handful of

community members who

and community spirit.

District Council in 1985 as

other community members

supported its restoration.

its timber supports had

set up the Bertrand Road

and member of Heritage New

deteriorated. For a time it

Suspension Bridge Trust and

of interest and following it we

Zealand Pouhere Taonga, has

remained open for pedestrian

began devising fundraising

were able to attract additional

been closely involved with

and recreational use but was

ideas. Paul Carrington, a

funding from organisations

the bridge for most of his life.

then closed to all in 2004.

lawyer and resident at that

like TSB Bank, the Taranaki

obstacle to save it.

The Bertrand Road

Peter Wilson, a local resident

10 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

but it was a personal touch

“That initiative sparked a lot

IMAGERY: DAVE YOUNG, STUFF

Electricity Trust and the

was reinforced with heavy

the net and at times helped

Lotteries Commission,”

steel cables when it was

himself to the catch.

says Peter.

rebuilt in 1927. When Peter

The bridge’s reopening

Taranaki District Council

replaced farm fences on his

in 2006 not only restored

helped fund the restoration

property, he recognised some

a crucial transport link for

to the tune of the $70,000 it

of the bridge’s original wire.

the community but also

had earmarked to dismantle

Peter says that the bridge's

spirit, says Peter.

history is not just about its

$630,000 needed to save the

construction and closure but

“We had a party in 2022

bridge was raised.

also about the part it plays in

when the bridge turned 125

the identity of the community.

years old,” he says. “About 300 people turned up.”

restoration were overseen by

“It is a structure with very

Chris Cochran, a conservation

deep roots in our history,” he

It was a celebration that

architect, who ensured the

says. “When it was restored,

underscored the bridge's

bridge’s historical integrity

Lynda and I used some of the

place as a beloved landmark

was maintained.

discarded timber as a feature

and its significance beyond

in our own home.”

its functional role.

The community was

936

rekindled the community

the bridge. Ultimately the

The technical aspects of the

Listing:

Karen Astwood, Director

determined to preserve the

Peter has also uncovered

original design, including the

other stories in the bridge’s

Corporate Services for

bridge's unique cable angle,

history, from an altercation

Heritage New Zealand

which reduced wind sway –

on the bridge when a local

Pouhere Taonga, has

a crucial feature given the

resident ran into the back

undertaken many heritage

windy conditions in the area,

of the car of a couple who

assessments for bridges

says Peter.

had stopped for a romantic

and notes that suspension

“The trust was quite

interlude to the suggestion

bridges were popular in rural

adamant. We didn't want

of a Tiger Moth flying under

areas because they were

and ensure it remains clean.

a brand-new bridge, we

the bridge in the 1930s.

cheap for councils to build

Peter himself regularly mows

and maintain.

the grass around the bridge

wanted this one repaired.

A weekly pastime of some

“The Bertrand Road bridge

LOCATION Taranaki is located halfway between Auckland and Wellington on the west coast of the North Island.

The cables are unique and

of the local boys involved

there are not a lot of bridges

climbing up the ropes to the

is one of New Zealand’s later

in the country that are built

top of one of the supporting

bridges of this type and is

with such an angle on the

columns, walking across the

significant because not many

architecture of the day and

cables,” he says. The bridge's

beam, and going down the

remain,” says Karen.

the bridge construction of that

design, he adds, ensures it

other side in a race to see

can withstand major floods

who was the fastest.

and the strong winds that

Another local resident

“It’s an example of the

era. It’s a very pretty location

as a symbol of community

and an important part of our

pride and perseverance. The

local heritage,” he says.

found he could set his

Bertrand Road Suspension

a testament to the ingenuity

whitebait net permanently

Bridge Trust still meets

of its original builders.

under the bridge without

annually to keep on top of

The bridge was first built

being seen from the road.

any maintenance issues, and

using 396 strands of 9-gauge

However, one of the

Peter’s wife, Lynda, visits the

neighbour’s boys discovered

maintained.

Today the bridge stands

channel down the river, and is

fencing wire on each side, and

and keeps the area well

bridge daily to pick up litter

“Put simply, it’s a bridge that everybody loves.”

Search the listing number at heritage.org.nz/places to read more.

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 11

WHAKAAHUA • PROFILE

WORDS: NIKI PARTSCH / IMAGERY: MIKE HEYDON

Picture this Award-winning photographer Grant Sheehan has had his images published worldwide, but it was his idyllic upbringing in small-town New Zealand that sparked his love of heritage

G

rowing up in small-town, heritage-rich Nelson during the late 1950s and ’60s, Grant Sheehan began snapping pictures with a small Kodak Brownie 127 camera, unaware that at the age of 10 his career pathway was already in motion. “I just always took photos,” he says.

Nelson was a wonderful place for his early formative years, with beaches, rivers, mountains, forests and sunshine in abundance, plus an enviable level of freedom.

Grant recalls a day when he and a friend, both aged about seven, were walking to school along the railway lines – something they usually did – when “a handcart came along the tracks checking the lines, and the operator stopped and gave us a lift to school”.

12 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

Later came the ‘hippie’ years, with a generation stepping away from conservative norms to embrace a freer lifestyle.

This was reflected in clothes, music, and lifestyle choices.

“There was lots going on, and to be a young person in that era was just fabulous,” says Grant.

Through it all, Grant’s love of photography grew, and he became part of a new and growing cohort of New Zealand photographers – although few others would travel as extensively or achieve his level of expertise.

He has had a decades-long relationship with Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and says his early interest in heritage was probably sparked by his environment. “I always loved Nelson’s heritage buildings, even as a teenager.”

Grant remembers Fairfield House (a Category 1 historic place built in 1849) as “a beautiful old mansion”.

“It was a superb example of that colonial, slightly gothic excess we had at the time it was built.”

In 1979 Grant heard that the house was due to be demolished. “I got really

angry and wrote a letter to the paper about heritage and how we should be treasuring these buildings.”

He was not alone. “A whole raft of people complained and then the city council saved it.

That was the first time I’d felt so passionate about something, and my interest in buildings escalated from there.”

After leaving Waimea College, Grant began working at Baigents, a well-known local timber company with substantial plantation forests.

“I was a photogrammetrist – my job was to make maps of the area. Every few weeks we would fly over the forests in an old twin-engine plane with a camera built in to the floor.

The guy who operated the camera had been a Mosquito co-pilot during the war; it was very exciting.”

Grant later studied at the University of Canterbury and fell in love with Christchurch.

“The city was just packed with heritage buildings and there was an arts centre. It was wonderful, and I loved it,” he says.

When he shifted to Wellington in early 1981 to set up his photography business, he was captivated by the architecture of the old buildings.

“There was so much extraordinary stuff from various eras.”

It was around this time that many buildings were being destroyed, so Grant set about documenting as many as he could. When the iconic St James Theatre in Courtenay Place (a Category 1 historic place) came under threat of demolition in the early ’80s, Grant became a founding member of the Save the St James campaign.

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 13

WHAKAAHUA • PROFILE “Seven or eight of us fought to prevent its demolition and the building of a carpark.

We made a huge fuss and received a lot of support from Wellingtonians. Eventually the council bought it.”

He began working as a photographer for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga in the 1980s, when John Wilson was the editor of Heritage New Zealand magazine.

John had a long list of properties he wanted to write about, but few photographs, so he and Grant came to an arrangement.

“Every year I would take my car across on the ferry to Nelson and travel around the South Island, so I told him I would take photos while I was there and would be quite happy with whatever his budget was.”

Over many years, Grant built up a collection of images from across New Zealand for John to use in upcoming issues. “It worked out really well for both of us.”

A self-confessed technology junkie, Grant says that he plans his photography shoots

“If there are people in [my photographs], the viewer can’t step into the room”

Top: Grant Sheehan became a penguin fan on a recent first visit to Antarctica.

Above: Grant’s drone shots have been published internationally.

“like a military operation”, sometimes walking for miles carrying heavy equipment, and then waiting in often cold, dark and exposed places for the light to be right.

Grant has also travelled abroad, seeking out places and people and taking interesting and beautiful images into homes through books and magazines.

14 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

Grant likes to photograph empty interiors because “if there are people in them, the viewer can’t step into the room”.

His photographs have been published around the globe, including in The New York Times, in which a drone shot of a flock of sheep was used for its 2015 drone story ‘The Overlord’.

In 1996 Grant set up Phantom House Books and began publishing his own books, including Eye in the Sky, which features drone images.

He took all the photographs for his latest publication, The Time Traveller’s Guide to Hamilton Gardens, by Peter Sergel. Released in April, it describes Peter’s design of each magnificent garden and its hidden meanings (Hamilton Gardens covers 54 hectares of land and is an extremely popular national and international destination, receiving more than a million visitors every year).

“Peter was amazing to work with,” says Grant, who describes the gardens as being historical documents with a sense of historical place.

“There is a sense not just of being in a different place, but of being in a different time.

That’s its magic really. It’s a work of brilliance.”

LANDMARKS OF NEW ZEALAND

Books in 2005. “We used

Temple [Te Temepara o te

most of the material from

Haahi Rātana] near Whanganui

the previous book, but we

is one of my favourite buildings

put in all the images we felt

of all time because it is so

Last year a documentary on

had been missed out, like the

interesting visually, with

Grant screened as part of the

Rātana Temple, which is an

fabulous colours and the

New Zealand International Film

astounding building.”

capture of symbolism.”

Festival, profiling his decades-

Grant has many favourite

Grant dislikes having people

long career and the diverse

heritage places in Aotearoa,

in his pictures of buildings,

subject matters covered in

and when pressed to pick only

but he made a rare exception

his work. This has included

one decided that he could not

for the Rātana Temple. When

capturing many of New

possibly choose fewer than

he spied a small boy on a

Zealand’s most iconic heritage

two – both of which appear

red bike with yellow wheels

sites, including for his 1997 book

in Landmarks.

cycling towards the temple,

Landmarks: Notable Historic

His favourite heritage

Grant waited until he was in

Buildings of New Zealand.

place was the Cathedral

frame, capturing an unusual

of the Blessed Sacrament

but lovely image to include in

original publishing house

in Christchurch (popularly

a book full of buildings, but

Godwit Press, Grant bought

known as the Christchurch

empty of people. n

the rights to Landmarks and

Basilica), a building he

he and writer David McGill, in

photographed many times

Landmarks: Notable Historic

partnership with the Historic

before and after the

Buildings of New Zealand

Places Trust (as Heritage New

Christchurch earthquake

is available to buy from

Zealand Pouhere Taonga

before its 2021 demolition.

the Heritage New Zealand

Following the sale of the

was then known), republished it under Phantom House

His other favourite is still very much standing. “The Rātana

Pouhere Taonga online shop shop.heritage.org.nz

For more information on Grant’s recent book, visit timetravelhamiltongardens.nz

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 15

TE WĀHI • PLACE 16 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

Antrim House, a Wellington icon that has served as a luxury home, private hotel, government hostel and the national office of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, has been future-proofed by a team of specialists

WORDS: CLAUDIA BABIRAT

PREMIER property

I

f you’ve ever bought footwear from Hannahs shoe store, you have a connection with Antrim House, a sumptuous 119-year-old landmark located in Boulcott Street, in Wellington’s inner city.

It was built in 1905 for the company’s founder, Robert Hannah, his wife Hannah, and their family.

“It was named after Robert Hannah’s home county in Northern Ireland,” says Jamie Jacobs, Director Central Region for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. “Antrim House was the definitive statement of a self-made man.”

IMAGE: MEDIASOL

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 17

TE WĀHI • PLACE

1

After modest beginnings as a cobbler’s apprentice, Robert Hannah became one of the richest men in New Zealand at the time. He hit the market at the perfect moment, capitalising on the government’s imposition of a duty on imported footwear aimed at nurturing a domestic industry. By 1893 he had 10 stores and a factory that employed 250 people.

Today Antrim House is encircled by high-rise apartments and office blocks, a stone’s throw from the CBD. But when the house was first built, Jamie explains, Boulcott Street was one of inner Wellington’s fashionable residential streets, the house prominently overlooking the harbour.

Designed by notable Wellington architect William Turnbull, the 18-room, two-storey residence was designed in an eclectic Italianate style, with imported pressed-metal ceilings, exquisitely crafted kauri panelling and staircase, stained-glass and leadlight windows, elegant verandahs and a central

18 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

tower originally topped with an ornate ironwork crown. Hannah spared no expense on mod cons like piped gas, electric lights, and bathrooms.

Following the elder Hannahs’ deaths, Antrim House was run as a private hotel by a succession of owners from 1931 to 1949, then bought by the government for use as a hostel for young male civil servants.

The residence received two major renovations.

One was in 1940, following a fire that severely damaged the first floor, roof and tower, and almost resulted in the loss of the house. Because of the war and the sensibilities of the time, the owners rebuilt the damaged interiors using the popular Art Deco style and simpler roof lines and tower.

In 1978 there was another round of extensive repairs to ready the building as the new national office for the Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga). “We’ve been conscientious stewards ever since,” Jamie says proudly. “Listed as a Category 1

2

“We spent countless hours on investigation, removing small sections of lining with surgical precision. It was like deciphering a big jigsaw puzzle”

historic place of outstanding historical or cultural significance, Antrim House is considered among the premier houses of its age in Wellington.”

Despite regular maintenance and the very high quality of craftsmanship and materials, the need for another major upgrade was recently recognised by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. Conservation architect Russell Murray of R & D Architects was brought on board to write a detailed conservation plan and act as on-site advisor. He identified three immediate priorities: seismic strengthening, roof replacement and exterior painting.

1. A fresh look for Antrim House after its major upgrade.

Image: MediaSol 2. Roof strengthening in progress.

Image: Supplied

Structural engineers began a detailed assessment of the building in 2021 to determine how it would behave in an earthquake. Dizhur Consulting undertook modelling to capture the building’s key elements.

“In normal circumstances you can remove sections of wall linings to expose the structure,” says Dmytro Dizhur, “but because of the building’s significant heritage value and many undocumented alterations, we took extra time in the investigation work to open up the most critical areas with surgical precision. It was a bit like deciphering a jigsaw puzzle, while also trying to find missing pieces.”

For the first stage of the project, the focus was on strengthening the roof structure and adding support to the large chimneys in the middle of the building.

To replace the roof dating from 1969-70, the entire building was scaffolded and shrink-wrapped.

“We lifted all the iron on the roof and replaced it with new iron and flashings,” says Carl Bohnen, Project Director of Naylor Love, which was the main contractor for the job.

“We removed damaged or rotten sarking, reusing as much of the old tōtara as possible. The balance was replaced with recycled tōtara, and the attic space was overlaid with plywood for structure and safer accessibility.”

New insulation was added. Roof drainage was also improved and new guttering and downpipes installed to better handle rainwater in anticipation of climate change.

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 19

TE WĀHI • PLACE

1

“Logistically for us it was quite a big challenge,” says Carl. “It’s not every day that we get to work on a heritage project, so it was great to be able to work alongside Russell to develop a methodology, make sure all our plans were checked and approved, and ensure that everything we did was documented.”

Where possible, heritage experts were brought on board for specialist tasks. They included roofer Anthony Boiron of Classic Metals, whose resumé includes work on the Palace of Versailles.

“The old lead dome at the top of the tower was paper thin at the top and fat at the bottom. That’s because lead will stretch under its own weight and move downwards with gravity over time,” explains Anthony.

3

“We tried to source tiles of similar style but found nothing suitable.

So we had to recreate each damaged tile, maintaining its historic look”

1. The new dome was crafted from scratch by a specialist roofer from France.

2. Unreinforced fireplaces were strengthened with roof-tofoundation compression rods.

3. A new generation of master craftspeople leaves its mark.

4. Restoration work on exterior timbers.

Imagery: Supplied

4

20 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

2

Constructing the redesigned panels was relatively straightforward but fixing them in place less so.

“The heritage nature of the building made the job more challenging.”

Each of the 50-kilogram pieces had to be carried up several flights of stairs. There were restrictions such as working without flame due to the risk to the timber. “You see what happened to Notre-Dame in Paris,” Anthony points out.

But it was the chimney-strengthening project that had the highest level of risk. To be able to anchor three unreinforced brick chimneys into the ground with long compression rods, 14-metre-long vertical cores had to be drilled from the top of the building into the foundations of each chimney, keeping a straight line and missing the fireplaces.

“It was a big, complicated job,” says Carl. “You don’t know the stability, so you have to make sure you don’t cause too much vibration.”

There were other challenges. “Usually water is used for cooling the drill, but in this case we had to use air, controlling the dust as we went.”

The drilling crew also made an unexpected discovery. “We came across a hard material that we had difficulty drilling through,” says Carl. “When we stuck a camera down, we realised there were undocumented metal plates inside the chimney.”

Despite all care, some of the historic fireplace tiles were penetrated, requiring the specialist skills of Heritage Preservation and Field Support Solutions, directed by Dr Susanne Rawson, whose team is often called on to tackle the ‘too-hard basket’ in heritage conservation.

“We tried to source tiles of similar style but found nothing suitable. So we had to recreate each damaged tile, maintaining its historic look,” says Suzanne. She adds that it was particularly difficult to match the turquoise and peach colours, mimick the original ceramic glaze, and recreate the repeating designs.

Restoration work undertaken on the exterior timber walls and architectural features of Antrim House started with four months of scraping and chemical stripping by JBP Painting Contractors to remove, in some places, 80–120 years of paint layers. It was the result of this that had the greatest impact on Jamie.

“I loved seeing the raw native timbers. They were obviously used for their strength but were also things of beauty. It was the highlight of my 25-year career,” he says.

Before the house could be repainted, carpenter/ builder Grant Brown of LT McGuinness had to make considerable but expected repairs to the tōtara weatherboard cladding. Working to a brief that the original timbers were to be conserved wherever possible, Grant suggested a novel solution to deal with split and cracked weatherboards and trims: bow ties, also known as butterfly joints.

“It’s a type of joint or inlay that’s been around for a long time, used to hold two or more pieces of wood together,” he explains, “but usually on tabletops, things you fix in a workshop. They’ve probably never been used in this context before, on the exterior of a building.”

5. Butterfly joints used to conserve the original tōtara wall timbers.

Image: Supplied

Grant made around 600 bow ties in total. “They allowed us to keep the house’s integrity and strength while conserving the original tōtara timbers,” he explains, an effect that was further enhanced with 8000 additional stainless steel fixings used to re-fix the cladding, which will also help to increase the building’s seismic resilience.

Jamie is pleased as much with the results as he is with the overall price tag of the work.

“The roof replacement and chimney strengthening portion of the project came to about $3.3 million and the strip/scrape of old paint, timber repair, and full exterior repaint came to $1.8 million.”

Of these totals, Jamie explains, $2 million was sourced from grants and public donations, including one large single bequest of $700,000, and $3 million came from Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga’s operating budget over two years.

Brendon Veale, Manager Supporter Development for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, says many hundreds of wonderful New Zealanders got behind the project by donating. “We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation for this support.

It really does highlight how the organisation and our supporters can make such a difference for heritage in New Zealand.”

Jamie adds: “I think, given how much better the building is now in terms of safety, livability, its overall appearance and condition, and the reduced maintenance costs, the project total can be considered a bargain. The building’s exterior condition is now of a standard not seen since 1905.

“With each project we’re getting smarter at running capital projects – this is, after all, one of our core areas of business. Antrim House will be enjoyed and appreciated by New Zealanders for another 120 years.”

5

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 21

TE HAPORI • COMMUNITY

At the COALFACE The West Coast mining town of Blackball is experiencing a renaissance thanks to a community-led programme with a strong heritage focus WORDS: ANNA DUNLOP / IMAGERY: MIKE HEYDON

22 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

The Workers Memorial Wheel commemorates those killed in West Coast mines since 1990.

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 23

TE HAPORI • COMMUNITY

P

erched on a rocky outcrop, high above the dense bush of the South Island’s rugged West Coast, Blackball’s tallest coal mine chimney is an impressive reminder of the importance of mining in this remote part of New Zealand.

Built sometime between 1902 and 1909, the 18-metre chimney (one of four on the Blackball mine site with New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero Category 1 status) has recently undergone a long-awaited restoration – and that’s just one part of an ambitious community-led programme that has received $1.9 million in community development funding from Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs.

Of the 20-plus other projects transforming this small yet resilient town, two-thirds have been completed, with many of them focusing on Blackball’s mining past. They include the reinstallation of an aerial ropeway tower, heritage tracks and trails, town-wide interpretation panels, and the addition of five replica miners’ huts to the Blackball Museum.

“I always knew that a great many projects would have a heritage focus,” says Zane Smith, CommunityLed Development Programme Partnership Manager.

“However, once we looked at the final list, it turned out to be a massive 80 percent.”

2

24 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

1

That’s not surprising, considering the town’s rich industrial and social history. It was founded in 1893 following the construction of the mine in the previous year, and was named after the Blackball Shipping Line, a transatlantic passenger service that had established the Blackball Coal Company to supply fuel for its fleet of steam clippers.

1. Programme Partnership Manager Zane Smith.

2. Blackball’s main street.

3. The mine site’s 18-metre chimney has been restored.

The early 1900s saw growing discontent among the miners, who were at the forefront of the development of New Zealand’s trade union movement. This escalated in 1908, when a ‘crib’ strike was called after seven miners were fired for refusing to eat their lunch , or ‘crib’, in the 15 minutes they were allocated.

Illegally at the time, the rest of the Blackball Miners Union went on strike for 11 weeks – an event seen as a defining moment in union history. It’s also why Blackball is viewed by some as the birthplace of the Labour Party (some of the union leaders were involved in forming the party in 1916).

The coal mine was nationalised in 1941 and eventually closed in 1964. However, while other mining towns have faded into obscurity, Blackball has defied the odds, thanks to the drive and determination of its 300 or so residents.

“For a lot of the coal mining towns, such as Denniston and Brunnerton, once the mines shut, the towns disappeared almost overnight,” says Mike Gillies, Conservation Advisor for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, who worked closely with Zane and the community on the various projects.

“That hasn’t happened with Blackball, and it’s unique in that so much of the town’s industrial heritage remains.” (Blackball has four other sites on the List: Formerly The Blackball Hilton, a Category 2 historic place that had to change its name from The Blackball Hilton after the multinational Hilton Hotels and Resorts chain threatened legal action; the Blackball Community Centre and the Miners Bath House, both Category 2; and the mine’s return air vent and fan chamber, Category 1.)

Mike adds: “There’s a lot of civic pride, which is fantastic to see. Some of these projects are likely to have been on the community’s wish list for decades, but they’ve never had the resources required. Now, with the funding, they’ve all come to fruition.”

According to Zane, the catalyst for the programme was the development of the Paparoa Track, New Zealand’s 10th Great Walk (the town has seen an influx of visitors since the track opened in 2020).

“In 2018 the community got together and asked themselves, ‘How can we showcase who we are and where we’ve come from to all these new domestic and international visitors – and how can we get them to stay for longer?’”

Blackball resident Lynne McKenzie says that heritage quickly became the focus of the programme.

“We came up with the idea of ‘our future is in our past’, and everything just branched out from there.”

To see more of Blackball, view our video story here: youtube.com/HeritageNewZealandPouhereTaonga 3

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 25

TE HAPORI • COMMUNITY

2

1

The Blackball mine site, which encompasses the chimneys, the former mine entrance, the return air vent and fan house structures, drainage tunnels and the remains of a dam, was a key priority. Particularly important was the repointing of the remaining boiler house chimney (a second one collapsed in 2014, but its footprint remains included in the List entry).

Work was started in 2019 by local refractory bricklayer Carl Sheehan and completed a year later

by Wainwright & Co Stonemasons from Dunedin.

“There was a sense of endurance, and the fact that the town is still thriving now – in fact, it’s busier with tourists than ever – just shows that that formidable spirit lives on”

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26 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

1. Formerly The Blackball Hilton, a Category 2 historic place.

2. Community members Pat Kennedy and Jane Wells in one of the replica miners’ huts.

3. The Blackball hedge at Pat and Jane’s café.

4. Frank (Tubby) McGuire was integral to the reinstallation of the aerial ropeway tower.

5. The Workers Memorial Wheel in front of the five replica miners’ huts at Blackball Museum.

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“Most of the chimney was solid, but it had been reinforced towards the top with a steel ring that had corroded, so the top five metres had to be pulled down and rebuilt,” says Marcus Wainwright.

“Our engineer used high-tension stainless-steel wires to replace the ring, and we reused as many of the original bricks as possible.”

Another project that has more recently finished is the reinstallation of the last intact tower of Blackball’s 5.5-kilometre aerial ropeway, which opened in 1893 and transported coal across the Grey River to Ngahere before being shut down in 1909 when the railway line finally arrived. At its peak, the aerial ropeway had the capacity to transport 400 tons of coal in eight hours.

“The tower had been moved from its original location to the bottom of Blackball Hill and left to deteriorate,” says Frank (Tubby) McGuire, long-time Blackball resident and part of the community team that took on the aerial ropeway restoration project.

“So we shipped it off to Greymouth to be restored.”

Lee Swinburn of E-Quip Engineering took charge of the restoration, and says the team focused on keeping the original components where possible.

“We viewed two of the few remaining aerial ropeway towers along the coast, and also studied historical photographs supplied by Tubby,” he says.

“While a lot of the main structure was in quite good condition, the pulley sets were missing.

Someone found one set in a blackberry bush in a backyard in Blackball, but we needed two, so we made a replica. The buckets that carried the coal had not survived, so we also fabricated those out of steel. We’ve worked on similar heritage projects on the West Coast in the past, but this was our first coal tower, and we wanted to make sure it stood the test of time.”

Tubby is delighted with the result and hopes it provides visitors with a glimpse into Blackball’s past.

“I want people to appreciate the hard work that the old fellows had to do to get the coal out of the ground and into the market.”

Lynne agrees. “A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into keeping Blackball going – they had a rough life,” she says.

“But there was a sense of endurance, and the fact that the town is still thriving now – in fact, it’s busier with tourists than ever – just shows that that formidable spirit lives on.”

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 27

TINO WHAKAAHUA • BEST SHOTS 28 Kōanga Hōtoke • Winter Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

WORDS AND IMAGE: ROB SUISTED

Shoot for the moon

One morning, leaving Dunedin pre-dawn on a photo shoot, I had enough time to enjoy driving a circuit around Mount Royal on the Goodwood Road, to ‘thread’ the whenua

North Otago is a special spot

of my forebears. A thin moon

for me. My ancestors were the

hung in the awakening blue sky.

first European settlers here in

As I approached Palmerston

1848, establishing Goodwood

it transected the summit of

Estate on the coast (see ‘A

Puketapu, and the shot

Swedish connection’, Spring

became obvious as the moon

2020, issue 158).

passed into the position of

The most prominent

the memorial.

landmark in the district is

Built in 1929, the cairn is

the memorial monument to

13 metres high, a memorial

Sir John McKenzie, perched

to McKenzie, the Minister

atop the 343-metre Puketapu

of Lands, in the 1890s. The

Hill at Palmerston. From the

McKenzies and Suisteds have

summit walkway, I can gaze

links back to the district’s early

out over the land and coast

days, and Dorothy McKenzie’s

that my ancestors farmed

untiring heritage work in the

more than 150 years ago.

area will be well known to many readers.

Technical data • Camera: Canon R5 • Lens: 400mm • ISO: 100 • Aperture: f/9.5 • Exposure: 1/15

Heritage.org.nz / Hōtoke Kōanga •• Winter Spring 2024 29

TE HAPORI • COMMUNITY

WORDS: MYJANNE JENSEN / IMAGERY: MIKE HEYDON

A SAFE HAVEN For many Pasifika, Maota Samoa on Auckland’s K’ Road was a place of refuge during the turbulent 1970s and ’80s. Now, passionate members of the Samoan community are working to bring the building back to life

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aving a place to practise and experience one’s culture and traditions away from home is often key to thriving in a new country.

That place for the Samoan and wider Pasifika communities living in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland from the late 1970s to the early 2000s was Maota Samoa (Samoa House).

The building was opened in 1978 on Karangahape Road and was the first formal Samoan meeting house built outside of Samoa. It also represented a symbol of hope and resistance for the Pasifika community, who at the time, were living through what Pacific leader and scholar Dr Melani Anae described as “the most blatantly racist attack on Pacific peoples by the New Zealand Government in New Zealand’s history”.

The vision for Maota Samoa came from a passionate group of Samoan New Zealanders, keen to maintain connections to their homeland while providing a space in New Zealand for the wider Pasifika community to utilise and enjoy.

The building was one of the first collaborative projects between New Zealand architects and Samoan/Pacific

craftspeople that references the culturally important concepts of shelter and va’a and the relationship between fale, chiefly systems and the environment.

Renowned Samoan Presbyterian minister, author, poet, music producer, exhibited Lavalava artist and Pasifika urban street historian, Reverend Muamua Sofi Strickson-Pua (Mua) says his connection to Maota Samoa was through his parents, who had been instrumental in the establishment of the building.

Like many Samoans at the time, Sofi Pua (a Pua from Papa Sataua Savai’i Samoa) and Vaitulu Purcell (a Purcell from Malaela Upolu Samoa), moved to Aotearoa New Zealand in the 1950s in search of education and work opportunities. The couple met in Auckland and settled in Grey Lynn, raising their āiga alongside many other inner-city, working-class ethnic communities.

Mua says his parents also attended the country’s first Pasifika church, the Pacific Island Presbyterian Church in Newton, the epicentre of the Pacific community and birthplace of Maota Samoa.

“The church was strong, but they soon realised the need for a bigger, multi-purpose, multi-denominational building,” Mua says.

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30 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

“This was supported by a range of communities, not just Samoan but Croatian, Tongan, Māori and Pākehā too.”

Despite the harmony within the church, the socio-political unrest on the outside was beginning to grow, coming to a head in the 1970s when the Muldoon government ordered police to target alleged visa ‘overstayers’ in the Pacific community.

As a result, many people were sent back to the Pacific Islands, and the irony of Maota Samoa opening during these ‘dawn raids’, Mua says, was not lost on the Pacific community.

“My dad was the chair of the Samoan Advisory Council, and our parents would laugh about Rob Muldoon cutting the tape at the opening, which they thought was the best joke out,” he says.

“Here was this guy who had been horrible to people from Pacific Island nations, now opening the most contemporary, contextually advanced style of building on K’ Road.

“Mum and Dad also loved the fact that this guy who was trying to oppress us was having to acknowledge our people, which to them was like saying, ‘the Pacific Island people are here, bro, and we’re here to stay’.”

Maota Samoa grew to become a focal point for the Pasifika community, receiving everyone from dignitaries to international music stars.

It also housed the first Samoan consulate, as well as consulates for Niue and the Republic of Nauru.

āiga: family alofa: love fale: house kaupapa: cause komiti: committee taonga: treasure va’a: canoe whakapapa: genealogy

1. A sculpture by Penehuro Papali’i in the Maota Samoa foyer.

2. Tapa cloth inside the Samoa House Library.

3. The library is the only remaining public space still within the building.

4. Maota Samoa is on K’ Road in central Auckland.

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1. Antony Phillips, Senior Outreach Advisor for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.

2. Inside Maota Samoa.

3. L–R: Feeonaa Clifton (artist and member of Pacific Sisters), Olivia Taouma (Manager of Teu le Va, Tāmaki Paenga Hira – War Memorial Museum), and Bonni Tamati, Library Operations Manager.

4. Inside the fale, which provided a safe haven for the Pasifika community during the 1970s and ’80s.

5. The fale viewed from Samoa House Lane.

32 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

Esteemed Samoan musician, composer and choral director, Dr Opeloge Ah Sam and his āiga moved to Aotearoa in 1987 from Apia. He says he would regularly go to Maota Samoa as a child to visit the Polynesian bookshop and the consulate office and to attend piano lessons.

“I remember just sitting around after my lessons on a random day with my dad and talking to people passing through.

“It was a great place to socialise and our dentist, who was Samoan, was there, plus it was somewhere to get important papers and documents signed and organised.

“I think it’s sad to see it slowly wasting away and to see how, as K’ Road grew, it became neglected.”

For the past decade, the connection between the Pasifika community and Maota Samoa has been in steady decline, due to the area’s gentrification and the Samoan consulate moving to Māngere in 2016.

While the building is still owned by the Samoan Government, it is managed by an overseas property agency, with several long-term commercial licences in the hands of non-Pasifika businesses. Access to the fale can therefore now only be obtained via permission from the Pālagi (non-Samoan) lease owner.

The only remaining public space in the building is the Samoa House Library, which is located in the former Samoan consulate.

Samoa House Library Operations Manager Bonni Tamati (who has whakapapa to Satalo, Sale’imoa, Aleipata, Lepā, Vailuuta, Sasatele and Maleimalu ma Poutasi – Falealili) says the library supported the original intentions of Maota Samoa in recognising the early Pacific migrant communities who raised their voices (and funds) to create a social, educational, spiritual and culturally safe space for Pacific communities.

“This building is a taonga, a marker in time and offers a generous perspective of early Pacific migrants in Aotearoa,” says Bonni.

“My fondest experience of Maota Samoa is sitting at the windows with the elders, hearing nostalgic stories about what our city looked like before the motorway, and when Pacific people had more visibility in central Auckland and neighbourhoods were linked through familial connections, the air was enriched with tropical fragrance and song, and streets were bursting with colour and brown-skinned people.”

A komiti dedicated to revitalising the fale, the Friends of Maota Samoa, is now spearheading a kaupapa to support the building’s repair and renewed access to the community.

Komiti member Olivia Taouma says that, like others, her connection to Maota Samoa was through her parents and times during her childhood spent inside the building’s “warm wood and mat-lined walls”.

She says the present state of Maota Samoa is a sad sight and the personal histories and stories retained within its walls made Maota Samoa historically significant and important to care for.

“One of our members has said she is like a forgotten aunty just waiting for our people to remember her, to come back and take care of her again so she can smile and have a renewed beating heart through our alofa.”

Antony Phillips, Senior Outreach Advisor for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, says the organisation appreciates Maota Samoa’s importance to the community.

“We understand Maota Samoa to be the first fale built in Aotearoa New Zealand and that it performed an important

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function for the Pacific communities of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland,” says Antony. “It was designed by the late preeminent architect Ivan Mercep [who was known for his involvement in other nationally significant cultural landmarks such as Te Papa Tongarewa and Hoani Waititi Marae] with significant input from Samoan craftsmen.

“It is important that the stories and histories of a place are recorded and preserved, as they connect our past to our communities today.”

Olivia says the komiti is working closely with the Samoan consulate on a strategy to bring the building back to life.

Mua has also been involved in conversations with the Samoan Government and says he is heartened by the younger

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generation’s push to ensure the building is kept safe for future generations.

“I would like to see clear guidelines from our Samoan Government pertaining to Maota Samoa and how it can be utilised to assist Samoan communities overseas, as well as to open the door for other Pacific Island and ethnic groups to use.”

To learn more about Maota Samoa, view our video story here: youtube.com/ HeritageNewZealandPouhereTaonga

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Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 33

NGĀ WHARE MĀHI • BUILDINGS AT WORK 34 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

WORDS: MAT T PHILP

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN New Zealand is known as a rugby union nation, but league has also put down deep social and cultural roots in our society

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here was no such thing as a private team talk at Carlaw Park. At half-time, spectators would gather under the open louvre windows of the changing rooms, hanging onto the coach’s words. If it was a significant match, perhaps a test, they’d be three deep, pressing against each other to hear.

They called it the ‘Carlaw Park lean’.

Carlaw Park, home of Auckland rugby league since 1921, closed in 2002 and is now home to student accommodation and commercial offices. Its final international test, a walloping of Tonga by the Kiwis in 1999, played out to a desultory crowd of 4528, a far cry from the 28,000 spectators who witnessed New Zealand defeat England in 1928, or even the 19,000-odd who watched Australia’s John Ribot kill Kiwi hopes in 1985’s three-test series with a last-minute try.

Rugby league folklore has enshrined Carlaw, but fewer artefacts have been preserved than you’d hope. Happily, other historic league grounds – smaller but storied – as well as foundational clubs survive.

They’re heritage sites in a sense, places that speak of league’s beginnings in Aotearoa and its changing role over time.

Wingham Park is an unlikely test venue. Set among paddocks beside State Highway 6 between Rūnanga and Greymouth, it was the venue for a single league test that delivered a 20-14 win for New Zealand against Great Britain in July 1954, to a capacity crowd of 4240.

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 35

NGĀ WHARE MĀHI • BUILDINGS AT WORK

Other international teams have appeared there – the Aussies and French took on the West Coast during tours, and the Kiwis once honed their edge between tests by playing a Residents side at Wingham Park. But while those one-off matches are part of the ground’s story, it’s the Coast club scene with its tribal rivalries that animates the Wingham legend.

“Rūnanga supporters would always be at one end and no one from Marist or Greymouth would sit there; likewise, Rūnanga people wouldn’t be seen dead at the town end,” says former West Coast Rugby League chair and league historian Peter Kerridge.

Following a false start in 1915, league kicked off on the Coast in 1919, a dozen years after the code was first played in New Zealand. It was a working man’s game, which on the Coast meant the mining and milling communities of the Grey District. As elsewhere, Rugby Union was antagonistic, although that didn’t prevent the early leaguies playing at Victoria Park, the Greymouth racecourse that was also used by union. Finally, the sport got its own home when Wingham Park opened in 1928.

Peter, 82, says the park’s golden years were the 1950s and ’60s when the West Coast was a force in league.

“You’d watch Rūnanga playing Marist or Blackball or whoever, and you’d see current Kiwis running around.

In the 1970s, Tony Coll would play a test in Auckland on Saturday and on Sunday get the plane back to Hokitika and run out for a club game at Wingham Park.”

The park lost its rooftop broadcasting box to high winds years ago, and its collection of photos, team jerseys and memorabilia is now housed in a new administration facility. But otherwise, “She’s fairly original, let’s put it that way,” says Peter.

Wingham’s degraded state reflects the fortunes of league on the Coast, where mine closures and economic forces have hit playing stocks hard.

“We live on our memories a bit,” Peter says, but he adds that there’s still plenty of resolve to keep the game – and Wingham Park – going. “People are determined that we won’t fall over.”

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36 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

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Wingham’s narrative arc is a familiar one to grassroots league. In the recently published Rugby League in New Zealand: A People’s History, Ryan Bodman details the rise of the code in the interwar years and especially after World War II, when league’s infrastructure expanded significantly.

New clubs sprang up and existing ones invested in upgrading rooms and facilities, often driven by their ‘ladies committees’. Where league was the dominant code, he writes, these clubs were “often a key expression of local identity”, as in the case of Petone, where a sheep-and-sow coat of arms referenced the important role of the local freezing works in its history.

But the story after the 1980s was of the gutting of small-town league by economic forces and professionalisation. Some clubs closed, some survived but were diminished, no longer a pipeline to the elite level and fielding fewer teams. Grounds were abandoned, including the beloved Jubilee Park at Whangārei, shuttered in 2011.

1. Peter Kerridge, the former chair and secretary of West Coast Rugby League, at the Wingham Park HQ in Greymouth.

2. Wingham Park opened in 1928.

3. Peter Kerridge in the stands.

4. Memorabilia at West Coast Rugby League HQ, Wingham Park.

Imagery: Mike Heydon 5. Huntly’s Davies Park opened in 1937.

6. The Arthur Harlock Stand replaced the old Davies Park stand in 1979.

Imagery: Karl Drury

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Six years ago, Huntly’s Davies Park, which had been the home of Waikato league since 1937, faced a similar fate. Like Wingham, the park had hosted international matches, including Great Britain versus Waikato in 1962. Local league stalwart Rex Hohaia saw the match, which featured his childhood hero Billy Boston on the wing for the visitors.

“I was at primary school in Huntly, and we walked all the way to the park – our school was three or four kilometres out of town,” Rex recalls, adding that in the 1960s and ’70s Davies Park was the entertainment centre of Huntly. “Coalminers, freezing workers, Ministry of Works guys, they all went there to cheer on their team.”

But Huntly’s club scene has been decimated, with just one club surviving, and in 2018 Davies Park was closed – seemingly for good. “The power and water were turned off, and the place was locked and turned into a hay paddock,” Rex says.

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Thankfully that wasn’t the end. Driven by Rex, and now under the auspices of the Davies Park Heritage Trust, the place has been restored and is once again hosting club and rep games. The surface still requires work and the posts need replacing, “but it’s functional for grassroots football,” he says. “All I’m trying to do is keep the place running so that people can have those memories and that history.”

What of league’s historic clubrooms? In some you find “incredible heritage”, says Ryan Bodman.

“You find things on the walls that wouldn’t be out of place in museums. In Tūrangawaewae, for example, the carvings are something else, and it’s the same at Ngāruawāhia where they have big carvings with tukutuku patterns, and historic photos that date back to the club’s formation in 1911.”

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Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 37

NGĀ WHARE MĀHI • BUILDINGS AT WORK

Readers who want to support the efforts of the Davies Park Heritage Trust can contact Rex Hohaia at rexhoho@gmail.com

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“You get these multi-generational social events, with the oldest person in the community and a newborn baby and everyone in between. These are places where community connections are still nurtured”

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38 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

Clubs proudly display photographs of their international players – or, as in the case of the Upper Hutt Tigers, a wall-of-fame mural. Some have collections of old jerseys, trophies and shields. Grey Lynn’s Richmond Rovers club keeps an honours board of members who fought in World War II. “And the buildings themselves have stories because they were generally built and developed by volunteers over years. It’s also about what happened in those places. In Tūrangawaewae, say, you get these multigenerational social events, with the oldest person in the community and a newborn baby and everyone in between. These are places where community connections are still nurtured.”

Heritage is fragile, however. In 2023 one of Auckland’s pioneering league clubs, Marist Saints, lost its 100-year-old clubrooms in Mt Albert to fire.

“It sent a shockwave through the sport,” says Todd Price, whose family has deep roots in the city’s league community. “All that heritage, lost.”

Todd’s father Doug was deputy chair of the Auckland Rugby League and his brother Shane is the current chair. Todd began playing in the 1970s as a five-yearold in the Ellerslie Eagles – formed in 1912 – and now has a coaching co-ordination role at the foundation club. Recently he’s begun collating Ellerslie’s historic photos, as well as working through its trophies, jerseys and other memorabilia. Shane, meanwhile, in addition to digitising records, is putting together something of an unofficial Auckland league museum.

4 5 During the relatively heady years of the 1970s, the Eagles’ original modest clubrooms – an army surplus Nissen hut – were subsumed within a new double-storey building. The club has had its ups and downs since then. This winter, 50 years after it last won the championship, it couldn’t put out a senior team, although things are much healthier in the junior grades. But talented juniors today are fixated on the NRL, and having young players now doesn’t guarantee a senior team in the future.

“That’s the nature of where clubland is at,” says Todd. “Clubs are having to define the roles they play: ‘Do we just become a junior club?’”

Doubtless some will fold, but others will find ways to continue. With luck, so will Wingham and Davies Park and other historic grounds. Ryan Bodman highlights league clubs such as Huntly’s Taniwharau that have hung on, despite economic decline and player drain, and kept league alive.

“Here were places where they could show their excellence and achievements on their own terms,” he says. “They can’t die because, for clubs like those, it’s who they are.”

Rugby League in New Zealand: A People’s History is published by Bridget Williams Books.

1. L-R: Tawera Nikau, Rex Hohaia and Kevin Healey. 2. The changing rooms of the Huntly United Rugby League Club. 3. The T. Winikerei Open Provincial Challenge Shield. Imagery: Karl Drury 4. A wall-offame mural at the clubrooms of the Upper Hutt Tigers features the club’s former Kiwis. Image: Mike Heydon 5. A pre-match pep talk for the under-13 Ellerslie Eagles. 6. Shane Price’s unofficial Auckland league museum includes international and club jerseys. 7. The under-13 Eagles playing traditional rivals Ōtāhuhu. 8. Todd (in cap) and Shane Price at the Ellerslie Domain. Imagery: Marcel Tromp

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Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 39

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PARK LIFE WORDS: MAT T PHILP / IMAGERY: MIKE HEYDON

Our perspective on heritage is constantly evolving – so how do New Zealand’s heritage parks stay relevant?

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40 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

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ew Zealand isn’t big on amusement parks, but we bow to no one when it comes to our heritage parks.

If not quite from North Cape to Bluff, then at least from Kaikohe to Strath Taieri, you will find that a piece of local land has been made into a kind of time capsule village, home to a handful of colonial-era buildings, with a blacksmith’s forge or an early railway station or an apothecary’s shop – perhaps all three. They’re theme parks of a sort, where the theme is the past – often a European-centric and bowdlerised past, not always presented cogently, but tangible and inhabitable in ways that museums are not.

You can thank the King of Norway for the concept.

In 1881 King Oscar II had five historic rural buildings relocated to his summer residence at Bygdøy, Oslo.

The complex, which opened to the public the following year, was the world’s first ‘open-air museum’ and set the template for today’s heritage parks, with all their successes and failings. The buildings were transplants from unrelated locations and diverse centuries (they ranged from a medieval storehouse to a 1770s farmhouse), stripped of context but offering at least some insights into the lives of ‘ordinary people’ – not exactly a preoccupation of museums and cultural institutions of that time.

Mike Gillies, a West Coast-based Conservation Advisor for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, is a fan of heritage parks. But he gets why they may provoke scepticism.

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“Often they are weird but really fascinating groups of buildings that have been moved from different locations. The architecture is often super mismatched – you might have everything from an early slab building to a villa, placed side by side in a village arrangement. It can be confusing, but it also gives visitors unique opportunities to experience these buildings. And there’s also something very tactile and human about experiencing a place by touching and smelling it.

“Modern construction is very sterile, whereas buildings 120 years ago were made from natural materials and feel and smell different; the proportions

1. Shantytown Heritage Park’s Main Street.

2. Charlie Greer, train driver and gold claim manager at Shantytown Heritage Park.

3. Shantytown opened in 1971 as a recreation of a Victorian-era West Coast gold rush town.

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are different, the doorways are small, the stairs are steep. Without being able to experience that, people would have no idea what they were like.”

What’s more, a heritage park can be a sanctuary for an historic building that would otherwise be bowled.

“Yes, it wouldn’t be ideal to move it from its location, because a lot of significance is tied to context and landscape, but it would be far better than demolishing it,” he says, adding, “One reason these parks are quite successful here is that we built from light materials like timber – moving buildings is a lot easier here than in some other parts of the world.”

Often it’s the fate of a single building that acts as a catalyst. Pioneer Village, Kaikohe, for instance, was founded on the 1862 Waimate North Courthouse, a significant building from Northland’s past that had ended up as a hay barn and was slated for demolition.

Coming soon after a 1967 centennial celebration that had awakened interest in the area’s pioneer history, the mooted demolition caused a local storm, and the courthouse was relocated to vacant council land. The village that grew around it includes a colonial-era cottage, a jail, a school, a church and a sawmill, and other buildings, machinery and artefacts donated by local families and organisations.

“It made sense to have all these things in one place – so people can know what came before,” says Shaun Riley, one of the group that established the village.

42 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

You might say heritage parks such as the one at Kaikohe grow ‘organically’. But it’s also fair to say they can evolve haphazardly, acting as indiscriminate heritage safety nets. In many cases, too, the initial visions get modified by other demands.

Launched in 1977 on the site of the city’s former rubbish tip, Nelson’s Founders Heritage Park initially aimed to present itself as a working historical village.

But in 2007 a new five-year strategic plan acknowledged that its operators had ended up juggling too many roles.

Several buildings were then tenanted by commercial businesses, and the place was regularly used for community events that “had no place in a true heritage park”. The collections had grown reactively, and included everything from a fake medieval pillory to a 1950s Bristol Freighter, while many buildings were replicas “of no true historic value”. The new plan was for Founders to be a community park hosting regular events and using its “heritage ambience” to attract locals.

Another example of heritage mission creep is Ferrymead Heritage Park in Christchurch’s Heathcote Valley. It began in 1965 as the Museum of Science & Industry, heavily focused on rail (the valley was the site of New Zealand’s first public railway line).

Driven by the interests of individual historical societies, however, it developed into something more scattershot. Within the framework of an early Edwardian township, exhibits run the gamut

1. Students from Oxford, North Canterbury, get a demonstration of teaching Edwardian-style.

2. The park includes an operating tramway, heritage omnibuses, trolley buses, steam trains and the Southern Hemisphere’s largest collection of old fire engines.

3. Ferrymead Heritage Park was founded in 1964 as a recreation of an early Edwardian township.

4. Ferrymead General Manager Operations Jarrod Coburn in the general store.

from a blacksmith’s forge to early televisions to the hemisphere’s largest collection of fire engines. As well as trains and trams, the forge, a stonemason’s workshop and a printing press are all operational.

The park’s newly appointed General Manager Operations Jarrod Coburn says the passions of the historical societies’ volunteers give Ferrymead purpose. “The park is an incredible midden of Christchurch’s past – and also of the knowledge that goes with that. So it’s not just ‘here’s a historical item’,

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“The externals have to be functional … but it’s what’s inside that’s important.

Visitors can read, touch and smell, and that’s where their learning comes from”

1. A Morris Minor emerges from a Safe Air Bristol 170 Freighter Mk31E at Ferrymead.

2. The small hospital at Shantytown Heritage Park, featuring an old anatomy poster.

3. Shantytown Heritage Park CEO Andrea Forrest.

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44 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

but ‘here are five people who know how to pull it apart and put it together again’.”

That said, one of Ferrymead’s shortcomings is that it’s too static. The plan is to inject life into some of the buildings – turn the bakery into a tearooms, for example, and the general store into a souvenir shop selling items produced on site.

Another issue is there’s just too much stuff. “You walk in and you’re overwhelmed; it’s almost impossible to make sense of it,” says Jarrod, who reckons a visitor app rather than interpretative panels is the answer.

The other goal is to make Ferrymead more representative. “I’d challenge anyone to go into the park and find a single thing that has any relevance to Māori,” he says, citing also the Chinese and disabled communities as having been largely ignored.

Ferrymead is no outlier: New Zealand’s heritage parks generally have little to say about Māori. Another common criticism is that they are effectively heritage without history, full of buildings stripped of their stories.

Bill Edwards, Area Manager Northland for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, says that’s not necessarily the case, but it’s vital that visitors are provided with contextual information. “That way you can get a much more interesting story from these buildings.”

What of replicas? Shantytown near Greymouth has a handful of originals among its 45 buildings, but most were built from scratch and aged to recreate a Victorian-era gold rush town. Does it matter? CEO Andrea Forrest doesn’t think so, noting that the artefacts displayed are genuine.

hapū: sub-tribe rongoā: traditional Māori medicine tupuna: ancestor

3

“The externals have to be functional for the longevity of Shantytown, but it’s what’s inside that’s important. Visitors can read, touch and smell, and that’s where their learning comes from.”

All of Shantytown’s structures are businesses you’d have likely seen in a West Coast town towards the end of the gold rush – a carpenter’s workshop, a saloon, a bank, a butchery and so on. Some are specific, including a shop modelled on the first shoe store that Robert Hannah opened in 1860s Charleston, on the West Coast of the South Island.

“Often we pull it back to a family or individuals who existed, so we can provide stories about them or like types,” says Andrea, who believes heritage villages have “an incredibly important” role. “They tell you the story of a place or an era and you can see it in a snapshot.”

Can they stay relevant? Andrea fears the “gentle amble” through history they offer will be an increasingly tough sell in our impatient, devicedominated age. Mike reckons they can if they’re prepared to refresh their collections regularly – “What I find fascinating from a historical perspective isn’t necessarily what my children will.”

Jarrod, who is committed to broadening Ferrymead’s appeal, points out that 8000 school children visit every year.

“I think relevance comes through that connectivity to the community and from building up good practices around volunteerism,” he says.

“And it comes from telling stories in which people recognise themselves.”

TE AHUREA: A LIVING CULTURAL CENTRE Te Ahurea forms part of the Kororipo Heritage Park that features the Stone Store, Mission House and Kororipo Pā in the Kerikeri Basin, although it isn’t your typical heritage park.

“Te Ahurea is different in that it’s not a park of relocated heritage buildings, making it more cohesively presented and interpreted,” says Bill Edwards.

A Māori-run enterprise and Tohu Whenua, Te Ahurea recently replaced a replica fishing settlement called Rewa’s Village, created in the 1970s as a money earner to fight plans for a subdivision in the historic precinct. Using Provincial Growth Fund money, local hapū Ngāti Rēhia has transformed the village into a ‘living cultural centre’, with recreated whare and rongoā gardens, plus guided tours, waka tours and workshops in weaving, carving and traditional Māori medicine.

“Te Ahurea is bringing back a lot of the activities that would have been around at the time, like waka going up the river and carvers at work. It’s a time capsule where you arrive around 1790 and leave around 1835,” says Project Leader Kipa Munro, adding, “This is huge for our hapū. We employ our own people as guides and when they are talking, they can say ‘this is my tupuna’.”

For further information, see ‘Back in balance’ by Jenny Ling (issue 161, Winter 2021) and ‘A place in perpetuity’ by Myjanne Jensen (issue 173, Winter 2023).

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 45

KŌPIKOTANGA • DOMESTIC TRAVEL

On the radar WORDS AND IMAGERY: JACQUI GIBSON

Supported by a Christchurch-based tourism company, Ngāi Tahu has embarked on the world’s first indigenous-led research programme in the sub-Antarctic islands

46 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

POLYNESIAN VOYAGING AND MĀORI OCCUPATION IN THE SUBANTARCTIC ISLANDS 1200s Polynesian Pacific voyaging and occupation in the subAntarctic islands.

1800s Māori are among the sealers and whalers who base themselves in and around the sub-Antarctic islands.

1840s Chief Matiora (Ngāti Mutunga, Taranaki) leads a settlement of Māori and Mōriori on Enderby

R

iki Nicholas hoped for the best as he boarded the Heritage Adventurer for the Ross Sea in the summer of 2023.

A lifelong seafarer, muttonbirder and fisher, Riki had been appointed Ngāi Tahu director of the Murihiku ki te Tonga programme a year before.

Set up by four Ngāi Tahu rūnanga, the programme would boost the protection and management of the wildlife, islands and waters between Fiordland and Antarctica by increasing iwi-led research and monitoring in the region.

“Voyaging to the sub-Antarctic islands isn’t a trivial undertaking in terms of cost and risk,” Riki told me recently on a video call from his home in Murihiku/Southland.

Island, a few years before the British Government sets up a

“Getting all the way down to the Ross Sea, another 2000 kilometres south of New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic islands, across some of the roughest seas on the planet, is another challenge altogether.”

Even when the ocean played ball, unforeseen circumstances could scupper the best laid plans.

A research trip to the sub-Antarctic islands on HMS Canterbury, for example, had been cut short after the navy was recalled for cyclone duties.

The result was months of preparation down the drain.

So Riki was understandably pleased when Christchurch expedition cruise company Heritage Expeditions agreed to take his team to the Southern Ocean on three separate voyages that summer.

land-based whaling station and short-lived colony at Port Ross on Enderby Island.

1895 William Timaru Joss (Ngāi Tahu) reaches Cape Adare as a crewman on the Norwegian Whaler Antarctic in one of the first landings of the so-called Heroic Age of Polar Exploration.

A penguin colony at Cape Adare and Borchgrevink’s historic hut, shot with a survey drone. Carsten Borchgrevink was a Norwegian polar explorer and the leader of the British Antarctic Expedition 1898–1900.

Image: Colin Aitchison/SkyWorks

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 47

KŌPIKOTANGA • DOMESTIC TRAVEL

ENDERBY ISLAND, THE SOUTHERNMOST POINT OF HISTORIC POLYNESIAN VOYAGING More than 460 kilometres off the southern coast of mainland New Zealand lies Enderby Island, a seven-square-kilometre, DOC-protected island that is part of the uninhabited Maungahuka/ Auckland Islands archipelago in the sub-Antarctic region.

In 1997 Ngāi Tahu archaeologists Professor Atholl Anderson CNZM and Dr Gerard O’Regan excavated a site at Sandy Bay on Enderby Island as part of an examination of prehistoric settlements at Rakiura/ Stewart Island, Tini Heke/The Snares and Enderby Island.

Radiocarbon dating and data analysis showed a group of Polynesians and their dogs lived at Enderby Island for one or two summers about 700 years ago, making the sub-Antarctic site the southernmost record of prehistoric Polynesian voyaging to date.

48 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

1

Set up in 1984 by Rodney Russ, a now retired Wildlife Service biologist, and his then-wife Shirley, Heritage Expeditions specialised in small ship expedition voyages to some of the world’s most remote and ecologically important places.

“I didn’t know the Russ family personally,” said Riki. “But I knew they’d been taking tourists and scientists, among others, to the Southern Ocean for a long time. After we met, I could see our values aligned and, of course, I understood our chances of getting there and carrying out our work were very good.”

Under the management of Aaron and Nathan Russ (Rodney and Shirley’s adult sons) since 2018, the company regarded its sub-Antarctic and Ross Sea voyages as its flagship itineraries.

“We’ve been there since the start of modern tourism in the sub-Antarctic islands,” explained Aaron as we sailed from Enderby Island to Motu Ihupuku/Campbell Island (an historic area on the Heritage New Zealand List/Rārangi Kōrero) on the 124-metre Heritage Adventurer in December last year.

I’d joined Heritage Expeditions on a sub-Antarctic voyage, in part to talk to Aaron about his family’s relationship with Ngāi Tahu and to visit some of the heritage sites central to the new partnership.

1. Colourful megaherbs on Enderby Island.

2. Heritage Expeditions owner and expedition leader Aaron Russ and guest.

3. Historic machinery on Macquarie Island.

4. Southern rātā and the megaherb forest of Enderby Island.

5. A Buller’s albatross off Antipodes Island.

rūnanga: councils

3 2

5

4

“These islands are some of the most remarkable places on Earth and yet your average New Zealander has never heard of them – let alone visited them” “After 35 years of exploring this region, of course, it’s very important to us,” he told me as we tracked further south into the Furious Fifties, the winds that pummel the Southern Ocean. “That’s why we’re excited to partner with Ngāi Tahu on this world-first indigenousled research and monitoring programme down here.

These islands are some of the most remarkable places on Earth and yet your average New Zealander has never heard of them – let alone visited them.”

Scattered over 30 degrees of latitude, from 47 to 77 degrees south, the uninhabited islands of New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic and Ross Sea regions are some of the wildest and most isolated in the world.

More than 40 seabird species, including 10 of the world’s albatross species, breed there.

The region’s islands and southern ocean waters are also home to rare and endemic penguins, the world’s rarest cormorant (the Bounty Island shag), the critically rare New Zealand sea lion, and a variety of marine mammals.

Its remarkable human history began in the 13th century with Polynesian exploration, and spanned whaling, sealing and attempted settlement by both Māori and the British, as well as the so-called Heroic Age of Polar Exploration.

“This incredible region should be on everyone’s radar,” said Aaron.

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 49

KŌPIKOTANGA • DOMESTIC TRAVEL

1

Aaron, now 43, was eight years old when he first visited the sub-Antarctic islands, and he has returned every summer since 1992.

Aged 20, and soon to graduate from university with an honours degree in zoology and geology, he led his first voyage to the Ross Sea as expedition leader.

To Aaron and his similarly experienced brother Nathan, Ngāi Tahu’s partnership offer made good sense. Ngāi Tahu would lock in regular passage and, as a result, provide ongoing backing for them to carry out important research in the region.

Heritage Expeditions, for its part, had found a partner with whom the Russ family shared common goals.

“There’s not enough scientific research or conservation work being done down here. Yet the challenges are enormous,” Aaron explained, picking up our conversation a day later as we hiked the tussocky, wind-bitten hills of Motu Ihupuku/ Campbell Island.

The Department of Conservation (DOC) had achieved some important pest eradication and conservation wins with limited government funding over the years, he said.

But species such as the Antipodean and Gibson’s albatrosses, which bred on the sub-Antarctic islands and nowhere else on Earth, were in serious decline.

“Travelling to Antarctica by ship, in contrast to the usual fly-in-fly-out approach, worked really well,” Murihiku ki te Tonga Science Manager Dr Regina Eisert told me following my return home after 16 days at sea.

50 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

1. Hiking and bird watching on Moto Ihupuku/Campbell Island are highlights of Heritage Expeditions’ summer voyages to the sub-Antarctic islands.

2. A Snares crested penguin colony on Tini Heke/The Snares.

3. Riki Nicholas and Regina Eisert aboard the Heritage Adventurer, February 2023.

Image: Colin Aitchison/SkyWorks 4. Seal pups on Macquarie Island.

2

Regina, a German-born researcher specialising in marine mammals and one of Ngāi Tahu’s clean energy advisors, joined Murihiku ki te Tonga in 2023 with 10 Antarctic expeditions under her belt – nine in a leadership capacity.

Travelling by ship, she said, gave the team access to a good range of wildlife species including tītī, penguins and whales. Scientists, like tourists, couldn’t access the sub-Antarctic and Ross Sea islands and their inhabitants any other way.

Opportunities to leave the ship and explore the water by Zodiac meant they were able to capture sufficient video, photography and drone footage and continue vital research in the Ross Sea, the world’s largest marine protected area.

“And sailing the ocean seasonally as, say, an albatross or a killer whale does, reinforced the cultural view of the Southern Ocean as a highway and ‘connector’,” she explained.

“We enjoyed mixing with Heritage Expeditions guests. Riki and I gave talks about our programme and answered questions.

“Down the track, it might work out to involve tourists in our research as citizen scientists, like Heritage Expeditions sometimes does with other scientific projects,” said Regina.

With last year’s research voyages completed, Riki and Regina both felt confident their work was on track to serve as the basis for managing the region in a more sustainable way.

“Ngāi Tahu needs a scientific evidence base to inform future decisions, as well as any conversations they want to have with the various agencies responsible for New Zealand’s interests in the region.

“Yes, they have a Treaty [of Waitangi] mandate, but this evidence will further bolster Ngāi Tahu’s case for being a strong voice in the region.”

This coming summer, Regina’s team will continue studying key indicator species such as penguins, killer and sperm whales and Weddell seals, while Riki will work with DOC on heritage preservation and pest eradication.

The archaeological site on Enderby Island urgently needs protection from rāpoka (endangered New Zealand sea lions) and Riki is keen to kickstart a stalled plan to remove pigs from Maungahuka/the Auckland Islands.

“I was just bloody excited to follow in the footsteps of my ancestors on that first trip,” Riki told me during our video call.

Riki’s forebears were sealers and whalers, and he is a direct descendant of William Timaru Joss, the Ngāi Tahu crewman who reached Antarctica in 1895 on board a Norwegian whaler.

“This year we know a lot more about what to expect, as well as what’s possible down there.

“Now that we’ve solved the problem of how to get there, we can work with the Russ family and others like DOC and get stuck in.”

3

EXPLORE THE HERITAGE OF THE SUB-ANTARCTIC AND ROSS SEA REGIONS THIS SUMMER Starting in late November, Heritage Expeditions will travel to the sub-Antarctic islands on six separate multi-day expeditions. Meanwhile, the company’s two 28-day Ross Sea voyages will depart Bluff in January and February.

Highlights of the expeditions include onboard lectures and guided walks to heritage sites, including shipwreck, whaling and early settlement sites, as well as the historic huts of early polar explorers.

Wildlife and natural heritage typically seen on the summer tours include rare sea lions, whales, penguins, albatrosses and other seabirds, as well as southern rata, kelp forests and megaherbs.

Find out more at heritage-expeditions.com The writer travelled to the sub-Antarctic islands courtesy of Heritage Expeditions.

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Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 51

NGĀ PUKAPUKA • BOOKS

Lauren’s great offering here, and throughout the novel, is to bring a human complexity to what could too easily be reduced to a moralising tale, and to remind us that the past is made up of individuals, none defined solely by their position in society or their role on the right or wrong side of history.

Mātaria/Minnie, the Māori

WORDS: ANNA KNOX

Still Standing: A Memoir

protagonist whose chapters

Anna Crighton

alternate with Frances’s, is the

RRP $39.99 (Canterbury

character who most clearly

University Press)

embodies this complexity.

A slave, captured by a rival

Dame Anna Crighton’s

iwi in a devastating raid that

memoir has many different

killed her parents, she has

modes. What starts out as

finally returned after many

a predictable first-person

years to her papakāinga, but

account of middle-class

with a white husband and two

beginnings quickly – but

Lauren Keenan

children. Her whānau tolerate

without losing its even-

about her time on the

RRP $37 (Penguin)

her but won’t accept her. She

tempered gait – becomes

Christchurch City Council, the

lives in ‘the space between’

an extraordinary account of

many heritage buildings she

the Māori and Pākehā worlds.

survival. The loneliness of an

was involved in preserving,

The Space Between

There’s a moment towards the

While highly informative

end of The Space Between

Frances also inhabits

unaffectionate family haunts

and her extensive travels, the

where author Lauren Keenan

an in-between space. A

Dame Anna’s trajectory from

chapters in this section of the

(Te Atiawa ki Taranaki) really

‘spinster’ after her supposed

a correction home for young

book lack the first’s vitality.

complicates things.

abandonment by her beau

girls to a wild affair in Italy

It’s 1860 and war is coming

in London, Henry White, she

en route to her (second)

to heritage preservation

to Taranaki. The settlers have

is bullied by her embittered

fiancé in England at 20,

is primed early on, with

been advised to abandon

mother and brother George,

to a solo pregnancy at 21,

the restoration of her

their farms and go into the

a scoundrel who we begin

and – after returning to New

1879 worker’s cottage

protection of the township,

to suspect is the reason

Zealand – a truly shocking

home, and this builds over

Frances Farrington and her

for Henry’s disappearance.

hell of domestic violence.

time, particularly in the

There is a necessary

wake of the Christchurch

Following Mr Farrington’s

family among them. But

Dame Anna’s dedication

when Frances asks her kind

death and shocking

numbness to this retelling,

quakes. The book details

neighbour when she will

revelations of his debts, the

and zero self-pity, which is

her dedicated efforts and

evacuate, Mrs Archer replies:

disgraced and much-reduced

admirable. The emotional

successes, although the

“Mr Archer and I built that

family emigrated to New

dam thankfully breaks,

omission of any mention of

house with our own hands ...

Plymouth, New Zealand,

however, when it comes to

the Christchurch Cathedral

I can see my late husband in

where, incredibly, Frances

Dame Anna’s love for her

is curious. Dame Anna’s

every beam and board ... I’m

runs into Henry at the local

infant son, Dorian, a love

version of heritage is one

not leaving.”

store. Henry is now married

that ultimately propels her

focused uncompromisingly

to Mātaria.

out of a situation she may

on building preservation,

very well not have survived.

which some will find

This is also, of course,

While at times the

what local iwi and Māori throughout Aotearoa are

characters threaten to become

As the young Anna

insisting, and partly why

narrow. Nonetheless, it is

Disneyfied caricatures, the

finds her feet and begins

because of it that several

there is going to be a war.

work Lauren does through

to ground herself through

of Christchurch’s valuable

As readers, we know how

them keeps complexity and

work, family and a passion

heritage buildings are,

the story will unfold over

interest alive. In pinholing

for history, heritage and

indeed, still standing.

the coming century and

this epic period in Aotearoa

art, we are grateful for her

more, and the vast injustices

history to two close, female

brave retelling of the difficult

that will be served. And yet,

viewpoints, the trauma of

years that allows us to see

Mrs Archer is a heroine, a

powerlessness, injustice

the private person in the

good woman, and we, albeit

and loss becomes intimate

public persona, on which the

awkwardly, sympathise with

and recognisable.

second half of the book is

her pride in her home and her defiance in staying there.

52 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

largely focused.

papakāinga: home base; village

Other titles of interest

The Team That Hit the Rocks: The Inside Story of the Wahine Disaster Peter Jerram

The Trials of Nurse Kerr: The Anatomy of a Secret Poisoner

A powerful account of our

Scott Bainbridge

nation’s worst modern maritime

RRP $37.99 (Bateman)

disaster and the unbreakable

The true crime story of Elspeth

bonds formed by those who

Kerr, possibly New Zealand’s

survived.

RRP $39.99 (Bateman)

most prolific poisoner, in the 1930s, following the discovery

Hine Toa: A Story of Bravery

of a possible victim’s skeleton

Ngahuia te Awekotuku

in 1992.

RRP $39.99 (Harper Collins) An extraordinary memoir by a

Nailed Boots and Crinoline Gowns: Women on the Rural Frontier in Nineteenth Century New Zealand

trailblazing voice in women’s,

Robert Peden

queer and Māori liberation movements.

A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa

rural women in Aotearoa in the

Build for Eternity: A History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New Zealand

19th century, through diaries

Selwyn Katene,

and memoirs.

A. Keith Thompson

Catherine Hammond, Shaun Higgins (Editors)

Bob Crowder: A New Zealand Organics Pioneer

A comprehensive account of

RRP $65 HB (Auckland University Press)

Matt Morris

New Zealand from 1854, when

RRP $45

its first missionaries arrived, to

This latest addition to a number of recent books about

(Otago University Press)

the present day.

the history of photography in New Zealand brings

A leading garden historian tells

together images from three major research libraries,

the story of Bob Crowder’s life

Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum,

and his role in the birth of the

Alexander Turnbull Library and Hocken Collections Uare

organics movement in Aotearoa

Those Who Have the Courage: The History of the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps

Taoka o Hākena – and accompanies a touring exhibition.

New Zealand.

Matthew Wright

RRP $40 (Fraser Books) An exploration of the lives of

RRP $68 (Huia) the history of Mormonism in

RRP $95 HB (Oratia)

Four themed essays are alternated with sections as the stunning Winkelman silver print from 1896

Ans Westra: A Life in Photography

of a moving boat at sea and Paul Diamond’s astute

Paul Moon

analysis of the history of images in the Urquhart

RRP $49.99 HB

Frontline Surgeon

Album. Yet the effect of the whole is scattergun,

(Massey University Press)

Mark Derby

and difficult to take in. This is perhaps an intentional

A richly illustrated biography

RRP $45

reflection of the oblique nature of photo albums –

covering the career of the

(Massey University Press)

their ultimate silence and duplicity – but the jumbled

Dutch-Kiwi photographer Ans

A story of overlooked New

design and piecemeal observations may also simply

Westra (1936–2023).

Zealand medical pioneer and

of plates, each containing brilliant highlights, such

be the result of a highly collaborative project.

A richly illustrated history of 160 years.

war surgeon, Doug Jolly. n

There’s an argument put forward in the introduction that photography is about control. As William Kemp and Hēnare Taratoa stare out from the pages, it becomes clear that the power now lies with us to interpret the men’s gazes and imagine what they were thinking and how they lived.

“In both Pākehā and Māori societies, photographs embody a tangible trace and essence of subject that are as integral to their cultural meaning as that of photographs as status in Victorian society,” writes Shaun Higgins in his essay on photography in the Auckland province. The question, though, is how we now understand that essence.

BOOK GIVEAWAY We have one copy of A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa to give away. To enter the draw, send your name and address on the back of an envelope to Book Giveaways, Heritage New Zealand, PO Box 2629, Wellington 6140, before 30 September 2024. The winner of last issue’s book giveaway (Te Ata o Tū, The Shadow of Tūmatauenga: The New Zealand Wars Collections of Te Papa) was K Allen of Wellsford, Auckland.

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 53

HE WĀHI TUKU IHO HIRA KI AHAU • MY HERITAGE PLACE

My heritage place For The Hon Paul Goldsmith, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, a childhood visit to St Mary’s Church, a Category 1 historic place in Parnell, was the start of a lifelong fascination with both the building and the man who inspired it 54 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

AS TOLD TO ANNA DUNLOP/ IMAGERY: MARCEL TROMP

M

y earliest memory of St Mary’s

about Selwyn and the challenges he faced in

Church in Parnell is going to see

his life. That’s why I became more interested

a play there when I was nine

in his influence on the architecture of the

or 10 years old. All the pews

churches that were built for him.

had been removed for the performance,

Coincidentally, in April I was at Westminster

and the cavernous open space and striking

Abbey in London for the Anzac Day service,

architecture, together with the fantastic

and I was surprised – not for the first time –

acoustics, made quite an impression on me.

by the prominence of the memorial to Bishop

The church was on the other side of Parnell

Selwyn in the abbey. It served to remind me

Road at that time, and I remember later

that he was a man of quite some consequence.

watching them move it across the road to its current location in 1982.

I grew up in the Anglican tradition, and I’ve always loved St Mary’s and the other early [Bishop George] Selwyn-inspired churches

Most of Auckland’s Selwyn churches were built in wood in a neo-gothic style, and I particularly admire the beautiful internal timber frames, which are usually kauri.

St Mary’s was built later in the 1880s, but

of Auckland. Anglicanism was especially

it built on that tradition. The thick internal

important to me during my university years,

wooden buttresses have such a simple yet

and my fascination with Selwyn grew while

effective design, and I never stop being

I was undertaking my MA in history at the

amazed by the timberwork. I believe it’s one

University of Auckland.

of the greatest examples of the city’s early

I did my thesis on the life of William Colenso, an early missionary to New Zealand, and during my research discovered the

wooden churches, in terms of both its size and its grandeur.

Over the years I’ve attended many services

fractured relationship between Colenso

at the church, as well as funerals of great

and Bishop Selwyn. It intrigued me, and

New Zealanders, so St Mary’s continues to

consequently I spent a lot of time reading

have a lot of meaning for me.

Heritage.org.nz / Kōanga • Spring 2024 55

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56 Kōanga • Spring 2024 / Heritage.org.nz

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