Heritage Trails – Megan Williams

Barbara Brookfield: It’s lovely to see everybody again and I know that you’re going to enjoy this talk from Heritage Trails’ Chairperson, Megan Williams. We’re very very glad to have Megan here, and as you will’ve noticed the 200 Block in town is the ‘hip, in block’ at the moment, and it happens to be on the east side. And it’s the east side of Hastings that the Heritage Trails are focusing on tonight because there’ll be a brochure coming out soon. A lot of you will’ve followed the wonderful history of the Heritage Trails; there’s something like seventeen brochures on that table at the back and that amounts to an awful lot of work, a lot of research, a lot of foot tramping up and down and photos and goodness knows what. So, we really congratulate those of you who are here. I should tell you that the Heritage Trails has been going since 1990 so there’s a lot of history. It sits well with us. Over to you Megan.

Megan Williams: Well good evening, everybody. I’d like to welcome Philip; Philip is one of our Heritage Trails’ committee members and Norman here – he put his hand up as being part of the deal, but he’s on actually the front cover of all the brochures that you’re sitting on. [Chuckle] We went for a bike ride one day and I sort of snapped a photograph.

Now Heritage Trails are developed by identifying points of scenic, historic and cultural significance. A route is developed joining these points of interest together with the signage and an information brochure. The trails can be enjoyed by both locals and visitors. [Phone ringing]

A number of years ago the Hastings Heritage Trails Committee developed an urban trail around Hastings. As with all our trails, we need to revamp them from time to time as the brochures become out of date as things change. The trail I’m going to talk about tonight is one quarter of the larger trail which we have decided to make into four trails – the east and west of the central business district, and the east and west of the outer Hastings trail which will include most of the Hastings City. Our CBD trails are now in draft form and once we have published the brochure, will be launched for everyone to enjoy. We’re having brass plaques placed into the pavement at certain points around the urban trail.

[Shows slides throughout]

Now the Central Hastings Heritage Trail on the east walk … first of all, I’d like to talk about the introduction. In 1864 Thomas Tanner arranged the lease of approximately seventeen thousand acres of the Heretaunga Plains from Maori. Sometime later a syndicate was formed to purchase this area, and the Heretaunga block was surveyed into twelve sections. This was the start of the legend of the twelve apostles, although as Tanner later pointed out at an enquiry, there were twelve shares but never twelve men. The twelve shares were divided amongst T Tanner, B Braithwaite, J Williams, J Gordon, J Ormond, Purvis Russell, W and A Russell. The purchase price was stated to have been about thirty shillings [30/-, or £1/10/-] an acre.

In 1873, Francis Hicks, having acquired a portion, presented the Government with a section of land for the site of a railway station and decided to lay out a hundred acres near this site for a township to be called ‘Hastings’. A total of a hundred and forty four sections were offered, the average price per acre being £56. At that stage much of the area was still swamp and the original settlers of the Heretaunga Plains decided that Havelock North was to be the future town. It was only with the rerouting of the railway in 1874 that Hastings was chosen as the town site.

Years later the swamps were drained, population increased and places of business prospered. Fruit growing became an important industry, vineyards were established, and by 1884 the town had a population of six hundred and fourteen. Hastings was incorporated as a borough on the 20th October 1886 and was the largest borough in New Zealand until April 1908 when a large portion was included in the Hawke’s Bay County. Hastings was proclaimed a city on the 8th September 1956, and a district in 1989 following the amalgamation of the council[s], Hastings City, Havelock North Borough and the Hawke’s Bay County. Like other Hawke’s Bay towns, Hastings was named after the British who were involved in the ruling of India, in this case, Warren Hastings, India’s first Governor-General.

This central area of Hastings has fine examples of the Spanish Mission style of buildings from the 1910s to the 1930s. Features include terracotta tile roof[s], parapet, window hoods, barley twist columns and decorative ironwork. The other style periods seen in the area are Colonial, 1870 to 1900, with timber construction and timber or cast-iron verandah posts; Edwardian Commercial, from 1900 to 1920, often with two or more storeys and no verandah and having ornate decoration; the Striped [Stripped] Classical, which was the 1920s-’40s, with strong vertical emphasis with columns, often [coughing] with windows placed between the columns, and classical decoration; and Art Deco which was the 1920s-’40s, featuring stylised plant or geometric decoration and consistent skyline.

Now, we start our walk. The first site, the Hastings clock tower, is the starting point for the Central Hastings Heritage Trail Walk East, and the Central Hastings Walk East; both of the trails start there. In 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake destroyed the clock tower which had graced the corner of the Hastings Post Office since 1909. In 1934, the Borough Council invited designs for a clock tower and architect S G Chaplin, called Sid Chaplin, won the twenty-five guinea* prize and the tower was erected under the supervision of Chaplin on land permanently leased from the Railways Department. W Littlejohns & Co of Wellington supplied a Gents’ Electric Turret striking and chiming clock. The chimes given earlier by the Borough Solicitor E H Williams, and salvaged from the debris of the Post Office Tower, were installed in the new structure that was erected in 1935. At the foot of the clock tower, a time capsule was buried in 2002.

Cross the road across the railway line from the clock tower, and when you’re crossing on the right hand – the south corner of Russell Street and Heretaunga Street – you will see the Westerman & Company [building] – this is a picture of when it was being built. Established in 1910, Westermans was one of the oldest department stores. The present building is on the same site as the 1921 store which was destroyed in the ’31 earthquake. Fortunately, some of the interior fittings and the magnificent wooden staircase designed by Albert Garnett were salvaged and used in the new building. Designed by Edmund Edgecombe [Anscombe] in Spanish Mission style, rich with classical detailing and the use of bronze bevelling glass, terrazzo and pressed metal ceilings under the verandah, this building is one of the most superb examples of shopfront design in New Zealand. A special feature is the elaborate, enclosed glass display window at this corner entrance. Within the original store, customers could perch on high stools at the counter and watch their payments travel to the cashier through pneumanic [pneumatic] tubing around the store’s walls, [coughing] as it is today.

Begin walking along Heretaunga Street, keeping to the footpath on this side of the road. While walking down Heretaunga Street observe the Art Deco details of the building façades above the verandahs of the commercial buildings across the street. Most of the original buildings in the block were destroyed in the ’31 Hawke’s Bay earthquake.

Unlike central Napier, very few buildings in central Hastings caught fire following the earthquake. One exception was The Grand Hotel. The current two storeyed hotel is much smaller than the original brick five storey Grand Hotel that collapsed during the 1931 earthquake with the loss of several lives. The present ferro concrete building was designed by Wellington architect W Johns and was completed in 1934. And you can see it there when it fell down in the earthquake.

Next to The Grand Hotel is the State Theatre, now a Focalpoint Cinema. The two storied State Theatre was built in 1934 and was [an] Edmund Anscombe inspired design. It took over four ground floor shops to create the foyer with the cinema at the back of the building. In 1994 it was reconfigured to become a multiplex cinema and the imposing Art Deco style façade was added to the front.

Continue along Heretaunga Street, crossing Karamu Road at the traffic lights, and you’ll reach Albert Square. This park was originally the site of the Albert Hotel, a colonial style timber building that operated until approximately 2010 as a working men’s pub and accommodation. On the brick wall at the side of the park you will see one of [the] ‘Hastings Icons’ – images depicting a notable person of Hastings. Look out for these on other buildings during our walk.

Directly opposite the Albert Square is the Holden’s Building. Originally the site of Sutherland’s Drapery, the business in the timber building here was taken over by Francis Nutter in 1930. The building, except for a brick extension at the rear which collapsed, was able to still operate soon after the 1931 earthquake. It was eventually replaced by the current structure built by Mr Holden in 1934 but kept the name ‘Nutters’ on the corner façade.

Next to this is a distinctive multiple site façade of Bon Marché … Mr Richard Jones, present with us today. Mr Matthew Johnson established the forerunner of Bon Marché in 1895. In these [those] days it was called Johnsons but in the 1920s it was renamed Bon Marché. In 1929 when Mr Johnson died, the shop was managed by his son-in-law Mr James Jones, father of ‘The Jones boys’ – Stuart, Ross, Richard and Bryce – who all worked in Bon Marché for over thirty years and in Stuart’s case, forty years. The boys took over the firm in 1960 when Mr Jones Senior died. The drapery business was famous for its sales and service. The business was originally located at 113-115 Heretaunga Street East and moved into the present building sometime between 1935 and 1940. The building was then owned by the children of the late Edwin Warren. Given the same owners the direct physical similarity with the adjacent Russells’ Building, and the same builder, it seems extremely likely the building was designed by Edmund Anscombe & Associates. In 1974, the building was transferred to Bon Marché. The store closed in 1994 due to the completion [competition] of the large retail franchise ‘big box’ businesses. The aesthetic value of Bon Marché building rests in its townscape qualities. Although it is a quiet building in a group of similarly quiet buildings, it’s long, low proportions, Art Deco features and plain plastered surfaces give it a distinctive visual quality. The group marks [makes] a strong contribution to the predominant Art Deco theme of the architecture of the central business district. The exterior features Art Deco motives [motifs] symbolising the machine age. Originally the door architrave had Striped [Stripped] Classic[al] details and [a] decorative verandah fascia. There were terrazzo shopfronts with the metal framed windows.

If you look across the road where [as] you are walking, looking across at Bon Marché, but now you’re looking at 205 Heretaunga Street East; the Little Red Bookshop. This building operated as a music store. It survived the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake with only some cracking in the walls, and the store was the first seller of radios in Hawke’s Bay. The owner at the time was Jim Sutcliffe and his employee Paul Barcham ran Hawke’s Bay’s first radio station, 2Z1. The remainder of the buildings on the [this] side of the road collapsed during the earthquake and were rebuilt in the distinctive Art Deco style.

Simmonds Seed and Grain Merchants, 211 Heretaunga Street East. This building is also known as the Simmonds’ Building, named for A Simmonds Limited, Seed, Grain and Produce Merchants, who occupied the building from the early 1900s until the 1980s. The business was established in 1899 by Arthur Simmonds after he purchased Cranby and Sidey’s Seed, Grain and Produce business based in Napier. He subsequently owned an additional store in Hastings. The business was taken over by Mr John Common, Mr L Bisson and Mr K Merritt sometime before the 1931 earthquake. Simmonds’ Building was completely destroyed as a result of the earthquake and temporary premises were erected at the rear of the store facing into Eastbourne Street. The new building erected in 1932 features some subtle branding [banding] near the top of the parapet and the distinct [discreet] band of rolling waves not seen elsewhere, just above the verandah. See the waves? Now today – see that passageway there? You can go down there and right at the back you can still see the original brick walls of the Simmonds’ Building where they used to store the seeds.

Carry on down this side of the street and you’ll see the site of F L Bone which is 215 Heretaunga Street East. The hardware business of FL Bone operated on this site from the early 1900s and the property extended from Heretaunga Street through to Eastbourne Street, selling hardware, plumbing supplies, wood, coal and timber. The original building collapsed during the 1931 earthquake due to the brick walls giving way. There was [were] no serious injuries. The current building with its leadlight windows, tiles and pressed metal verandah panels was opened in 1932 and this company still operates from the rear of the building which is on Eastbourne Street.

The original Dominion Restaurant Building collapsed in the ’31 earthquake and this replaced [replacement] Edmund Anscombe design building with its distinctive asymmetrical curved and green tiled front was built in 1935. Now that particular picture has got the curved glass; I didn’t put a more modern one [in]. The street frontage of the building is still original and is Hastings’ only example of an Art Deco store front. The original window was curved glass but when it was broken it was replaced by a series of panels of glass.

At the intersection of Heretaunga Street with Warren Street, cross Heretaunga Street to the opposite side and take a moment to look back along Heretaunga Street towards the railway, to observe the façades of these buildings that you’ve passed. Note also the details in the underside of the verandahs of the shop behind you. An additional detour can be made down Warren Street to your left to view Landmark Square so I thought we’d give a little Landmark plug here. Landmark Square is a pocket park in the central city named for Landmarks, a Council and community initiative focused on the enhancement of the Hastings environment. The park includes a plant feature wall, an industrial steel shaped pergola, grassed spaces, seating and a water fountain. The Landmarks Initiative was started in the late 1990s by then Mayor, the late Jeremy Dwyer. A wall plaque in the park tells the story of his vision to build community pride in the wake of difficult economic times.

Return to Heretaunga Street and turn left, keeping to the north[ern] footpath. Across the road is the Hawke’s Bay Electric Power Board Building. This late Art Deco period building, designed by Harold Davies and Eric Phillips, was completed in 1938. It used to be the head office of the Hawke’s Bay Electric Power Board. You’ll note in the right of this picture – which is no longer there – a modernised building. Some of you may recall that the positioning of the windows, when it was built, caused great stress to motorists as they travelled along Warren Street in a certain time of day as the sun hit the glass angled windows, and would blind the driver[s].

Next to this, and extending to the corner of Heretaunga and Hastings Street, is the Municipal Building, and that photo there is after the earthquake. This building once housed the Municipal Chambers, Hastings Library and Assembly Hall above the shops, and now provides various function rooms. It was designed by Albert Garnett. The ballroom with its beautiful sprung floor is the largest in Hawke’s Bay. In 1931 earthquake it survived but needed some extensive repairs. More recently, the complex was completely restored and underwent earthquake strengthening. It was reopened in 1922. [2022]

Partway down this block are granite paving stones on the footpath that had design elements laser etched into them depicting the former true course of the Makirikiri Awa [River] that once flowed across the area and is now pumped and piped beneath the city streets.

Cross Heretaunga Street at this point, watching out for traffic and continue east along Heretaunga Street to Hastings Street and across the road, a short distance to the south, in Hastings Street, is Wesley Methodist Church. This first church built by Messrs Furnace and Clark was opened for worship in April 1884. It was then enlarged in 1894 and 1906 and the ’31 earthquake completely destroyed this beautiful building. A new church designed by the architects Harold Davies and Eric Philips, was built on this site in the Spanish Mission style, opened in 1932. An information board in front of the church gives information about the church.

Toitoi, across the road from the church – and of course this was previously the Hastings Municipal Theatre and Opera House. Designed by Henry Eli White as the Hastings Municipal Theatre and built by Bull Brothers in 1915, the building survived the 1931 earthquake although major reconstruction work was needed. The Art Nouveau influence is obvious in the extravagant design, as is [the] early Spanish Mission influence. It has since undergone several periods of restoration and extensive improvements to the facilities. Following the earliest of these [it] was renaming [renamed] the Hawke’s Bay Opera House, then after the most recent restoration and reopening in 2020, it was renamed Toitoi. The name Toitoi is a term used as a way to wish fellow performers good luck and in Maori means ‘pinnacle of achievement’.

Now on the corner of Hastings Street is Guy Baillie Motors. Now these premises were built in the 1930s and used to be a motor vehicle business owned by Guy Baillie. Through the generosity of Ross, Dysart and McLean he operated as a Pontiac Agency in Hastings as well as selling Vauxhall cars and Bedford trucks. This business was moved to Nelson Street; some of you may recall Gilbert Lloyd who managed it in later years. Mark Quinney had his garage on the corner subsequently, until the early 1990s. Then the Hastings Facilities Trust consisting of John Nott, Peter Bennett and Bruce Jennings, suggested to Council that they buy this building. The purpose was to give the Opera House, or Municipal Theatre, better access to behind the stage and by having better access, it meant larger shows could be attracted to the Hastings Theatre.

Turn right into Eastbourne Street and you’ll see the Municipal Power House. This was built in 1912 to house two direct current (DC) 150 volt diesel generators. These operated [cough] into the early 1920s when it became possible to purchase power from the national grid. Hastings had been one of the first civic bodies in New Zealand to have a public electricity supply.

Continue along Eastbourne Street crossing Warren Street, and proceed to the traffic lights at the intersection of Karamu Road. Cross Eastbourne Street and you’ll get the Hastings District War Memorial Library, which we’re in. Originally designed by architects Davies, Phillips and Chaplin, this building was erected in 1959 to commemorate those who gave their lives for their country in World War II and subsequent conflicts. Of particular note are the outside plaques, the mural and the windows in the Hall of Memories designed and painted by war artist Peter McIntyre. Two new wings and a mezzanine floor designed in Spanish Mission style by David Ironside of Works Consultancy, were added. These were opened 17th July 1993 by Jeremy Dwyer, the then mayor.

Look back across the road, opposite the library, to observe Ross, Dysart & McLean Limited building. This well-known Hastings motor-body building business built these showrooms and workshop premises in 1935-36 following the collapse of their previous building in the ’31 earthquake. As well as being agencies for imported cars, they became motor mechanics. Andy Dysart helped to organise the Hawke’s Bay Automobile Association in 1947-’48, at that time only the twelfth to be established worldwide.

Staying on the same side of the road as the library, observe on the grass under the trees, Nga Pou o Heretaunga; eighteen pou representing ancestors of the [from] marae round the Heretaunga district. These pou were all hand carved from the ancient totara trees. There is information about these pou on the information boards.

Continue along Eastbourne Street towards the railway line. On your left is the Women’s Rest. This building was designed by Mr S B Dodge of the Hastings Borough Council. The Women’s Rest Rooms were brought in the time of Mayor Ebbett, 1919-1921. The restrooms were the first in Australasia and provided a welcome building for country women travelling to town with their family to rest, toilet and freshen up before shopping. Rooms were made available by the Council for Plunket, and the facilities were also used by ladies working in town as an area where they could eat their lunch. Controversy arose when women complained that they had to ‘spend a penny’ for a visit while men could use other local toilets for free, so the fee was then removed. [Chuckles]

Turn [coughing] left into Russell Street and proceed to Major-General Sir Andrew Russell’s statue, one of Hawke’s Bays’ most decorated soldiers. Now there is an information board there about him; it’s self-explanatory. And then the next one is ‘Dolly’ the War Horse statute; again, there’s an information board. A sculpture is to be erected to commemorate all the animals who [that] acted in service in World War I. ‘Dolly’ was one of the four horses to return from the war. The sculpture is still to be erected. See the information board.

The next one is the Cenotaph, initially erected to commemorate local men who gave their lives for their country in the 1914-’18 war. Commemorative services are held here each year on Anzac Day, 25th April.

Return to the corner of Eastbourne Street; opposite you [on] the corner of Russell Street is the Colonial Mutual Building. Built in the 1929 Spanish Mission style, note the terracotta tiles on the turret roof and the detailing on the façade.

Cross Eastbourne Street at the pedestrian crossing [cough] and then cross Russell Street. On the footpath to the eastern side of the railway line walk back towards Heretaunga Street while looking at the façades of the buildings that line Russell Street. Note the strong Spanish Mission and Art Deco elements in these buildings’ façades.

Christies. Archibald Christie arrived in Hastings in 1914. He had a crockery retail business in Gore but that was washed out in 1912 by [the] Mataura flood. It is not clear where Christie established his first store but he did move to a timber built [building] in Russell Street. The site of the present building that bears his name, most likely in 1930; that year Christie bought a row of three lots in Russell Street, although it is possible he leased the property earlier. [Cough] His first building on this site must have been damaged in the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake because it was replaced by a temporary structure before the present building that was erected in 1934. The new building was designed by architect Albert Garnett and built by A Hampton. Albert Garnett already designed other Spanish Mission buildings before the earthquake such as the Poppelwell’s building, and this design complemented other adjacent Russell Street buildings just completed, like Westermans. The building remained in the ownership of [the] Christie family until 1990 when it was sold to Central Medical New Zealand Limited for use as a medical centre. It retains the function to this day under the name of ‘The Doctors, Hastings’. Since the medical centre was established six building consents have been issued and considerable changes have taken place, particularly internally.

Next is the Harvey’s Building. Completed in 1933, the exterior of this building is in Spanish Mission style while its interior, with its mezzanine floor, has elements of Art Deco and Stripped Classical styles, ideal for displaying hardware and imported china. It now is home to Arts Inc, a community gallery, so it is possible to enter the building and appreciate the interior and this beautiful sky light.

Walking along Russell Street will give you another opportunity to appreciate the details on the façade of the Westermans building. If you walk along there and look up you’ll see all the beautiful pressed iron. [Metal]

Continue past the fountain that surrounds the railway line on the intersection of Heretaunga Street and Russell Street, and on the north-eastern corner of this intersection is Robjohns & Rogers’ building. Built in Art Deco style in 1932 from a Harold Davies’ design, the verandah of this building also features the pressed metal soffits as seen on Westermans, opposite.

Then the Poppelwell’s building. Built in 1924, this was first known as Fitzgerald’s building. Like other buildings designed by Albert Garnett in this period it is built from reinforced concrete in Spanish Mission style, but with some Stripped Classical details.

Next to this and extending to the intersection of Russell Street North and Queen Street East is the old Post Office. And that’s the picture of the Post Office after the earthquake, and you can see the bell. Originally designed in 1909 by the government architect, John Campbell, in the Edwardian Baroque style it was one of the most imposing buildings in Hastings. Traditionally [tragically] its impressive clock tower was destroyed with loss of life in the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake. Rebuilt in 1932 to the design of another government architect, J Muir, it, like the nearby Public Trust building, was designed in a severe Stripped Classical style. When in the 1990s large Post Offices were closed in favour of smaller Post Shops, this building sat empty and neglected for a number of years. From 2001-2019 it housed the Hastings Health Centre. The integrity of the interior was retained and colour scheme advice was sought from New Zealand Historic Places Trust. Today, the building houses Westpac Bank.

Cross Russell Street North and proceed along Hastings Street East, and the buildings along both sides of Queen Street in this block are built in the Edwardian Commercial style. Mostly dating from the twentieth century, many of these buildings suffered only minor damage in the 1931 earthquake. Locals often referred to this area as ‘Shark Alley’ as many lawyers and accountants [chuckles] had premises there.

On the left-hand side, north of the road, is the Painter and Wattie Printers’ building which is now Lipscombe Legal. This building was partly owned by Ron Wattie, the brother of Sir James Wattie, and was supposedly a temporary building erected to house their printing company following the earthquake. It still bears the ‘W’ for Wattie’s in the front of the building.

Next to it is the Dominion Building. Built in 1908 for Lady Andrew Russell, this was the first ferro concrete building constructed in Hastings and is a good example of the Edwardian Baroque style, a building style popular in the years before the First World War. It is one of the few commercial buildings [cough] in this style to have survived the earthquake.

On the corner of Queen Street and Karamu Road – if you go past there the detail is just beautiful – there’s Karamu Chambers. This building, built in 1934, is an excellent example of Striped [Stripped] Classical style of architecture. The National Bank building previously on this site survived the 1931 earthquake but a fire that night gutted the interior and then two days later [cough] the basement containing cash and valuables was flooded. The building was subsequently demolished.

Diagonally across the road is the Public Trust building. Built in 1926 and designed by William [Wellington] architect Stanley Fearn, this building is very dignified with its entry marked by double height Ionic columns. See them there. It is [coughing] engineer-designed and survived the earthquake with no recorded damage, although I do notice that they have reinforced it. If you drive past you’ll see where it’s got the big iron beams inside. It’s interesting that it was designed by an engineer and didn’t have much damage in the earthquake.

This photo is the building of the Herald Tribune building. The Herald Tribune building is a rare example of Edwardian architecture, being built of brick masonry. It was damaged in the earthquake and the repairs were made in 1931 by C Tilleard Natusch. Later the glazed addition of the first floor altered the building appearance dramatically. [Cough] This building is strongly associated with the development of the newspaper industry in Hastings. The façade of this building was retained when the building was extensively renovated in early 2020 so that today it is a distinct mix of Edwardian and Modern styles.

Now turn right into Karamu Road and you’ll see the Jubilee building. The Jubilee building is a good example of the Stripped Classical style, again with classical motifs arranged in an unusual – indeed idiosyncratic – manner. These give the building a strong visual interest. It is otherwise a straightforward design typical of many in the Hastings CBD of the 1930s.

The Karamu Road site of the Holden building is the next one; now we saw the Holden building round the other side in Heretaunga Street, and this is from the other side in Karamu Road. And as we walk along we see the sculpture which is [a] Landmarks’ feature, and then if you look down the vista you’ll see all the lovely buildings and you can walk down there ‘til you get to the clock tower.

Now if there’s any questions or anything… there are brochures at the back, our Heritage Trails’ brochures, so if there’s anything of particular interest that you’d like to do well then the brochures are at the back; you can get the complete brochure. So, if anybody would like to share with us any stories of some of those buildings or businesses that they remember, it’d be great to hear some stories.

Question: Megan, the first photo you showed of the clock tower you could see the old gas tank in the distance at the back.

Barbara: I’d just like to point out that we should be so proud of our city and all those buildings that we’ve seen, have you noticed the façades are looking sharp, the colour schemes are appropriate and a lot of that has to do with Façade Enhancement Scheme that the council has run for a good number of years now. And Landmarks has over the years awarded recognition of outstanding projects. And I think your slides, Megan, have really picked up on that. There’s very little that we should be ashamed of and our city is looking stunning, I think, wouldn’t you agree?

[General consent from audience]

Question: Above the Nutters building you’ve got that great big advertising sign …

Barbara: Oh, yes – that didn’t last for long. There was a very strong dissent. [Cough] In fact there was more than dissent, there was a rule, wasn’t there, that we weren’t going to have any of that loud, garish advertising material, and it even extended to colours. Remember the yellow pharmacy? Or was it next to the pharmacy, that sprung up? That had a dampener put on it pretty quickly, [chuckle] luckily.

Question: Can anybody speak to that gas tower? Give us any history of that?

Megan: That’s where the gas works were.

2nd Reply: Of course in those days the, Heretaunga Street went across, and you can see the car …

Megan: The cars …

Comment: And that gives away the era.

Megan: Well I did that on purpose; I got some of the old pictures because you know they were much more interesting. You can just go down and see the ones today. But of course I have to be a bit careful with copyright and everything, so a lot of the photos I actually took myself because I don’t have to worry about copyright for me. [Chuckle]

Comment: Megan, if I can add a bit more to the gas works. I went to Central School and of course the gas works was across the road from there. And that thing you can see there, the gas … whatever you call it … tank goes up and down …

Megan: [Speaking together] It’s the tank, it’s full of gas.

Comment: Another thing that most of you won’t know, a lot of the heat from that gas works there, heated the swimming pool across the road, Heretaunga. Everything gets used some way or another.

Comment: That photo of number 106 Queen Street is where Wattie’s Printers were, is the original location of where the Terrace Motor Company started out.

Megan: Yeah, there’s [there’re] lots and lots of different sites – like, most of that Russell Street, Don Trask tells us that that was a timber yard and he’s got photographs of it being a timber yard. It’s really hard to know how much to put in and how far back to go, because every site’s got different stories and of course they’re changing all the time. And of course as you noticed, nearly every one had a significant … something happened in 1931, you know. It was when it was changed and was rebuilt; so that most of the town was rebuilt after the ’31 earthquake. No doubt about that.

Barbara: I like the incident about the Dysart Motor building on the corner which is now a human body builder. [Laughter] Or it was; I don’t know if it is still.

Comment: I noticed the corner of the Post Office where it cuts off; the theory behind that, I think, was in Napier – that people came out of buildings and didn’t know whether to run left or right. You can tell in Napier the buildings that were built after the earthquake have got the corners cut off them.

Megan: Oh that’s interesting.

Comment: Talking about the gas works, we biked past that going to school, high school. But you mentioned about the body builder; well there was a neighbour of ours, her father worked at the gas works for thirty-two years, shovelling coal. He didn’t need to be at that sort of body builder. [Laughter]

Comment: And just going back to Simmonds’, I would guess quite a number of people here would remember – they had the agency … I’m not sure whether they were the only ones, but they certainly had the agency for the little units that were imported from America called [?planitunians?]. Some of them were single wheel and some of them were double wheel and they had seed boxes on. Some of you will remember those. As far as I know, Simmonds’ [???] were the only ones.

Megan: Plani ..?

Reply: Planitunians, yeah. They’re American and they had a range of tools. They were made for the home gardener but they were also used in small commercial outfits.

Megan: So it had all the gear on it, did it?

Reply: No, no, you could buy the [?] and you could add on, a bit like a meccano set.

Comment: Yes, sort of long arms and a little box that drops in.

Comment: So it would really have a seed box on there I think … my understanding. And then the front it would have a little bit of a plough which’d dig a trench. And then the back wheel, I remember, was like this so it pulled the earth back onto the seed. A lot of the ones that I saw were just a single wheel but it wasn’t flat; it was an inverted driver so that the wheel actually pulls the dirt back and pressed it onto the seed.

Comment: But they’re missing that it had to be pushed. [Laughter]

Question: Can you remember the very tall wooden ladders they had in F L Bones?

Replies: Yes, to get to the top shelf.

Comment: I mean you wouldn’t be allowed that now, would you?

Megan: No … Health and Safety. Anybody else got stories? You know, I was hoping that some of you would have little bits and pieces like that, that I could sort of add. This is like, almost the final draft for this eastern end, and then the brochure’s also going to have the western side of the CBD. And within a few months hopefully, we can have that printed. And we’re going to have plaques – we’ve paid for the plaques. We’re having ten plaques, six down the eastern end and four in the western end that’ll be in the pavement, similar [coughing] to the plaques out in Havelock. There’s plaques on our Heritage Trail out there for the walk, so we’ll be doing the same here.

Question: I just want to ask if anybody remembers Woolworths and McKenzies on the other side of the railway lines.

Megan: That’s on the west one. Yeah.

Barbara: Watch this space.

Megan: Have we forgotten anything?

Comment: Another shop that hasn’t been mentioned was Bunkers. Comment: It was a very long shop.

3rd Comment: The toy shop.

Megan: And that was by the Little Red Book Shop, wasn’t it?

Reply: Yes, yes.

Comment: Next to the Albert Park.

Megan: So there must have been the Albert then the Bunkers then the Little Red Book Shop and then Simmonds.

Comment: I think that Bunkers was the Little Red Book Shop.

Megan: Oh was it?

Comment: Right next door to the Albert Hotel.

2nd Comment: Bunkers was infamous because it was very, very long. It was a bottle store wasn’t it? It was a bottle store ‘cos it was attached to the old hotel. Yes, actually.

Megan: Somebody did, ‘cos I remember.

Comment: Bunkers was infamous because it was very very long. It used to be a cafeteria … tea rooms.

Megan: Tea rooms?

Comment: Upstairs. [Chuckle]

Question: L J Harvey & Son in Russell Street I think it was, where John Frank Fussell worked for years. That’s where everybody went to buy their china … you know, wedding presents, silver … I know a lot of ours at home came from Harveys. Albert Garnett, the well-known architect, he was the father of Mrs Harvey.

Megan: That’s right. I read all that but I mean, I couldn’t put everything in. But you know, they were linked, weren’t they? family wise? Yes.

Reply: Yes, definitely.

Megan: And as he was asked to design the building he then met the sister of the wife, or something like that, and married her. Yeah.

Comment: [There were] two shops in that area – the other one was Hannah’s Cycle Shop next door to Bunkers.

Comment: Megan, I discovered that the Cenotaph has only the names of those killed in the First World War.

Megan: Not the Second?

Comment: The Second World War is more.

Megan: Is in the library, here, yeah.

Barbara: Well, I think this could go on for quite a while, [chuckles] but I think that probably when this brochure is released we ought to organise a walk.

Megan: That’s a good idea. Yeah – perhaps that can be our launch. We usually like to have lovely launches.

Question: Mobility scooters? [Chuckles]

Barbara: Crutches – anything you like. Just come.

Megan: When we have a launch you’ll all be invited to our launch because it’s one of the best kept secrets. ‘Cause the Heritage Trails Committee are all volunteers, you know, nobody really knows about them. And unless we have occasions like this, people don’t know about them. They’d be handy to have in your car if you’re, you know, travelling anywhere; they’re handy to give to visitors when they come to visit. But when we launch a new trail or revamp an old trail we usually like to make a big ‘Ra-ra’ at the launch of it, because that is the only opportunity we have to sort of really make something public about it, get some media coverage, ‘cause we run on the smell of an oil rag.

Barbara: And what Megan hasn’t said is that the Hastings Heritage Trails Group is looked on by the rest of New Zealand as the model, and it’s the biggest and the most successful over all these years.

Megan: I had a call just today from a lady in Wadestown who said that there’s a Heritage Trail sign there and she must have googled it and she rang me; she said, “I need some help – we need to redo the sign and we don’t know how to do it.” ‘Cause what happened – it was set up by a person in New Plymouth, a woman, Elaine Gill. And there was a committee in Gisborne and they set up Heritage Trails, and they set sort of really quite strict rules with the green and yellow and the logo and that sort of thing, and when I was in the Regional Council in 1989 she came and talked to us. There was Diana Williams and myself, and we sort of lobbied for it, to have a committee set up; we had one in Wairoa, one in Napier, one in Hastings and one in Central Hawke’s Bay. But we were fortunate in Hastings that we had a little bit of money in engineering that would look after the signs for us, and so we used to just watch that and keep it. And we had councillors on our committee, so we kept quite close contact with the council whereas all around the country where they set up trails they didn’t have that sort of continuity. We also became an incorporated society … the Hastings District one … and then Wairoa went defunct; Central Hawke’s Bay went defunct; Napier went defunct, but we’ve helped them. The Napier one actually physically joined us when Robert McGregor formally handed over the Napier trails. Any finance they had [he] gave it to us for us to take over the Napier trails, and you’ll notice that we’ve got the Napier trails in the [cough] brochures and things. So we’ve just been a bit lucky that we’ve had that continuity … we’ve had the passion, I guess. But we do hear from people all round the country, because all the signs are still there and people don’t really realise … some brochures are there but they’re all out of date, and you know … I mean my dream is to have from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island all linked up with Heritage Trails. I don’t know if we’ll ever see it.

[Applause]

Barbara: … with our thanks for all the hard work and your time.

Megan: Oh, thank you.

 

* One guinea = one pound one shilling [£1/1/-]