Port Craig

Last updated

Remains of the Lidgerwood Hauler at Port Craig Remains of Lidgerwood hauler at Port Craig.JPG
Remains of the Lidgerwood Hauler at Port Craig

Port Craig is located along the south coast (Te Waewae Bay) of the South Island New Zealand near Tuatapere. It was a small logging town born in 1916, with 200+ men women and children living there in its prime. Like other New Zealand bush towns, Port Craig was inhabited by hardy kiwi bushmen and their families, recent immigrants and a few others trying to keep clear of the law. The Marlborough Timber Company had a large scale plan to log one of the countries last significant coastal forests. The company planned big, they built the Dominion's largest sawmill, an extensive tramway system, port facilities and township all without road access. The bush was worked by the Lidgerwood overhead logging cable system (gantry) that weighed over 50 tonnes. The immense size of the gantry meant that it was very difficult to relocate in the inhospitable forest and after one major shift, the gantry was left redundant, crippling the local logging industry.

Contents

Remains of wharf Port Craig Wharf 2.JPG
Remains of wharf

All that is left of the town is considerable relics including the gantry base, a large English built wince (built in Hull) that operated on the wharf and thousands of bricks. There is also a fairly complete bakers oven and the original school building that is now used as a trampers hut.

History

Whaling

Mussel Beach had the remains of a whaling station and a 6-oared whaling boat in 1877. [1]

Tracks

The track from Bluecliffs via Mussel Beach to Puysegur was improved when a phone line was erected in 1908, [2] the first base camp being at Mussel Beach. [3] Cages were installed to cross the major rivers. [4] It was further improved in 1919 and 1920 to a horse track from Bluecliffs to Port Craig. [5] [6] [7]

Logging

The mill mostly milled rimu, brought along the 14km tramway Port Craig sawmill and tramway.jpg
The mill mostly milled rimu, brought along the 14km tramway

The logging days commenced in 1917 and continued till about 1929, when it shut down in the face of the looming depression.

Tramway

Work started on the 3 ft 6 in (NZR gauge) Port Craig tramway in 1917. It ran south from Port Craig, parallel to the coast, for 14.6 km (9.1 mi) to Wairaurāhiri River, [8] with a further 9.8 km (6.1 mi) of branches. [9] It extended over a mile from the mill by 1921 [10] and was extended in 1924. [11] The line was worked by steam locomotives from 1919, [12] including the largest bush locomotive built by A & G Price, a Meyer type Ar 0-4-4-0T, [13] which was on the line from 1926 to 1931. [14] The rails were removed in 1939. [15]

Nature

The area is remote from any big towns or districts, and this led Port Craig to keep surrounding natural environment at its beauty. Southern right whales and Hector's dolphins sometimes can be seen cavorting close to shores. As early as 1896 it was observed that ferrets seemed to have exterminated wekas and kākāpō as far west as the Waitutu River. [16]

Walking Tracks

Parts of the tramway were cleared in 2009 to form a route for the Hump Ridge and South Coast Tracks and the school became a hut. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Percy Burn Viaduct</span> Bridge in New Zealand

Percy Burn Viaduct is located in the far south of the South Island of New Zealand. It is reputedly the largest surviving wooden viaduct in the world. A former logging tramway, it is now a footbridge and the most popular feature of the Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track.

The Tokanui Branch, also known as the Seaward Bush Branch, was a branch line railway located in Southland, New Zealand. It diverged from the Bluff Branch south of the main railway station in Invercargill and ran for 54 kilometres in a southeasterly direction. Construction began in 1883 and it operated until 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hump Ridge Track</span> Walkway in New Zealand

The Hump Ridge Track, also called the Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track, is a 61 km walking track that is partly in Fiordland National Park in New Zealand. The track was opened in 2001 and is run privately on behalf of the Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track Charitable Trust.

Fortification is a locality in the western part of the Catlins region of Southland in New Zealand's South Island. Nearby settlements include Quarry Hills and Waikawa to the southeast, Tokanui to the southwest, and Waimahaka to the west. It is over 50 km east of Southland's main centre, Invercargill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big River (Southland)</span> River in New Zealand

The Big River has also been known by several other names, Windsor River and Māori names Hakapoua, Okopowa, Patu-po, or Patupō, though that last name, meaning kill by night, might refer to a place near Long Point and Waitutu. It is a river of southern Fiordland, New Zealand, and is one of three rivers of that name in the South Island. It is the main source of Lake Hakapoua and a lower stretch is the lake's 2-kilometre (1.2 mi) outflow to the sea. The river rises on the 1,123 m (3,684 ft) high Arnett Peak, in the Cameron Mountains, runs about 23 km (14 mi) to the lake. At about the mid point of the river it runs through a narrow gorge. Elsewhere it is generally very shallow. The river is in the Fiordland National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waitawheta River</span> River in New Zealand

The Waitawheta River is a river of the Waikato Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows from a point south-east of Mount Te Aroha in the Kaimai Range to the Karangahake Gorge at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula to reach the Ohinemuri River at Karangahake, five kilometres east of Paeroa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Burnand</span> New Zealand engineer and sawmiller

John Henry Davis Burnand, known as Harry Burnand, was a New Zealand engineer and sawmiller. He was born in London, England on 2 December 1850.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otorohanga railway station</span> Railway station in New Zealand

Otorohanga railway station serves the town of Ōtorohanga, on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand. The current station dates from 1924.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Craig tramway</span> Railway line in New Zealand

The Port Craig tramway was an overall 24.4 kilometres (15.2 mi) long, bush tramway with a gauge of 3 ft 6 in at Port Craig in New Zealand, which operated from 1917 to 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ormondville</span> Settlement in Manawatū-Whanganui Region, New Zealand

Ormondville is a locality in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located inland, south of Waipukurau and west of Flemington, Hawke's Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taringamotu railway station</span> Former railway station in New Zealand

Taringamotu railway station was a station at Taringamotu on the North Island Main Trunk, in the Ruapehu District and Manawatū-Whanganui region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mangapehi railway station</span> Defunct railway station in New Zealand

Mangapehi was a flag station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Waitomo District of New Zealand. It was 5.89 km (3.66 mi) north of Poro-O-Tarao and 5.15 km (3.20 mi) south of Kopaki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hīhītahi railway station</span> Railway station in New Zealand

Hīhītahi was a station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Rangitikei District of New Zealand, in the Hautapu River valley. The station served the settlement of Hīhītahi, which was big enough to have a store and a school. It was 12.55 km (7.80 mi) south of Waiouru and 3.05 km (1.90 mi) north of Turangarere. Hīhītahi is at the top of a 1 in 70 gradient from Mataroa, so that it is 39 m (128 ft) above Turangarere, but only 73 m (240 ft) below the much more distant Waiouru. A crossing loop remains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tangiwai railway station</span> Railway station in New Zealand

Tangiwai was a station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand. The station served the settlement of Tangiwai. The nearby pulp and saw mills are now one of the main sources of freight on NIMT. In 1953 the Tangiwai disaster occurred when the nearby bridge over the Whangaehu River was swept away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karioi railway station</span> Railway station in New Zealand

Karioi was a station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand. A passing loop remains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rangataua railway station</span> Railway station in New Zealand

Rangataua was a station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand. Like most of the stations on the central part of the NIMT, a large timber trade exploited the native bush until it was largely felled. What is now the small village of Rangataua developed to the south of the station. Just a single track now passes through and virtually nothing remains of the once busy station and workshops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erua railway station</span> Railway station in New Zealand

Erua was a station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand. It served the small village of Erua. For a month in 1908 it was the terminus of the line from Auckland. Makatote Viaduct and tramway are about 3 mi (4.8 km) south of Erua.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Holdship</span> New Zealand timber merchant

George Holdship (1839–1923) emigrated to Auckland in 1855 and became a businessman, mainly involved in timber logging and sawmills. His companies removed much of North Island’s native forest, initially kauri and later kahikatea. He moved to Sydney in 1913.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kopua railway station</span> Railway station in New Zealand

Kopua in New Zealand is now a sparsely populated area, immediately south of the border of the Manawatū-Whanganui and Hawke's Bay regions, with 150 people scattered over a 40 km2 (15 sq mi) meshblock. For two years it briefly flourished as a village, centred on a railway station on the Palmerston North–Gisborne line, opened on 25 January 1878, when it became the southern terminus of the line from Napier and Spit. Building to the south was delayed by the need to erect 3 large viaducts over the Manawatū River and its tributaries, so the extension to Makotuku didn't open until 9 August 1880. Kopua then declined until the station closed on 8 May 1977. Only a single line now passes through the station site and there are remnants of cattle yards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piripiri, Manawatū-Whanganui</span> Place in Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand

Piripiri is a sparsely populated area in the Tararua District, in the Manawatū-Whanganui Region, on State Highway 2 and the Palmerston North–Gisborne line. It is 3 mi 8 ch (5.0 km) north of Dannevirke, and has 150 people scattered over a meshblock of 21.8 km2 (8.4 sq mi).

References

  1. "Ooverland from Preservation Inlet.(Otago Daily Times, 1872-12-02)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  2. "The Destruction of Native Birds (Southland Times, 1908-02-19)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  3. "A LINEMAN'S LIFE ON THE PUYSEGUR TRACK. (Press, 1912-09-18)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  4. "Local and General (Otago Witness, 1910-07-27)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  5. "WALLACE MATTERS. (Western Star, 1919-04-04)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  6. "Southland Times, 1919-03-20". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  7. "PUBLIC WORKS ESTIMATES (Otago Daily Times, 1920-10-25)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  8. "Historic Port Craig Sawmill and Settlement Site". www.doc.govt.nz. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  9. "Port Craig Sawmill and Settlement". www.heritage.org.nz. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  10. "Port Craig. (Otago Daily Times, 1921-09-29)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  11. "News in Brief. (Otago Daily Times, 1924-07-31)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  12. "Value of Homing Pigeons (Evening Star, 1919-03-21)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  13. "Images & Drawings - A & G Price Ltd. - Page 2". www.trainweb.org. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  14. "Owners". www.trainweb.org. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  15. "News of the Day. (Auckland Star, 1939-03-21)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  16. "Overland from Puysegur Point to Orepuki. (Otago Daily Times, 1896-03-28)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  17. Egerton, Rachael E (2009). "Heritage Management at the Port Craig Sawmill Complex: Successes and Challenges" (PDF). IPENZ. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-05-22.


Further reading

46°13′S167°21′E / 46.217°S 167.350°E / -46.217; 167.350