We’re just back from a bicycle tour in the South Island, cycling along the country roads of Canterbury. Lycra and gears were shunned for vintage, one-speed bikes, with riders decked out in an eclectic mix of Victorian outfits. David and I are now members of the Oamaru Ordinary Cycle Club, who have been holding such
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Freshwater ecologist Ian Duggan’s latest publication is a slight departure from science topics. Annette Taylor takes a journey down a historical garden path. When asked how he came to write a paper on garden gnomes, Dr Ian Duggan says it was because of his children. A senior lecturer at Waikato University, Ian’s speciality is invasion
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Gordonton was all ready for invasion during World War II, thanks to our very own Home Guard. In memory of Lex Riddell, who passed away last week, we republish his article from the Auckland – Waikato Historical Journal of 1980. Hard and happy days with ‘Dad’s army’ A rural company of the Home Guard
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“A splendid crop of turnips grown on peat land at Mr A W Chapman’s farm on Piako Rd, Gordonton.” This splendid photograph was taken by F G Watson, and featured in the New Zealand Herald on April 12 1927 under the heading Productivity of the Peat Lands of the Waikato. Thanks to Kate Monahan Riddell
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The name of a First World War veteran on Gordonton’s cenotaph is a complete mystery. “Sometimes I wondered, was it a mistake that they put this man’s name here,” Gordonton’s Cilla Henry told Waikato Times reporter Elton Smallman recently. Paritawa Tewai is one of two Maori names etched on the memorial – the other belongs
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They were big and robust, but slow, with limited manoeuvrability. Nevertheless, they revolutionised agriculture. Perry Rice muses about traction engines. Traction engines were a part of everyday life for many folk, town and country, for less than a hundred years. Yet, like steam railways, there is a great fascination and nostalgia for them. They were
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