Bridge parties: best bib and tucker affairs

Looking through the Footprints database I was surprised how many images depicting official openings of bridges there were in South Auckland. In the good old days, and even in the not so early days these ceremonies were major events on the social calendar. Everyone turned up wearing their Sunday best.

Ref: David Bryan, Opening ceremony, Clevedon wharf bridge, 1908, photograph reproduced courtesy of Clevedon and District Historical Society, South Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, Footprints 02585.

The images in the database at present are dated between 1908 and 2003. Images include the openings of the Clevedon Wharf Bridge in 1908, the second Mangere Bridge in 1915, the ferro-cement Panmure Bridge opened by Prime Minister W.F. Massey in 1916, the Orere Bridge in 1963, and the newer Clevedon Wharf Bridge in 1966. More recent opening ceremony images are of the third Mangere Bridge in 1983, the Pukaki Creek Bridge in 1996 and the Wiri footbridge over the Puhinui Stream in 2003.

Ref: Official opening,Panmure Bridge, 14 August 1916, photograph reproduced courtesy of Howick Historical Society, South Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, Footprints 01397.

Ref: William Massey steams along, 14 August 1916, photograph reproduced courtesy of Howick Historical Society, South Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, Footprints 01398.

Ref:  David John Shaw, Official opening ceremony,Orere Bridge, 6 July 1963, photograph reproduced courtesy of Mr D.J. Shaw, South Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, Footprints 00746.

Look on the Heritage Images and Local History Online databases for more images of bridge openings in other areas of Auckland as well as our previous posts about bridges.

I’m sure that as Auckland’s infrastructure continues to grow so more and more bridges will be built. It is inevitable that many of the existing bridges in and around Auckland will be replaced in time, so having these digital tools to store images for future generations to study, is most satisfying.

Author: Lynn Diedricks, South Auckland Research Centre