Tawa Historical Society Incorporated

The Tawa Historian

Newsletter #25 – June 2011

Dear members and friends,

TAWA HISTORY WEEK 7-10 JUNE
Can we remind you that our annual Tawa History Week will be held from Tuesday 7 June to Friday 10 June inclusive in the Tawa Library, commencing each day with a cup of tea / coffee at 10am, and concluding at about 10.45am. Phil Harland will take you on a virtual bus tour around some of Tawa’s historical spots on the Tuesday. Bruce Murray will speak on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, firstly about three aerial photos of Tawa (Flat) from 1943, 1959, and 1965; secondly about two of Arthur Carman’s forebears; and thirdly about a dozen or so photographs of Tawa taken in the years between 1901 and 1954.

ARTHUR CARMAN’S SUITCASE
Our publication we have been working on for the past 18 months (written by David Wood and Bruce Murray) has now been printed, and we will launch it shortly, probably in late June of early July. As you will know, Arthur Carman was for many years heavily involved in sporting publications and in local government. He also founded both the New Zealand Rugby and Cricket Almanacs, and wrote a great deal about local history. He was an elected Tawa Borough councillor for 21 years, and, in the wider Wellington region, an elected member of both the Wellington Hospital Board and the Hutt Valley Electric Power Board. Given that latter involvement, we thought it would be fitting to invite the Tawa Community Board to be associated with us in launching this book about the life and times of A H Carman, which we have called Arthur Carman’s Suitcase. This book is the largest (at 156 pages) we have produced. It contains coloured illustrations as well as black and white, and is beautifully designed and presented. It will cost $30.

After discussion with the Chair of the Tawa Community Board, the launch of our newest book will be on Monday 4 July 2011 at 6.00pm. Light refreshments will be served. You are all most welcome to attend.

2012 HISTORICAL CALENDAR OF TAWA (FLAT)
Our latest project is to produce a calendar for 2012 of 12 photographs of “Historic Tawa”, with some emphasis on the development of the railway through Tawa. Each photo will have accompanying explanatory notes. This publication will be both educational and of such a price as to make it an attractive ‘stocking filler’ for Christmas. If the project goes well, we might well make an historical calendar an annual or bi-annual offering.

CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations are due to our Executive member David Parsons on his authorship of Wellington’s Railways: Colonial Steam to Matangi. This is a superb and quite detailed overview of the development and maintenance of the railway system in the Wellington region, and is well worth purchasing. It is available through ‘Take Note Tawa’, or from ‘Mack’s Tracks’ on the Plimmerton Station. The cost is $57.50

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS
Thank you to all members for paying your subscriptions. We are now up to date.

TAWA FLAT TOWN HALL
The Society is keen to hear from anyone with stories or anecdotes of the old Tawa Flat Town Hall for a booklet it plans to produce as part of our Tawa Historical Series. The Town Hall, erected in 1933 on the corner of Oxford Street and the Main Road, played a significant part in the social life of Tawa Flat residents until it was demolished in 1963 to make way for Wardell’s Supermarket (now the Salvation Army Shop). If you have a story or two to tell, please phone Pat Waite: phone 232 8137, or email: pat_waite (at) xtra.co.nz

26 OXFORD STREET AND THE BARTLETT FAMILY
On our second bus tour it was fascinating to meet up with a great great granddaughter of Nathaniel Bartlett, who built the house in Oxford Street in the mid 1860s. She bought a number of our books for family members. This book is selling well, and if you don’t have your copy, it might be wise to purchase one soon.

DATES AHEAD
• Our Executive meets next on 1 August, 3 October and 5 December, 2011.
• Launch of Arthur Carman’s Suitcase on Monday 4 July at 6pm.
• Our AGM will be held on 5 September 2011 in the Tawa Community Centre at 7.30pm.

HISTORICAL BUS TOURS
On two recent Saturday afternoons, 9 April and 21 May, our Society played host to bus tours of “Historic Tawa” by members of the Wellington branch of the Historic Places Trust. Originally planned as one tour, it proved so popular that another was immediately planned. A total of 110 HPT members thus enjoyed Tawa’s history. Our thanks go to Phil Harland and Pat Waite who planned, organised, and hosted the tourists; to Rotary’s Inner Wheel who arranged afternoon teas for each tour; and to Richard Herbert who manned the “bookstall” for each occasion. We received donations of $180 from HPT, and sold nearly $600 worth of our publications to those who came on the tours. Well done, Phil, Pat and Richard!

Kind regards, and thanks for your continued support,