Heritage et AL

 Opened in 1959, the Auckland Harbour Bridge is a distinctive and crucial piece of infrastructure. The incident in September 2020 when a truck was tipped over by a strong wind gust, causing damage to the bridge structure and creating traffic chaos, showed how reliant we are on our main harbour crossing. Currently, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and Auckland Transport are looking at alternative harbour crossings. Some of the suggestions mentioned in the media, including a proposal for a tunnel under the harbour are not exactly new ideas. In fact, the first proposal for a harbour bridge dates to 1860, and the topic was raised many times in the century that followed. Auckland’s traffic woes and the debate about how efficiently to move people across the Waitematā Harbour is an age-old issue which can be seen in various documents held in the Archives. Image: St Mary’s Bay looking towards Auckland Harbour Bridge, 1981 (Auckland Council Archives, Auckland City Council photographic depart...

Detail of Trickle Down , watercolour on Fabriano Watercolour paper 300gm, full work is 4200 x 1500mm. Sonja Drake’s exhibition Ecotones features watercolours, prints and artists books inspired by her explorations of Wairau Creek’s history and ecosystem. The exhibition first opened last year in the Angela Morton Room at Takapuna Library - but closed a week later when the country when into lockdown. We are thrilled to hold an encore for Ecotones, now on show in the Angela Morton Room until 10 August. Sonja has been drawing water samples from local waterways, testing the water, tracking temperature, weather and tidal effects, and sketching, on her walks along Wairau Creek, as she has sought to understand the shifting and fluid nature of this ecosystem where urban and natural worlds meet.  Being immersed in the physicality of the site means she has been able to reflect on what is valued and what is precious. She has also studied the history of the stream from the recent colonial time, ...

The first issue of this weekly suburban newspaper came out on Thursday 3rd November 1921. 2,500 copies were delivered free of charge to “each house in the Borough of Devonport” and also made available to patrons of the Victoria Picture Theatre in Devonport. It was published and printed by James William Henry Martin and family, who managed the Devonport Printing Works at 56 Victoria Road, Devonport. Ref: The Devonport Gazette and Greater North Shore Advocate, 19 August 1922.  On the front page, the middle two columns carried movie advertisements and stills for screenings at the Victoria Theatre, while other parts of the newspaper also included movie news. The ‘Who’s Who’ columns were for advertising local businesses and trades, while the editorial on page two addressed local issues. Pages two and three also included reports from Devonport Borough Council and other local public meetings. Later this was extended to cover reports of the Takapuna Borough Council and other Takap...

A colleague was recently down in Christchurch at the New Zealand Historical Association conference for 2015 and has bought back news of the most recent winners of the J. M. Sherrard award in New Zealand regional and local history. The J.M. Sherrard Award is the only national award for local and regional history in New Zealand. Ref: Henry Winkelmann,  Showing men breaking down a pile of gum at L C Gillespie and..., August 1904, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1-W1156.

Take a walk through Aotearoa New Zealand’s literary history in Takapuna this summer. Did you know that it is possible to take a free guided tour through Frank Sargeson’s house ? If you are interested please contact  Research Bookings on the Library website  and from there you can make an appointment to view the house. This is a wonderful opportunity to transport yourself back in time and imagine the gatherings, the discussions, literary and otherwise, that have taken place within the walls of 14 Esmonde Street, Takapuna, down the years. Ref: Andrew Henry, Sign at Frank Sargeson's house, 20 January 2015.

On Wednesday morning, the 17 th of December, at Takapuna Library there was a small gathering of staff (past and present) and members of the public to celebrate the re-opening of the Angela Morton Art History Collection. This collection is housed in the Angela Morton Room on the first floor of the newly refurbished Takapuna Library. Ref: Christina Webb, Takapuna Library, Strand Plaza, Takapuna, 3 August 2010, North Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, T7367. 

Below are eleven of my favourite digitised maps from Sir George Grey Special Collections . There are over 8000 maps in Sir George Grey Special Collections and about 1600 have been digitised.  Ref: New Zealand lighthouse chart, 1900, Sir George Grey Special Collections,  Auckland Libraries, NZ Map 516 A pictorial map showing where lighthouses are situated around the New Zealand coast. Ref: Campbell's beach estate, 1908, Sir George Grey Special Collections,  Auckland Libraries, NZ Map 6564 This map can be classified as real estate advertising. It shows allotments  for sale in Campbell's Bay on Auckland's North Shore.  Ref: 15 freehold allotments, 1865, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZ Map 4475-5 The map above, with careful illustrations of trees and houses, is from the nineteenth century and shows allotments for sale off Queen Street, Auckland. Ref: George Treacy Stevens, Auckland, 1886, Sir George Grey ...

Do you love cars? The sleek lines, revving engine and the smell of an oily rag? Well have we got a blog post for you! Drawn from the collections at the North and West Auckland Research Centres, we have vintage cars galore plus images of car rallies all set in the landscapes of the North Shore and West Auckland. The introduction of cars 100 years ago revolutionised the way people lived, worked and spent their leisure time. Suddenly getting from A to B was much quicker and more efficient, opening up opportunities for people to take outings and trips. Like all  places around the world, the introduction of the car also brought a radical change in the landscape and the way towns were laid out and operated and some not so pleasant side effects, such as pollution. Keen to find out more? Check out this great visual history of the car in NZ  and browse through the heritage resources at Auckland Libraries. Pre-1920s cars: Ref: Frank Morris, international buggy, location u...

Since Monday's post was all about keeping fit, it seemed a good idea to keep those motivation levels high and devote Friday's post to bowling. A gentle way of keeping fit but with benefits of all the socialising that goes along with it! Bowling can also have a heritage component too. Now for a look back in time at the large number of bowling clubs, which sprung up in the Auckland region over the years, particularly in the first decade of the 20th century. Check out the wonderful array of clothing worn by the Mount Eden and Ponsonby bowlers in 1900. It must have been pretty hard to bowl in those formal outfits! Grafton/The Domain: Ref: AWNS-19011031-1-1, Auckland Bowling Club's Grafton Green on opening day, 26 October 1901, Sir George Grey Special Collections Mount Eden: Ref: 1-W1220, looking SW from Mount Eden - showing Mount Eden Bowling Green, 1905, Sir George Grey Special Collections Ref: AWNS-19001012-8-2, opening of the Mount Eden Bowling Green, 6 Oct...

The Auckland Literary Trail has been updated and is available for download.The guide from Auckland Libraries and Auckland Council covers a selection of Auckland landmarks that have inspired many great writers and featured in their literary creations. The Auckland Literary Trail guide This includes Waiuku in the South, which was the setting for one of Elsie Locke’s well known children’s novels, 'The End of the Harbour'. The novel features locations such as the Kentish Hotel, which is still standing today. Copies of this novel along with reference notes are held in the heritage collections at Auckland Libraries. Ref: Footprints 04734, Kentish Hotel, 1911, photograph reproduced by courtesy of Waiuku Museum Society, 2621, South Auckland Research Centre

The Esplanade Hotel is an imposing three storey plastered brick building. Its three-sided facade is aligned so that the Hotel entrance faces Victoria Road - Queens Parade junction. The hotel was built by the Great Northern Brewery Company Limited on the former site of Holmes Brothers 'Flagstaff Hotel', which had opened in August 1864. The old hotel was moved to an adjacent site in Queens Parade, so that the new hotel could be built. The old wooden building was used as a staff residence and boarding-house until it was demolished in 1938. Ref: D_GSV-0009, Esplanade Hotel, c. 1909, North Auckland Research Centre