Tawa Historical Society Incorporated

The Tawa Historian

Newsletter #10 – November 2004

As far as 2004 is concerned, we are very pleased that, in conjunction with the Wellington City Council we played a part in the production of two booklets published for guidance on the Northern Suburbs Heritage Trail. We are delighted that the first of our objectives as a society has been achieved, and have thanked the City Council for their work in this matter.

Secondly, throughout 2004 we have kept some other projects moving along, i.e. the placing of about 26 brass plaques to mark the route of the Old Porirua Road through Tawa; the provision of an information board outside the Tawa Library suggesting two “heritage walks” through Tawa; and more recently, suggesting to the Wellington City Council that the Tawa Cemetery on the Main Road near Fyvie Avenue needed attention. These are all most worthwhile, are accepted by the Council in principle, but take a great deal of time to bring to fruition as they are worked through various Council bureaucracies. Considerable progress is, however, being made with the Tawa Cemetery project. Phil Harland keeps his research into the U S Army Ammunition Dump in Takapu Road moving along also. Clearly, all these projects will continue to be priorities in 2005.

We have also given some thought as to what we might do once these projects are concluded. We are mulling over a number of suggestions and would welcome your thoughts when we meet on 6 December.

a. Information Boards
We are thinking of placing a further three information boards in Tawa:
• In Grasslees Reserve, to draw attention to Eldon Best; to the Best farm of Grasslees; and to the early agricultural practices of pioneer settlers
• On the corner of the Main Road and Oxford Street, to draw attention to that area as the old “centre” of Tawa with the store, Post Office, garage, school, first church, Leigh’s stockade and “town hall” all situated nearby.
• On the site of the first Tawa Railway Station on Duncan Street 100-200 metres north of the new roundabout at the Duncan Street / Taylor Terrace / Tawa Terrace intersection. This would draw attention to the Wellington-Manawatu Railway through Tawa, the line of the old track, and the 1937 railway deviation.

b. Publications
It is probably time that, as a society, we started to give some thought to publishing material about Tawa. Three possibilities spring to mind:
• A booklet explaining the origins of Tawa’s street names
• A book / booklet featuring, say, 20 houses / buildings of historical interest in Tawa. Perhaps this could be published over two years, as a calendar?
• A book on Tawa in 1838, 1848, 1923 and 1943 using the notes, maps and photos presented to the U3A members in a series of lectures on Tawa’s history.

Members of the Society may have other suggestions to make regarding future directions / projects. Our overall strategy has been initially to undertake projects of a fairly public nature, so that the community will see that the Society is doing something positive and worthwhile. It is fair to say that we did not expect progress to take so long. In this regard, I have approached the new Community Board with an offer to brief them on what we are attempting to do, and they have willingly accepted that offer. I am scheduled to meet with the Board at their February 2005 meeting, and trust we will get their support for what we are doing. Who knows – that support could even be financial?

Subscriptions

We haven’t sent out a subscription request to you as yet. The Society has recently been granted tax-free status, and we are currently getting a ruling on the tax deductibility of subscriptions so that you can be sure of your ability to get a refund from the Tax Department next year.

We are grateful for your support of the Tawa Historical Society, and look forward to meeting with you on 6^th December

With kind regards

Yours sincerely

Bruce Murray
Chairman