Thursday, February 5, 2009

Country Churches of NZ 33. All Saints’, Manaia

I wrote and illustrated Country Churches of New Zealand. It was published in 2002 by New Holland, Publishers and is still on sale in bookshops. The publishers have kindly agreed to me re-publishing some of the book’s images and descriptions in this blog.

From the Coromandel Peninsula, through the Bay of Plenty to Gisborne I visited and illustrated a number of small churches. But I had great difficulty gathering historical information about many of them and so my commentaries are often confined simply to impressions gained from each subject on the day of my visit.
ALL SANTS’, MANAIA

‘All Saints’ Church looks over Manaia Harbour flats with mauve hills beyond. 

‘Front door doesn’t need to be locked; it’s jammed tightly at the bottom. Inside, a couple of old brooms against the wall, bristles almost eroded to nothing. 

‘The structure is racked, ends of horizontal boards pulled from their verticals. White nave with pale lime green ceiling, 13 pews, simple sanctuary, white linen-covered altar with brass cross before east window (Gothic arch with trefoil below which is divided into three smaller Gothic arches). Bunches of fresh flowers in vases either side of sanctuary (which means that despite its tiredness the church is tended).

‘Simple pulpit elevated just enough to get the vicar above the congregation. Tiny organ covered by tablecloth; white stone font.

‘A plate on the north wall is dedicated to four of the Pareone family: “For over 50 years … faithful members of this church erected by their families”.

‘Kids by the bridge along the road shout “Hi mister!”. I wave a brush at them. They say excitedly: “He waved to us!” as if I were a Martian. Marae down side lane; comfortable houses along an unsealed road,’
 
(FROM MY NOTEBOOK 21/1/01)

© DON DONOVAN   

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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Thursday, October 23, 2008

Open 7 Days 7. Colville General Store


I wrote and illustrated ‘Open 7 Days’. It was published in 1991. It’s a series of freeze-frames of some historic New Zealand general and convenience stores as they were preserved in the last decade of the 20th century.
Bit by bit, on this blog, I re-publish some of the entries from that book.

COLVILLE GENERAL STORE

Main Road, Colville, Coromandel Peninsula.
Proprietors: Colville Co-operative Society

In 1978 a group of local people formed a co-operative and bought the Colville Store. After some years of love and little reward they have rebuilt it into the industrious and thriving business it is today.

It is the northernmost store on the Coromandel; as such it looks after the needs of residents as far out as Port Jackson and Port Charles, and suddenly, when the holiday season comes, a customer base of anything up to five thousand. There was a strong ‘green’ feel about the store long before the popular move started, and although it sells ‘everything’, the co-operative members most enjoy selling healthy foods, in bulk, trying to avoid plastic packaging as far as it’s possible in modern times. They also encourage locals to sell their cottage-industry products through the store - home-made candles, jewellery and craft works - and they’re noted for their honey from friendly neighbourhood bees.

The store is not so old by rural general store standards. It was built in 1946 by Dick Goudie out of materials acquired from the old naval base at Port Jackson. In those days Colville was an important timber-milling district. In the 1990s farming is the mainstay, but the population is drawn from all walks of life: timber millers, settler-generation farmers, doctors, lecturers, potters, weavers, inventors, tax consultants, moteliers, beekeepers, plumbers, painters and Department of Conservation staff.

‘Being a co-operative makes it interesting,’ says Meryl Johnson, one of the co-ordinators, ‘especially when people say, “Oh, you’re a co-operative - do you all live out the back?”‘

Old hand-cranked fuel pumps just north of the Colville Store.

© DON DONOVAN

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Monday, February 18, 2008

Brian Boru Hotel, Thames


I wrote and illustrated ‘The Good Old Kiwi Pub’. It was published in 1995. It’s a snapshot of some New Zealand pubs as they were at the end of the 20th century. I have decided to share some of the entries from the book from time to time on this blog site.

Like all old gold towns Thames has been home to large numbers of pubs. In fact, when the 1855 Reefers Arms changed its name to Brian Boru in 1867 there were probably more pubs in Thames than there were in Auckland. While that’s no longer the case, Thames still rates as a big town and it’s booming again. This time it’s not gold that brings prosperity but solid enterprises like car assembly and the ever increasing numbers of tourists who are discovering the Coromandel Peninsula.

Today’s Brian Boru, built in 1905 by Edmund Twohill, stayed in the family for 106 years with four generations of Twohills operating it until 1974 when it was sold to a brace of property developers. For a few years this cherished old hotel lost its way; there was nobody around to look after it and things got so bad that the citizens started to give it nasty nicknames like ‘The Pits’ and took their patronage elsewhere.

It was rescued in June 1983 when entrepreneur Barbara Doyle bought it and set out to return it to its former glory. She has made the Brian Boru famous through her insight, dedication and business acumen. Perhaps the most laudable thing she’s done is to preserve its original form; even the recent additions have been harmonious.

The Brian Boru plays host to over ten thousand guests a year, a large percentage of whom are international visitors who enjoy the ambience, and shiver with delight on hearing stories of the ghosts remaining from the old gold mining era. (Head ghost is Florence Twohill who, with her sister, ran the Brian Boru in the twenties).

And speaking of pub ghosts - Barbara Doyle’s ‘Mystery, Intrigue and Murder Weekends’ have achieved great fame. In true Agatha Christie style, guests are invited to take part in solving mysteries in the Brian Boru where ‘windows rattle, floorboards creak and ghosts come out after midnight’. There’s a reward for the successful sleuth and ‘the unlucky victim’s estate receives a 50% “mourning” refund’!

This is a big hotel where, I think, one gets a good impression of the activity and energy found in the coaching inns of the nineteenth century.

© DON DONOVAN

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