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BIRKENHEAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY |
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Archives May 2004 Newsletter Birkenhead 1888 - 1988 by Alice O'Callahan Growing Up in Birkenhead in the early 1900s by Veda Inglis This year we celebrate 25 years since the founding of the Birkenhead Historical Society in 1979. We remember the many members who have contributed to the Society during that time. On 15th May we celebrate this event. Percy Allison will tell us tales of his barber's shop in Beach Haven. The Birkenhead Library will have a display on our Society for the first two weeks in July. Make sure that you take the opportunity to view this, and the Museum as well. We had a most delightful trip to Te Aroha - a report and pictures are shown over the page. 35 attended Brian Potter's "A Tribute to Anzac Day". There are still many outstanding subscriptions. You will find a RED sticker on this newsletter if you are one of these. After the AGM, any one outstanding may find that they do not receive a newsletter - so get your suscription paid. At the AGM, the motion will be put that the annual subscriptions be raised from $5 to $7. My apologies for attributing the main story in the last newsletter to Vera, rather than Veda Inglis. Also, I didn't really mean to finish in the middle of a sentence. Her story is completed in this newsletter. Our Trip to Aroha With only a couple of spare seats the coach departed from the museum in brillant sunshine. We went over the Harbour Bridge and along the Southern Motorway. Our first stop was at Maramarua at an orchard with a large rest area, just time for a cuppa and to buy some fresh fruit and vegetables. We then went on through Ngatea where Glad asked Mavis if she wanted a lotto ticket. We passed through Paeroa and let our members out to many antiqueshops. As we got nearer to Te Aroha, Ray asked Mavis to come up the front and use the microphone and tell the members about the district and the mountain.
A lady I got talking to at the Soda Fountain told me the tailings area is the second most poisoned and dangerous area in NZ The first being where they manufactured 24T in New Ply mouth. The tailings problem has to be addressed at some time and I think she said it would cost about $1M to clean up as it is high up on the mountain. Boden (my daughter and her son) went right up to the tailings and saw the devastation caused. It was like a big skating rink, cream in colour and everything dead around it. Dead as a dodo. No birds to sing as all the trees around the circle were either dead or dying. It had lots of gravel around the circumference and that was to stop the leaching I suppose. It was eerie being there as I had never seen a dead area before. I suppose it was like Vietnam where the area had been defoliated with the 24T aerial spraying during the Vietnam War. The lady said there was leeching going on all the time and after heavy rain it was the biggest worry.
We arrived at the domain at 12:15 where members had lunch and looked around the many craft stalls, checked out the town. Some went through the museum, a very interesting place to spend the time, until the coach departed at 2:30. We travelled back through Waihou and then up highway 27 until the Bombay Hills where Ray turned left to Pokeno for a huge ice cream and to enable members to stock up on sausages and bacon. Then onto the Southern Motorway. By Greenlane with traffic getting heavy we knew that we were back in Auckland. It was a very enjoyable day for all on board, arriving back at Verrans Corner at 5:45 where Stuart Durham swept the coach out as he always does. Birkenhead Museum is open every Sunday 2pm - 4pm Birkenhead Historical Society 25th Jubilee Saturday 15th May St Andrew's Presbyterian Church Hall - 2pm Come and make this Celebration a day to remember. After a short Annual General Meeting, we will hear about Ye Olde Barber's Shoppe Scissors & Secrets from Percy Allison.To make this a good party, it would be appreciated if members could bring a plate. There is no entry fee, and fruit juice, wine, tea and coffee will be provided. There will be a raffle. Saturday 12th June - Another Mystery Trip - $20 These are always worthwhile and interesting. The bus leaves the depot at 9-30am, travels via Beach Haven, and leaves the Museum at 10am. Make your booking with Glad and Betty - Phone 483-7545 now. Saturday 10th July - Stories at Zion Hill at 2pm Write down childhood memories and early memories. Come and bring these to another most interesting afternoon. Arrangements for publishing stories collected in previous years is now well advanced and will be available later in the year. Stories do not need to be about the Birkenhead but about wherever you spent your childhood. Saturday 28th August Keep this day free for another trip - still to be arranged.
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