Person recorded: Walter George Radford

Date of interview: 14 September 2004

Interviewer and abstractor: Morag Forrester

Tape Counter: Sony TCM 939

Tape 1 Side A starts

005: Opens discussion giving his full name as WALTER GEORGE RADFORD and born in 1919. Adds that he was born in PALMERSTON NORTH and that until he reached the age of four, his family lived in the main street opposite the city showgrounds. They then moved to SHANNON, north of WELLINGTON.

028: Explains that a dam was being built in the area and that quite a few flax mills still existed then.

038: Says his FATHER was a PLUMBER and worked at the flax mills for years. Adds his specific job at the mills was ‘SCUTCHING’ which involved scraping the remaining fibres from the washing and drying machines, binding it all together for export overseas.

046: Replies that the flax was used to make rope, twine, woolpacks and related items.

050: States his FATHER’S name was WALTER JAMES RADFORD and that he was born in TEMUKA, CANTERBURY. Adds that his family came from ENGLAND and that his GRANDFATHER was an ELECTRICAL ENGINEER.

059: Says his MOTHER’S name was DAISY REBECCA DE BLOIS and that her family name was FRENCH CANADIAN. Points to a photograph of his maternal GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER, JAMES DE BLOIS (see accompanying page) and that he lived in MOTUEKA.

076: Mentions that JAMES DE BLOIS was a WHALER but is unable to expand on this.

[See accompanying document in file giving details of GEORGE’S MAORI genealogy or whakapapa te whanau. JAMES DE BLOIS father, was PETI DE BLOIS who was the son of TEITEI, granddaughter of TAMAIHARANUI. He was the upokoariki and chief of the NGATI RANGIMOA, the noblest family of the SOUTH ISLAND’S largest tribe, NGAI TAHU. JAMES DE BLOIS’ wife ELIZABETH DONALDSON was the daughter of POKIRI who was also a direct descendant of the same noble family. She married her second husband, JOSEPH DONALDSON in 1850. GEORGE’S whakapapa can be traced back to the 7th century AD.]

081: Responding to question, says he had one BROTHER (WILLIAM) and two SISTERS (RONA and JOAN) and that he was the third of the four CHILDREN. Adds that both SISTERS are still alive but WILLIAM died in JULY 1993.

098: Discussion turns to schooling and he says he went to SHANNON PRIMARY SCHOOL, which he described as large with up to 400 children on the roll.

112: Recalls SHANNON had two hotels, a bakery, a few shops and churches.

120: Says that at first, their home had no water supply and they relied on tanks until after the power scheme was completed when upgrades were installed.

143: Describes how the movie theatre in the town was constructed from corrugated iron which was fine until it rained when it was difficult then to hear anything. But at first, he says, they only had silent movies and that the first ‘talkie’ he saw was a movie about the opening of the SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE.

155: Recalls that with the first ‘talkies’, the sound was played on a (vinyl) recording in synchrony with the speech on film.

166: Relates a tale about when the family first arrived in the town. Recalls that his FATHER and BROTHER had gone ahead of the younger ones, taking whatever furniture and goods they had to the new house. Remembers it was NEW YEAR’S DAY when he, his MUM and elder sister got off the train and were directed by the station master to their new house on BALLANCE STREET. Says as they approached, there were five police officers standing and that further down the street they could see about two thousand men fighting. Says they were two groups of workers in conflict – hydro scheme workers against flax mill employees.

193: Another childhood memory he describes is how he and a bunch of other kids would take kerosene tins down to the creeks during the summer and catch little crabs and eels and build a fire to cook them. Says they would swim all days in the creeks and eat.

205: Replies that at primary school they were taught from the ‘PRIMMERS’ level upwards to STANDARD 6.

217: Says his BROTHER, BILL, went on to HIGH SCHOOL in PALMERSTON NORTH, but that he left SCHOOL at the age of fifteen to go and work in a dairy where he was assigned to butter making.

224: Recalls another major event – a TORNADO had hit SHANNON and blew the train off the line. Says he was with his FATHER who was doing the CREAM RUN, collecting cream from local FARMS. Says that apart from seeing the train land on its side down a gully, they also saw people clinging on to rushes (long grass) while the roofs of their houses were gone and buildings damaged. Says he and his FATHER picked up some of the shell-shocked people back to SHANNON.

243: Replies that the town suffered less damage possibly because it was protected by trees although he also recalls seeing “water tanks bowling down the road”.

250: Says he doesn’t recall anyone being killed, not even any of the train’s passengers.

270: States the first FARM he worked on was for the CAVES whose property was about four miles out of town. Says he would cycle out to it every morning. Adds that they didn’t provide food, except a banana for lunch. Recalls that the tornado had cut power supplies so all the dairy cows had to be milked by hand.

281: Remembers his wage then was 17s 6d a week.

288: Thinks he worked there for about a year until he got a job at a woolpack in FOXTON. “She was real slave labour there.” Adds they were poorly paid and many of them were children and that they seemed to have a lot of accidents at work.

302: Recalls that the company didn’t last long so he moved to WELLINGTON, where he worked half the year at the FREEZING WORKS, and the other half for the COLUMBUS RADIO COMPANY which made radios. Says he then moved on to the MINISTRY of WORKS where he worked for two or three years as a CRANE OPERATOR.

312: Remembers just pre-war that he was sent out with the mobile crane to TRENTHAM where he had to shift huge loads of corrugated iron brought in by the truckload. Says he wondered what it was all for and then war (WWII) was declared and the iron was used to build huts for the servicemen.

336: Responding to question about the effects of the DEPRESSION on his family, says they were lucky compared with the people next door. Says the man of that house made violins so everyone wondered what they lived on until they realised that the pile of chook feathers by their back door were probably from stolen chickens.

348: Recalls other incidents such as houses burning down and people claiming insurance on them. Says there’d be at least one such fire a week.

361: Adds that many people did suffer hardship and it was around that time that there were the big construction schemes on the roads using wheelbarrows and pick and shovel. “It was amazing that that was how they worked and they got hardly any money and Mum used to make soup for some of the boys down the road…they were in an old house and…so I used to take, y’know, a billy of soup around to them, y’know, to help them out.”

369: Replies that when war was declared he was then working for the FIRE BRIGADE (in WELLINGTON) so was required to stay at home because of the fear of attack from the JAPANESE.

390: States he was in his early-to-mid-20s when he joined the FIRE BRIGADE following his BROTHER who had started out at SHANNON and then moved to the BRIGADE in WELLINGTON and had suggested to GEORGE to join up.

398: Recalls his first day of callout when he hadn’t yet been given any training. Says he and others piled into the engine, got there…a house fire…and that the deputy opened the back door to a place full of smoke and pushed GEORGE and a fellow trainee in and shut the door on them (laughs). Adds that was their initiation.

409: Remembers they had nothing to help them fight the fire, so the first thing he did was duck down on the floor and by then the others on the team were tackling the blaze. “But, eh, yeah, I loved it; yeah…it was exciting (laughs).”

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Tape 1 Side B starts

002: Continues describing an incident in the BRIGADE when he had to attend a road traffic accident in which a car ended up under a petrol tanker. Also talks about attending a fire in which he found the bodies of two young children.

034: Again after having said how much he enjoyed working for the BRIGADE, after eight years and a decision to move to GORE, he resigned and could not be persuaded to change his mind with the offer of promotion.

042: Explains that he and his WIFE, ALMA, visited GORE during the holidays to look in on her PARENTS who lived there. Mentions they would also visit TE ANAU and recalls staying at the TE ANAU HOTEL when it was run by a MR SWIFT.

060: Remembers that the three GOVAN girls (SYLIVA, DOREEN and EDNA) worked at the hotel (their FATHER, ERNIE GOVAN, was the proprietor during the 1920s and until 1936). He describes how there was a diesel-powered generator to run the electricity and it would be switched off at 10pm when everyone went to bed.

072: Says he met ALMA at a dance in WELLINGTON during WWII when there were “boatloads” of YANKS (US forces) stationed in NZ.

083: Recalls that as each battalion arrived, it brought all its requirements with it; fridges, washing machines, deep freezes, even a grand piano on one occasion. Says the US personnel did their training and prior to departure they would bury all these supplies. And that when the next battalion came, the same practice would be repeated.

117: Referring back to his meeting ALMA, says he saw her at the dance hall a couple of times and thought: “Oh, gee, she’s not bad.” Admits the opposition was pretty tough because of all the YANKS.

124: Mentions ALMA was a MILLINER. Considers they’d been courting for about twelve months when they decided to get married.

151: Replies that ALMA’S PARENTS were named WALTER and SIS TRETHAWAY and that they owned a GROCERY SHOP just out of town.

163: Says ALMA had one SISTER, VERNA, who lives in TE ANAU. (VERNA is married to WILSON CAMPBELL co-founder of the tourist company, FIORDLAND TRAVEL.)

171: States he and ALMA got married in WELLINGTON and that it was a church wedding. Laughs at the memory of being unable to get a taxi “because the YANKS had them all”.

185: Agrees that it wasn’t until after their wedding that they met each other’s PARENTS. Mentions his MOTHER worked for the PDC (a department store) where she made the accessories for clothes and linens etc.

214: When they moved to TE ANAU, he says, they decided to set up a GROCERY store which in the end “sold just about everything”. But before then, he adds, they lived in GORE for about two years.

225: On seeing TE ANAU the first time he visited he recalls thinking it was “just a wilderness”.

Slight accident with microphone which slipped off position.

229: Continues with a description of a waterwheel on the lakefront and that his own section is the site of a bore on one side and a stream on the other. But, he says, the section was drained by its previous owner, CHARLIE BOWMAR.

242: Replies it was NOVEMBER 1949 when they shifted to TE ANAU.

247: Describes the buildings that existed then on the lakefront, starting with the site of the present DOC office which had been the home of WARD and JESSIE BEER. On the opposite side of the road was the site of the FISH HATCHERY owned by the SOUTHLAND ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY and managed by WARD BEER who was the SOCIETY’S RANGER.

255: Further along on the site of the present RADFORDS MOTELS, was the home of CURLY MCIVOR, the RANGER for the DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS (DIA). Says there was another HATCHERY there.

265: Mentions there was also LAWSON BURROWS and family and explains how LAWSON and WILSON CAMPBELL bought a couple of boats and started offering fare-paying trips on LAKE TE ANAU.

275: Says WILSON CAMPBELL also moved to TE ANAU from GORE where he had been a shareholder in a fruit and vegetable business.

284: Affirms that he helped CAMPBELL and BURROWS to develop the newly discovered GLOWWORM CAVES site on LAKE TE ANAU. Says he was still in GORE then but came up every weekend to work on it.

292: Explains that the “lip” at the entrance to the CAVES extended deep into the water so they had to wade through the water under the lip to get into the CAVES. Says inside, there was a waterfall for which they built steps and at the end of the CAVES they could see the GLOWWORMS, so it was decided to build a dam there.

299: Continues that he went home (to GORE) and made the timber steps but, he adds before they could be installed, the “lip” of the CAVES had to be blasted away. “We all had a go…chip a bit out, put some geli in it and light it and…run back every time the trees and the rocks went flying.”

307: Adds that WILSON CAMPBELL built a couple of flat-bottomed boats. Also mentions a STEWART who was an electrician in GORE who affixed lead-coated wire on the walls and the lights were then connected to a diesel-generated power plant. (Before that they’d been relying on TILLEY lamps.)

323: Says to make the dam, timber was brought in and he made a false bottom on the dam so the water could flow underneath. Then, he says, they used concrete to build up the dam. Thinks this has since been replaced.

349: Replies that when he and ALMA shifted to TE ANAU, he built a SHOP on the corner of MOKOROA STREET and LAKEFRONT DRIVE. But, he adds, he also worked for the MINISTRY of (PUBLIC) WORKS (MOW).

354: States the SHOP measured about 30m x 12m and was pre-built in GORE. Goes on to say that although it started as a GROCERY in the end they sold “everything”.

365: Admits they had few customers when the started business in 1949 but that it wasn’t too long before the town started to build up.

369: Mentions that at first the merchandise came from a warehouse in GORE, and later from INVERCARGILL. States that at that time, two miles out of GORE and all the way to MILFORD SOUND, it was a gravel road.

378: Somehow unconnected, he mentions that a RABBIT BOARD was set up in the TE ANAU BASIN and they arranged for poisoned carrot drops to be conducted from the small airport base at MANAPOURI. Recalls that in a one-night operation over a group of paddocks, the tally of dead rabbits amounted to ELEVEN TONNES.

405: Mentions that by the early 1950s, they had two children, ROBYN and PAUL and recalls that the new teacher at TE ANAU SCHOOL, BILL O’TOOLE, persuaded them to enrol PAUL despite his being only four years old (not the enrolment age of five). The reason was to avert the school being closed down due to insufficient pupil numbers.

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Tape 2 Side A starts

003: Continues relating some anecdotal tales about BILL O’TOOLE saying that to mark his arrival in the town the teacher went house-calling with a bottle of water and a bottle of gin “shouting” a drink for each householder.

060: Also talks about a couple, the GARRETTS, who enjoyed a tipple and even sampled some of the teacher’s homebrew beer. Adds another tale about MOLLY GARRETT giving birth at home with the help of neighbours, particularly EVELYN PLATO who had trained as a nurse.

109: This segues to the office at the back of his SHOP being used as MEDICAL ROOMS for the visiting DOCTORS so that they could undertake weekly consultations. (The nearest DOCTOR was based at LUMSDEN about 100kms east of TE ANAU).

115: Explains that this arrangement came about after he’d chopped the top of his finger off and had to drive to LUMSDEN where it was re-attached (although unsuccessfully as it transpired). While receiving treatment, he’d suggested to the DOCTOR that they could use the SHOP as a base in TE ANAU.

142: Mentions that it was purely for consultations and that any clinical work was conducted either at LUMSDEN or the main centres.

150: Although he’s unsure of the exact number, says they had the SHOP a few years, certainly for some time after the town was linked to the NATIONAL GRID (ELECTRICITY) in 1958.

162: Says a lot of people in the town in those days helped contribute to its development. Among them, he says, was STAN MOYER who co-ordinated the installation of the electricity supply.

169: Others he names include DENISE DENIZE who helped set up the local PLUNKET ROOMS; KATH GILLIGAN, the director of the FIORDLAND PLAYERS (drama group); TED and TOM ROBERTS, local builders; TED THOMAS who helped various groups.

209: Affirms that in the earlier years, he would transport the HUTCHINS and MILNE children to school using his stationwagon. But, he says, the education board cut their fees for the service so he gave it away.

218: Explains that for several years he worked on the LANDS & SURVEY FARM DEVELOPMENT SCHEME. Says he installed the water schemes on the farm blocks.

232: Further explains how this was done; they put in bores and then created reservoirs into which they would pump water from the bores. From the reservoirs they connected together up to ten 5,000 gallon tanks and then reticulated the water out to the different farms.

241: Says some of the bores were formed from creeks and rivers whereas others were made after he had conducted water divining tests. Explains he used a willow stick which would bend towards the source of water. Or, he says, it can be done by using two diving rods.

253: Mentions that he also reticulated the water supply for the HOME CREEK NURSERY near MANAPOURI. Says he worked there in the late 70s and 80s when the NURSERY was under the ownership of LANDS & SURVEY (previously it had been owned by the MILNE family as part of the original FREESTONE STATION).

261: Says the MOW had an office at the NURSERY and had a large-scale operation from which plants were parcelled out for replanting areas such as DEEP COVE after the HYDRO POWER SCHEME was completed in the 1970s.

269: Mentions that the NURSERY later came under the remit of DOC until it was sold back into the private sector to JOHNNY BAKER.

272: Responding to question, says JIMMY HORRELL was the main contractor for the L&S scheme. Says he invented a system of running a pipe layer behind a dozer so that two jobs could be done at one time. Adds that HORRELL’S team put in miles of pipes and troughs etc.

290: Another contractor he names is RON BOATWOOD who used a similar method. Others include DON ROBIE who went ploughing, disking and sowing on new ground; CHARLIE CAMERON who with a team of men worked for a contracting company; CLIVE DENIZE and a HALLIBREKER. Adds that the latter two started up the MOBIL service station in the town centre.

341: Of the FIELD OFFICERS for the L&S scheme, says they included GORDON WILSON, BURT BRADLEY, BOB YATES, and GEORGE SINCLAIR who was the CHIEF FIELD OFFICER.

354: Interview session closes

A second interview was conducted on 17 SEPTEMBER 2004

376: Responding to question, explains some of the events that resulted in an investigation and court case into the conduct of a couple of FARM BLOCK MANAGERS working for L&S. Says in one incident, for which the MANAGER served a jail sentence, cattle had been sold to the FREEZING WORKS in DUNEDIN unbeknownst to L&S and under the MANAGER’S own name rather than the department.

387: Admits he would buy half a sheep from some of the MANAGERS who also sold bales of wool under their own name. “Everybody was at it, yeah, everybody was having a go.” Adds that in other instances, there’d be false numbers given with regard to stock that had multiple births. “Yes, it was not governed properly, really.” But adds that things tightened up after the arrival of JACK HOCKEY.

404: Says he left L&S in the 1970s when he moved on to HOME CREEK to set up its water scheme. Explains that he put a TEMAZILL PUMP in the CREEK which fed the water into a holding tank. From there, he says, the water was pumped into a reservoir on MT YORK hill, and from there it was piped down into the nursery. Adds that he laid out reticulated pipes around the nursery and installed an automatic sprinkler system for the plants.

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002: Continues talking about HOME CREEK NURSERY saying they installed hothouses with heated benches to quicken propagation.

014: Says the plants were distributed wherever L&S and then DOC designated.

057: Affirms that some of the plants were also used on the FARM BLOCKS. As an example, he says, trees were planted as windbreaks in exposed areas on the farms.

076: Recalls setting up the TE ANAU VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE saying it came about after a request from JOHN PHILP (Is this spelling correct?), the chief fire officer for the INVERCARGILL FIRE BRIGADE.

086: Goes on to say that they sent up a trailer pump, one that he’d used in WELLINGTON during the war years, and some hose and other bits and pieces.

091: For recruits he says he “just went round and asked them if they want to be a fireman for a while (laughs)”.

097: His first crew, he recalls, included GUS MCGREGOR, CHARLIE CAMERON, DONNY BAKER, DON ROBIE, and GEORGE GREER.

108: Says it wasn’t difficult to train them because he had already had plenty of training experience during the war years when he taught “thousands of chaps that were called the EPS” who included shopkeepers, lawyers, and accountants.

119: Replies that WALLACE COUNTY COUNCIL (the local government authority) funded the TE ANAU BRIGADE. But he adds that they didn’t receive any funding to set it up. The engine was housed in an old shed behind the town hall which, he says, had been made available through TOM PLATO of the MOW. Says the siren was financed by WALLACE COUNTY.

128: Says he ran it (the siren) off the SHOP because he had diesel-powered electricity there.

132: Comments that not many fires occurred in the early days and if they did, everything burned down. However, says he recalls this only happened once while he was with the BRIGADE.

139: Mentions that he organised weekly training sessions – held on a MONDAY – a practise that is unchanged.

146: Describes one summer when a grass fire blazed at SUPPLY BAY possibly ignited by sparks from a dozer which was being used to form a road to the bay.

155: Recalls GEORGE GREER and he went out with the appliance. Says they tried to tackle the fire but it jumped from place to place along the roadside. Thinking it would spread all the way to TE ANAU, says he went back to town and jacked up a dozer to cut a large firebreak across the road. Recalls the fire did indeed spread all the way to it but was breached by the firebreak he’d created.

162: Remembers everyone was out to help fight the fire, including JOY ROBB and BLAIR ROBIE.

173: Mentions the 1965 fire that seriously damaged the TE ANAU HOTEL saying he was not in town when it occurred because he was helping the ROBERTS build a house for JIMMY SPEIGHT (at REDCLIFF STATION).

177: Commenting on the way the fire was handled says: “I was disgusted.” Qualifies this by saying that only a week before it happened, he had taken the FIREMEN through the hotel and explained that if there were to be a fire, it would happen in the kitchen (which is where it did occur). Adds that he told them what to do in such an emergency: “Just break a hole into the ceiling, half way down the passageway, put the hoses in there and hold it back.” But, he says, they didn’t do so: “They chased it, they got behind it and chased it along.”

191: Agrees that the fire service is also called out to road traffic accidents and that it was the same in the 1950s. Recollects a number of different accidents he’d been called out to which involved fatalities.

225: Replies that simulated accidents formed part of the training exercise for the brigade officers as well as ambulance crews.

238: On dealing with traumatic events, says in his day there was no special counselling support for officers as there may be available nowadays. “There was none of that. Not in WELLINGTON either. We pulled dead people out, that was it, get back to work.”

244: Adds that he didn’t dwell on these events or the bodies he’d had to recover. “If you started thinking about them, I think…I think you’d…y’know…it’d be too much for you. You’d be frightened to go in next time.”

248: States he was with the TE ANAU BRIGADE for years. Says he resigned from it at one stage because he was fed up with people not turning up for practise. Recalls he left them with the funding and suggested they run it themselves. But, he says, it appeared that they “boozed the money away”.

255: After a while, he says, the crew informed him that they were all packing it in. So he resumed responsibility for it and shifted the base to its present site on LUXMORE DRIVE.

261: “I built that FIRE STATION with voluntary labour. I cadged enough money to pay for it. It was debt free.”

267: Says people around the BASIN donated money towards it. Adds that the timber for it was donated by L&S with the approval of its WELLINGTON-based head of department.

287: States that a new appliance was purchased in the 1980s (a photograph is included in the file) and was funded by the WALLACE COUNTY COUNCIL.

294: In the rural areas, says they didn’t know whether there’d be a tank beside the house or whatever and that would cause problems. Recalls one fire which broke out in some shearers’ quarters which they tackled using foam extinguishers.

303: Is unable to recall exactly which year he finally left the BRIGADE.

311: Moving on to other topics, says he worked for about a week as cook for the staff involved in the exploratory phase of the MANAPOURI HYDRO POWER SCHEME at WEST ARM (early 1960s). Remembers there was about a dozen staff and a caravan on site with RAY and PAT GREEN. Says he had a hut with a stove in it, so he cooked for half the workers and PAT supplied food for the other half.

330: Has a few anecdotes about some of the early work at WEST ARM.

368: On the HYDRO VILLAGE near MANAPOURI (for workers and their families involved in the POWER SCHEME) says there were 200 houses in the village. Says that as well as all the underground cables and two large water tanks provided there was a supermarket, a high school and a post office/fire station. There was also a hall which is now situated in MANAPOURI.

378: Says the workers came from around the globe, but there were a lot of NEW ZEALANDERS. As an aside he says there was a lot of “pinching” [thieving].

381: Qualifies his last comment saying he knew the serviceman who oversaw the provision of small electrical tools etc., to staff. States this serviceman told him that no sooner did he get new equipment in the office than it would be gone again, without a trace. In other cases, he says, “truckloads of stuff” was being pinched.

390: On the HIGH SCHOOL that had been set up at the HYDRO VILLAGE, affirms that his youngest child, BRETT attended it.

393: Goes on to say that the eldest, ROBYN, is now 60 years old, PAUL, is 50 and that BRETT is 40. (On date of printing, Paul is about a month short of 57 and Brett is almost 45.)

398: Believes that his children enjoyed growing up in TE ANAU because they had the whole place to play in. Says they used to go swimming across the lake with the MCIVOR boys.

409: For secondary schooling, says ROBYN went to SOUTHLAND GIRLS HIGH and PAUL went to SOUTHLAND BOYS HIGH schools in INVERCARGILL.

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016: Discussion turns to the provision of services in the early days of TE ANAU. Before 1958, he says, to provide electricity for the shop and their home he got a small generator and a small VILLIERS engine to drive it. Recalls that after the first time he set it all up, it wouldn’t work - to his dismay.

025: Remembers that it was just before CHRISTMAS and in the SHOP they had an ice-cream cabinet so he didn’t know what to do. Says three young men came into the SHOP and he discovered they were from the RNZAF so he told them about having the problem with the VILLIERS.

037: Says they worked on it and next thing they had it going. Adds that they used it for a while until a tree fell on top of it by mishap when a small copse in the HOTEL grounds next door was being cut down. The VILLIERS was replaced.

062: Mentions that the damaged engine was repaired and it was installed in the town hall to run the lights for dances and other social events instead of having to rely on TILLEY lamps.

080: Remembers they used to have a lot of fun at the hall on a SATURDAY night where they’d party after the HOTEL bar closed at TEN O’CLOCK which was the legal closing time then.

084: Mentions that in the 1960s the HOTEL MANAGER, TOM TILLER, decided to hold regular dinner dances for which he hired a band of musicians from INVERCARGILL. Says everyone got dolled up for the dances and people all round the BASIN as well as some from MOSSBURN would come into town to join in the fun.

107: Considers that TE ANAU changed dramatically once it was hooked up to the NATIONAL GRID. Expands on this saying people began building more dwellings whereas before then the lack of power would have put them off.

113: Talks about how on the lakefront new cribs appeared. Names people such as the TALBOTS from OHAI, the ROBIES who ran H&J SMITHS in INVERCARGILL, the MINISTER of JUSTICE, RALPH HANNAN and his wife, whose crib was further along.

124: Mentions the HALL-JONES’ crib in the middle of the manuka scrub.

129: Replies that his own house on QUINTIN DRIVE he built more than 30 years ago. Recalls that then there was only a crib on one side and a couple of other houses on the street whereas now it is lined with motel units and other houses.

165: Affirms there were fewer buildings nearby. Adds that on the site of the CALTEX GARAGE on LUXMORE DRIVE there was a MILKING SHED which was powered by an electric cable from the HOTEL.

177: States the airstrip ran adjacent to the paddock on which LUCKY ran his cows. Describes how BILL HEWETT of MOSSBURN, who ran an airfreight service for fruit suppliers in CENTRAL OTAGO in the summer, also ran a few (supply) flights from the airstrip.

188: Mentions that thereafter, the airstrip was used by RITCHIES AIR SERVICES owned by IAN RITCHIE. (It was the first commercial passenger flight service operated from TE ANAU).

196: Briefly states the airport was built at MANAPOURI and used by SOUTHERN SCENIC AIRWAYS who had been operating out of QUEENSTOWN. (They eventually amalgamated with MOUNT COOK AIRLINES.)

200: Says he worked with SOUTHERN SCENIC who flew most of the POWER STATION workers into DEEP COVE by floatplane. Describes how at first there was a great deal of confusion about the workers required.

214: Mentions the HMS WANGANELLA which had seen service in the PACIFIC during WWII and how it was brought into DEEP COVE to provide accommodation for the POWER STATION shift workers.

221: Recalls the farewell dinner on board at the end of the POWER SCHEME project.

231: Mentions there had been all kinds of facilities provided for staff on the WANGANELLA, including a medical unit for the on-site doctor and nurse.

238: Says they also had a policeman on site, NOBBY CLARK. In addition, the ship had bar facilities and on SATURDAY nights there’d be musical entertainment provided by the resident band. Says NOBBY CLARK played the piano.

250: Moving on to discussion about the communications links in and out of TE ANAU in the 1950s, says there was a single-wire line from MOSSBURN. Adds that the only telephones were at WARD BEER’S, the HOTEL, and at TOM PLATO’S for the MOW. So, he says, most people used the phone at the HOTEL or sometimes BESSIE BEER would allow people to use their phone.

261: Admits it was “terrible” trying to run a FIRE BRIGADE without immediate access to a telephone. Quickly goes on to say that mail had to be collected at the old post office (which used to be on the site of the flagstaff) until the new post office was built in the town centre.

271: Isn’t sure when he and ALMA had their own telephone installed, but says they were not on a party line (as many others were) so it must have been in the late 60s/70s.

277: Referring back to the days of running the SHOP and getting supplies delivered, mentions BARNEY GILLIGAN who ran a small haulage service from MOSSBURN called GILLIGAN’S TRANSPORT.

288: Affirms that the supplies were transported by rail from INVERCARGILL to LUMSDEN and then trucked by GILLIGANS to TE ANAU.

294: Relates a tale about one time when he bought a fire surround in INVERCARGILL and afterwards had been told by the authorities that the only way it was to be transported was by rail to LUMSDEN or not at all. But after explaining this to BARNEY, he says, the next thing it was on the truck on its way to TE ANAU.

307: Recalls buying his own car - a V8 stationwagon in the early 1950s. In the same sentence he mentions GEORGE and MARY GREER saying GEORGE would drive buses and MARY was a pastry chef at the HOTEL until they set up their own restaurant on the corner where the stables for the stagecoaches had been (now the site of souvenir shops).

315: Tells more anecdotes about people he knew, including a couple from DUNEDIN called the ENSLIES who made good meat pies.

339: Affirms that as well as being the DOCTORS ROOMS, the office at the back of the SHOP was also used by the BANK OF NEW ZEALAND before it set up a permanent base in the town.

364: Adding to his list of people he believes played a key role in the town’s early development, he mentions SANDY BROWN (another MOW supervisor).

375: On his involvement with community groups, he says he was a trustee for the BOAT HARBOUR development and that he helped build it. Mentions he was also in the LIONS CLUB as a ‘tale-twister’ (someone who makes lighthearted fun of other members). Goes on to tell more anecdotes about things that happened while he was in the club.

404: Mentions being a member of the RUGBY CLUB and that he helped build its first clubhouse. Says he was also in the FIORDLAND PLAYERS (drama group). He was also a founding member of the TE ANAU CLUB along with NORM JONES.

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Tape 3 Side B starts

001: Continues discussion about setting up the TE ANAU CLUB’S first premises. Says the building came from the former power scheme site at WEST ARM. Talks about the dances that were held in it and that he once organised a beer festival, though he’s unsure which year.

036: Mentions helping out the PLUNKET SOCIETY, doing a few building jobs for them. Says he also helped build the swimming pool at the TE ANAU SCHOOL.

044: Refers to the musician’s band he belonged to and that they performed not only to audiences in TE ANAU, but further afield such as STEWART ISLAND, CLIFDEN, ARROWTOWN and GORE.

060: Talks about IVON WILSON, a dentist from INVERCARGILL, who was responsible for planting many of the trees in the reserve around LAKE HENRY on the outskirts of TE ANAU.

[IVON WILSON was also a former chairman of the AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION’S (SOUTHLAND) CAMP COMMITTEE. He developed the idea of planting trees in what became known as IVON WILSON PARK (in 1962) with the aim of providing shelter for birds and to create an attractive site. The project was started in 1958 and in subsequent years, with funds provided by MR WILSON and his associates, trees and shrubs were purchased and planted.]

085: On the future of TE ANAU, he thinks it will be little changed from its present size, believing that one of its leading economic providers, tourism, is too seasonal.

Telephone interrupts, tape stopped and re-started.

100: Says he doesn’t see TE ANAU growing in the way that QUEENSTOWN has done in recent years. Refers to a number of different access projects being planned from QUEENSTOWN to MILFORD SOUND saying that should they go ahead it would be “the finish for TE ANAU”.

123: As a postscript, he again mentions people for his list of early town developers/contributors. Many have already been named apart from RON PALMER who had a bookshop in the town. Says he was responsible for bringing into the town a US-built ambulance. Also talks about his deputy chief fire officer, TERRY O’LAUGHLIN. Also VIC BAKER, an electrician who helped out with a lot of the community building jobs.

168: Interview ends.

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