Sign of the times

I needed to get out and about yesterday morning, so took a walk down to the end of Bolton Street in Blockhouse Bay. Officially, this sign denotes the border between Waitakere City and Auckland City, a border which has been that way for pretty much 100 years at least. Give or take some shifts. There at Bolton Street, the boundary isn't Portage Road, a few metres away, but one of the Whau River tributaries. I'd say Waitakere City were the ones who put the sign up. Slightly more of the sign given over to their name and a logo is the clue ...

If this is supposed to be a maintenance boundary, then there hasn't been much in the way of keeping the noxious weeds under control.

This is a boundary which will disappear by this time next year, as the cities amalgamate. Hence why I took a photo of the sign. To the west, lies New Lynn (the Portage Road-Bloton Street intersection) ...

... while to the east, is the suburb of  Blockhouse Bay.

 

Historic Naseby

Check out this site (link kindly sent through by Peter) from the Naseby Vision Incorporated Society -- especially the photo galleries. From the home page:

Naseby Vision Incorporated Society is a community development group which was formed in 2005.

Vision

We value:

• The Special character of our area
  • Its history
  • The ambience - the peace and quiet 
• Our Landscape
  • The forest
  • The scenic landscape and mountains
  • The climate
• Our History and Heritage
  • Our buildings
  • Our goldfield remnants
• Our Community
  • A place where a relaxed lifestyle can be enjoyed
  • The safe environment for families

Should all or any of these values be lost or degraded, the area will no longer be a 'special place'.

Hear, hear!

Ports of Auckland history links

A family historian and friend of mine, Peter, has sent through some links regarding the history of Ports of Auckland: an entry on Queens Wharf (via NZETC) from La Nouvelle-Zélande by Louis Henri Courte (1904), and a timeline history of Ports of Auckland itself.

Thanks again, Peter. Anytime you'd like to share info on the blog, just let me know. Thanks for your kind comments!

Balmoral and Sandringham (Auckland) heritage walks brochure

The latest of Auckland City's heritage brochures is out (it may be the last before Super City takes hold -- hope not, there's more info on Mt Albert and Morningside to come yet.) I worked on the research for this one, but aside from that, I think it's a beautifully put-together production. Matthews & Matthews Architects were the co-ordinators.

Our local libraries should have copies shortly.

The Balmoral part came from an earlier heritage study. Also included is information from the Eden Park study.

Birds at Catherine Place

Another trip into Henderson today on business, and I passed by one of my favourite examples of utility box art at Catherine Place, the front entry to Henderson's Westcity mall (which I still, now and then, call by the old name of Henderson Square.)

 

It does have a companion box, but this one is close to a wall, and is used by a street trader as a leaning post for his wares. I think you can get a gist though from this single shot.

 

Don't mess with the P & T Dept.

The following excerpt comes from the Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1913, F-1 p. 8, for the year ended 30 June 1913.

OFFENCES

At Auckland a young man, charged with misappropriating ₤1 from a registered letter delivered to him in error, was admitted to probation for two years upon refund of the sum stolen and payment of costs amounting to ₤5 5s.

A telegraph message-boy was convicted of the theft of ₤5 from a registered letter. Under Section 14 (1) of the Civil Service Act, he ceased to be an officer of the Department.

A telegraph message-boy at Ashburton was dismissed from the service for failing to deliver a registered letter entrusted to him.

On a charge of signing a fictitious name to a telegram at Ashburton, a man was fined ₤5 and costs.

On a charge of conspiring to defraud by means of telegrams,  two persons, one of whom was an officer of the Department, were convicted at Blenheim and were each fined ₤20, together with costs of ₤10 and ₤20 respectively; in default, to be imprisoned for a period not exceeding three months. The officer was dismissed.

A person convicted at Taumarunui of sending telegrams in breach of the Licensing Act and in a fictitious name was sentenced to one month's imprisonment.

A man was convicted and sentenced at Wellington to imprisonment for eighteen months with hard labour on the charge of opening telegrams addressed to another person which he obtained by fraud.

An office-cleaner at Wanganui was sentenced on the 11th July, 1912, to nine month's imprisonment for the theft of postal packets.

For stealing ₤42 fromm a postal packet at Omakau, a railway employee was brought before the court and admitted to probation for twelve months. A fellow railway employee was also admitted to a similar term of probation for receiving a portion of the stolen amount.

Three registered letters containing money were stolen at Runciman. The offender, who was arrested in Sydney, was sentenced to reformative treatment for two years.

At Otaki a man was convicted and fined ₤1 and costs for using a defaced stamp as postage on a letter.

Pottery wall art at Coromandel Post Office

Last bit of Coromandel township stuff. Spotted  these pottery inserts in the wall beside the entry to the local post office on Kapanga Road.

 

Depicting rail -- the Driving Creek Railway.

 

Sheep shearing.

 

Coromandel's gold mining heritage.

 

Timber milling (above, and my guess is below as well).

Above, boat building. Below, possibly electricity.

Above, the local fishing.

 

Above, crop growing (took me a while to realise that's a tractor going around in circles, but without a plough).

 

 Last, but not least: local pottery making.

Brief stop in Coromandel

More from the WAHS excursion. We had 20 minutes stopover in Coromandel township yesterday on the way back home to Auckland. Not a long time, but I did a quick tour of the main drag for the following shots. Oh, above is a quick shot of the western coast of the peninsula as we sped past in the bus. Extremely cool and beautiful drive along that coast. If you've not seen it before, I highly recommend it.

The local loos.

 

Lovely mural on both front and side walls (may be at the back too, but I was in a bit of a rush to take in as much of Kapanga Street as possible). This was a Coromandel area school mural project, 2007-2008, sponsored by Driving Creek Potteries and the local district council.

 

I reckon they've moved the loos during the township's history, though. Here's this archway, further down the street ...

 

 ... with a memorial stone to Samuel James who gifted "this rest room" to the people of Coromandel in 1929.

 

Here's Mr. James (from the Cyclopedia of Auckland).

Mr. James was born in London, and served his apprenticeship to the building trade in that city. In 1870 he came to New Zealand by the ship “City of Auckland,” Captain Ashby. When he landed in Auckland, the building trade was very quiet, and Mr. James set up as a builder and wheelwright at Newmarket. Then when the discovery of gold attracted the attention of the public to Coromandel, Mr. James joined in the “rush” thitherwards, and experienced the usual “ups and downs” of a goldfields' life. He carried out a large amount of prospecting at the Tiki, where he spent four consecutive years, and then followed various callings—sometimes at his trade of carpentering and sometimes at mining—until he started the present concern in 1889. By dint of hard work and assiduous attention to his business, he has succeeded in working up a large connection, and is now looked upon as one of the most successful men in the district. He has been most successful in his mining ventures, being a large property holder in and around Coromandel. Mr. James was married in the Colony. His private residence is situated in Rings Road, Coromandel, between the upper and lower townships. In church matters, he is a trustee of the Coromandel Wesleyan Church. Mr. James is a member of the Coromandel County Council and of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, and a Justice of the Peace.

 

Coromandel prides itself on its heritage look. It's a tourist attraction, as much as the links to the goldmining and timber milling past, and the Driving Creek Railway attraction up the road. Some buildings look original or near to it. Some though (I'll point them out later as I go) aren't or are likely not to be.

 

I think the wringer-washer on the laundromat verandah roof is a hoot.

 

 

The Star and Garter seems to be a latter version, judging from the 1902 photo below from the Cyclopedia.

 

There were a few of these in the township. Help from readers as to what they are would be appreciated.

Above is an example of "I don't quite think these are original". If they are, they've been altered and added to.

A recognised heritage building, the Assay House Tearooms.

 

Finishing this post up with a mural, the last shot I took for the day, on the side of one of the local dairies.

Driving Creek Railway -- rail and pottery entwined

I'm still recovering somewhat from a day excursion yesterday with the West Auckland Historical Society out to the Coromandel Peninsula and the Driving Creek Railway -- but it was a terrific day.

 

I could blat on about a bit of the site's history, but the folks at DCR have done a great job already on their own website. So, here's some shots with a bit of commentary.

 

 

 

 

DCR is where rail and pottery are entwined. Here, you really won't find one without the other for long .The ride along the line, up to the Eyefull Tower and back again isn't just a curving, zig-zag trundle through native bush where you play "Spot the species." All sorts of odd bits and pieces are there for the eyes to catch sight of, before the trains take you around that next bend.

 

Including retaining walls made up of hundreds of wine bottles -- some forming words to read as you pass by.

 

 

 

The terminus -- the Eyefull Tower. No, that isn't a spelling mistake -- you truly do get an eyefull of views up there.

 

The trains, hauled by "Linx" (built 2004) and "Snake" (built 1992)  at the tower platform.

 

 

Pottery pieces also grace the tower, inside and out.

 

 

Two parts of the line leading to the tower.

 

More pottery on the curving walkway down to the platform.

 

 

 

And ... we're off back down again.

 

 

 

 

The start and finish point.

 

More pottery artwork ...

 

 

 

 

In case you get lost ...

 

The "Elephant". No. 2 locomotive, commissioned back in 1978, now called (according to the information booklet I bought), the "vintage" train. It's used on goods and construction works. (No. 1 loco which virtually built the line is called "Dieselmouse".)

 

 

Last thing photographed before we boarded the bus to head back to Coromandel township. That has to be the funkiest and tallest plant pot I've ever seen.