Wednesday, March 23, 2011

An empty corner


For years, heading past in buses along Great North Road just out from the Pt Chevalier shops, I’ve wondered just why the eastern corner of Moa and Great North Roads (1073 Great North Road) was empty. Had a house ever been there? How long as that corner been vacant? I decided recently to follow that question that often leads me down research paths these days: why is that corner the way it is?

The corner is a small fraction of the original Allotment 27 of the Parish of Titirangi, itself a further part of the northern part of the Sutherland Estate, a 149 acre farm stretching from Pt Chevalier Road (then called Barracks Road) and the Meola Stream. I wrote about the Sutherland Estate in number 4 of the Pt Chevalier Times, how the farm had a series of Scottish owners, was leased to William Motion in 1864 –likely as part of his sheep run – and to Samuel White in the 1880s, when he operated a night soil depot controversially close to the new municipal water supply at Western Springs.

In 1911, farmers William and James Thompson of Auckland and Alexander Bell of Morrinsville purchased both Allotment 27 and the adjoining Allotment 26. At some point before 1913, the Thompson-Bell partnership sold property to the Liverpool Estate Syndicate for £10,000, the equivalent of around $1.5 million today. (Letter to Official Assignee from the Syndicate, 5 July 1920) Thomas Henry Dignan, James Gustavus Mack, Sydney Mack (all from Pt Chevalier, the latter a land agent) were among the signatories to the subdivision plan from 1913 which laid out Tui, Huia and Kiwi Roads (DP 8813). Oddly, the Liverpool Estate syndicate did not appear on the formal title as owners, though Thomas Dignan, Thompson and Bell are names associated, in 1916-1918, with proposals to the Auckland Education Board a part of their land (Liverpool Estate) fronting onto Pt Chevalier Road, including part of Huia Road, as a possible site for a school in the district. (The new Pt Chevalier School finally ended up built on land once owned by Thomas Dignan, on Te Ra Road).

Moa Road was dedicated around 1913 as well, on a separate subdivision but all part of the Liverpool Estate sale. The angle of Great North Road which swings slightly to the south just before Moa Road meant that this section of the subdivision would always have irregular-shaped sections at the end of Moa Road – but, somehow, only lots 27 and 28 of DP 8812 were really affected. The rest were progressively sold and developed as time went on, fairly well without any hitches.

In 1922, lots 27 and 28, at the eastern corner of Moa Road, were still in syndicate ownership – only now, the official owners (NA 359/57) were Francis John Dignan, Frederick Patrick James Dignan, James Mack once again, with Hallyburton Johnston. A year earlier, the syndicate appear to have had some sort of a deal with a builder named George Arnold, with the view to building a retail complex there. His name only appears on City Council records from that time, including in 1923 when permission was sought to subdivide lots 27 and 28 into three sections. (DP 17153) The only reference I’ve found to the submission in the Council’s minutes, a report from the City Engineer, appears to have been confused as to both the lot numbers, and the sizes of the subdivision (the lots put forward by Arnold and the lawyers were slightly larger, but still small).

Dignan, Armstrong, Jordan & Jordan, 21/6/1923
Submitting for approval plan of proposed subdivision of Lots 28 & 29, Great North Road, Point Chevalier, owned by George Arnold.
City Engineer, 28/6/1923
Stating that the proposed subdivision has a frontage to Great North Road, which is a main thoroughfare, and in the course of time the property in this vicinity will be utilised for the purpose of erecting shops thereon, that the sections have a frontage of 50 feet, 50 feet and 52 feet, respectively to the main road, a maximum depth of 118 feet and a minimum depth of 73 feet to the street, and in all the circumstances recommending that the subdivision be approved.

Council minutes, 12 July 1923, p. 1448

Nothing happened, perhaps due to the recession the country went through at the time. In January 1924, the syndicate managed to sell all three parts of their 1923 subdivision to Mrs Gladys Coral Gash, who transferred it to Mrs Florence May Mines (c.1882-1955) the following month. Florence was the wife of Jesse Mines (c.1866-1933), and together they ran a lock-up general store up at 67 Old Mill Road, The building was still there as at 2009. Widowed in 1933, Florence was successful in selling Lots 2 and 3 in 1935/36 – but Lot 1 was a bit of a problem. Council realised that the lot was too small for residential development – yet, because it was in a residential zone, couldn’t be developed as a retail site.

24 June 1935
T Jordan, on behalf of Mrs F M Mines, applying for permission to erect a house on Lot 1, Plan 17153, Great North Road, Pt Chevalier, which area is less than the minimum area required at the present time in the case of dwelling houses.

1 July 1935
City Engineer: reporting that although the area is below the by-law minimum for that district, Council approved of this subdivision on 12 July 1923; two lots being cut into three, and therefore it is only reasonable to grant permission to erect a dwelling house as requested. He would point out, however, that the house must be so erected on the lot that the yard space required under the Municipal Corporations Act is obtained.

Recommend that application be granted, in terms of the City Engineer’s report. 
Valuation field sheets, ACC 213/60a, Auckland Council Archives

Florence Mines managed to sell Lot 1, right on the corner, to a Mrs Dorothy Williams in Kaikohe, most likely as a piece of investment property in Auckland. The investment went sour, when Mrs Williams realised she couldn’t develop on the site either.

11 October 1935
H L Beech & Company: applying for permission to erect a residence with a Bowser Station in front, on Lot 1 at the corner of Moa Road and Great North Road, Pt Chevalier. They add that there are two or three feet of good top soil on the section which could be given to Council for top-dressing at the Stone Jug.

16 October 1935
City Engineer: reporting that in the zoning scheme relating to this district, this property is located within the Residential District wherein buildings for commercial purposes are not permitted, and he sees no reason for Council to make any departure from the zoning scheme.

Recommend that the application be declined. 
 Valuation field sheets, ACC 213/60a, Auckland Council Archives

And so, Lot 1 right on the corner remained empty, too small for a house and yard, and in the wrong place for anything else other than grass.

In 1947 Mrs Williams finally sold the site to Mrs Kate Nobilo, who gifted the property to her daughter Milly two years later. John and Kate Nobilo were farmers up at Te Hana from around 1911. It appears that it was John who ordered his nephew Nikola Nobilo to come to New Zealand, where ultimately Nikola set up a legendary winery at Huapai. John Nobilo purchased No. 7 Moa Road, next door, in 1943, and his daughter Milly was to live there from that point for most of the rest of her life. She died in 2007, at the age of 97, her funeral service at the nearby St Francis and St Therese Catholic Church in Montrose Street, Pt Chevalier.

So, the empty section is that way through subdivision confusions and misunderstandings, during the time of Pt Chevalier’s urban development. Whether it will finally be redeveloped now is up to its present, or future owners. For now, though, it's the remains of an area of farmland where once sheep grazed, then night carts clattered, all a long time ago.

Update 24 August 2012: The empty corner is empty no longer -- the owners have created a carpark for their new early childhood facility The Rumpus Room.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Christchurch city trams before the 'quake


Once again, some images from Bryan Blanchard, with his permission.
"... Christchurch in happier days. All in the Square, except 244 coming out into the street at the east end of the square."







Update 29 March 2011: More pre-quake photos from Bryan, taken at Cathedral Junction at the east end of the square, 7 February 2009.



 No. 178 (all above): " a boon tram, this class were introduced in 1921". Below, the ex-Melbourne W2 244.



 Tram 11 & trailer.


  Trailer & tram 178 in the distance.



Tram 178. Bryan's comment: "When I rode on the trams as a school boy up on holiday from Timaru - I rode
on trams like 178, painted green & yellow from Spreydon shopping shops into the square route numbers on trams were 14 to Spreydon & 16 to St Albans. Cost to the square from Spreydon was one penny.

"178 painted red, was a trial colour done in the 1930s on one or two."


Tram 244.

More Ferrymead trams

Bryan Blanchard has sent more images through, and said I can share them here (thanks again, Bryan, you're making my day!). Again, anyone is welcome to email me or add a comment with more info and corrections. While I love trams, I'm certainly not an expert (but I love to learn). Information below from Bryan's email.


Above and below.  Hills, tram 24 waiting restoration & ex-Dunedin, Mornington cable car 111 under restoration.






 Above and below. Ex-Invercargill Birney tram under restoration in the tram barn. A Birney image from Trams Down Under, and article from Stuff.co.nz on the No. 15.




 Above: The Beast - 5w with tram used in the city circle = W2 244 in the village. Below, on the Ferrymead tramway line.


 Below: Tram 152 & trailer 115 normally used on the city circle.


Also, here are Bryan's photos of the restoration work being undertaken to repair the tramlines after the recent earthquakes. Quoting from his email:

This is some of the work we were doing. We worked in with the Ferrymead gang - Cleaning the liquefaction sand of the track area  ( all fall stuff to shift )- straightening the sleepers in the track bed that had moved & rebalasting them & also with the shaking of the earthquake, a number of the sleepers needed the ballast repacked round them. The sleepers that had to be straighten, had to have the attaching screws, locking the plates that hold the rail line in place, loosened, straighten up & screws tighten up again, locking the attaching plates onto the railway line.   The works tram = THE BEAST, fleet No. 5w supplied the power/air needed to run the compressor to operate the air gun.








Update:

In answer to Sandy's question below about damage to Ferrymead from the Canterbury quakes, here's Bryan's response and another photo from his collection:



"Only real track damage I saw was on Ferrymead railways as seen on one of their sidings."

Trams at Ferrymead

I've just received permission from Bryan Blanchard, of the Pleasant Point Museum & Railway, to put his photos of trams at Ferrymead near Christchurch on the blog. Thanks, Bryan!

As always -- I welcome comments, additional information and corrections from tram enthusiasts. The more info, the better.

W2 224 - ex Melbourne, normally used in the city circle. There's a page on W2.224 which was part of the Melbourne fleet, not sure if it is the same tram, though.


(Above) Tram 152 & trailer - normally used in the city circle.

Above: 236, former Brisbane tram. According to this site:
This is Brisbane's two-bogie drop-centre tram, although it has much in common with Sydney's toastrack L/P trams. The first to be introduced was No. 231 ...At first, despite their weight, the trams were equipped only with hand brakes; air brakes were a late refinement. Later, air brakes were fitted to hand-braked models in reverse order. This process got as far as tram No. 276 before it stopped. 


 

Restored Christchurch No. 1.

The colours of Paynes Lane, Onehunga


Paynes Lane, Onehunga. According to the Auckland Central Library's streets database, named after Ronald Payne, who owned property taken for the lane, which conveniently leads straight to DressMart. I was heading through Onehunga yesterday, picking up some provisions for a day out at Archives New Zealand bent over old bits of paper -- when I spotted this:



This was spray painted in November last year, according to the Onehunga Community News. From that month's online edition:

The first of what is hoped to be a series of murals adorming the blank walls of Onehunga buildings is to be produced by the Cut Collective on the weekend of November 13th and 14th. Four or five artists will spend the weekend on scaffolding at the top of Paynes Lane, using spray paints to colourfully depict a variety of local imagery. Glen Armstrong of House of Travel provided the original inspiration and impetus behind the Cut Collective ...Glen says the mural will "reference the local community" and will be finished in plenty of time for Onehunga's first Santa Parade.




Yeoman Warder at Tower of London clips

While these clip links from YouTube (sent overnight by a friend in England) aren't anything to do with NZ history, I'm putting them up here anyway -- mainly because I reckon those in our local heritage field leading informative walks (including me!) should learn from this chap as to how to make history fun and informative at the same time.

Sure, he has the vast canvas of English history and the Tower of London to utilise but -- oh, go on. Watch the clips, and see for yourself.




Sunday, March 20, 2011

Titirangi, Fringe of Heaven


Marc Bonny is a friend of mine, a committed local historian, West Auckland Historical Society member and someone with a real love for the stories of Titirangi and West Auckland in general. His book, launched today, fills in yet another gap in our knowledge base as far as the history of our region is concerned. It was  also very nice to be mentioned in the acknowledgements as helping towards Titirangi, Fringe of Heaven (all I did was point the research team of Marc and well-known historian Bruce Harvey in the direction of the old deeds references at LINZ, and do some proofreading).

Check it out as an example of a community joining together and finding their voice to relate, to the future, the stories of how their particular part of our region came to be.

Titirangi's ever-shifting war memorial


Spotted the Titirangi War Memorial outside the local community centre/war memorial hall today. Thought -- Hey, how come I missed this when I photographed the special clay tiles last year? Did I? Maybe. But that cement work and the pavers at the rear look quite new. Plus, the war memorials page for this one at NZhistory.net, where the photos date from 1986 and 2009, show slightly different locations. Looks like, since 1965 when the memorial seems to have been shifted from its original spot on Memorial Hill (near Titirangi School, across the road from Lopdell House to the north), it has probably  been moved at least twice. Maybe three times. What on earth have the local authorities got against this lovely pillar? I'll leave it up to the locals to tell me more, should they come upon this post.

Anyway -- more images from today.


"Erected by H Atkinson to record the names of the men of Titirangi who left New Zealand to fight for the British Empire and the human race."