Members Stories

The Lagoon

The Lagoon is the top of the Kaipatiki Creek where it meets a creek of fresh water. I have heard that in earlier days sailing ships looking for fresh water, would come up in their long boats to fill their barrels. I have years ago drunk gallons of water from that creek but not now. The main creek into the lagoon has three starting points The Birkenhead Domain, Highbury shops, Verrans Cnr behind the bus depot. Another creek starting at Birkdale Primary School which comes out west of the Lagoon is now built over. This creek my Grandfather dammed and pumped water for his strawberry and orchard in 1900 - 1918. On January 28th 1904 Birkdale School held their picnic in the McCullough paddock. His property was from the bottom of the hill in Eskdale Road to just past Salisbury Rd before the Bentleys, it went down to the creek. In days gone by in the summer evenings I have seen 30 to 40 people down at the Lagoon swimming in the water being warmed after after coming over the mud flats and then a bonfire of dried ti tree. At one stage there were two spring boards, one off the rocks, the other was off the high bank, I have seen a chap dive off the high board and go in up to his shoulders in mud. He was from Birkenhead. On a nice day in the weekend when the tide was in you could see as many as ten or twelve dinghys in the lagoon, but now with the mangroves and sub division you can't row a boat up there. Mangroves are now a menace in coastal waterways. I have had an 18' yacht up to the lagoon. Seventy-five years ago there was a trench about 2' deep on the east side of the creek with thousands of sea shells. This makes one think that Maoris were once there. My mother swam there in the early 1900s.

Glad Durham