Heady Heights and Haystacks
Driving in the outskirts of Auckland at this time of year you are bound to notice those large rolls of hay perched on hillsides, or perhaps the smaller oblong bales dispatched along the length of a recently chopped field. In the past the making of haystacks was an activity which provided a way of connecting the local farming communities and local families with one another. Before the advent of hay-balers these giant piles of hay required far more labour, tenacity and skill to create. Ref. Footprints 20, Giant hay stack, Mangere, c. 1905, photograph reproduced by courtesy of Mangere Historical Society, South Auckland Research Centre The stack in the photograph above was made up of hay from fields 10 acres in extent and was estimated at 60 tons in weight. Reg Wyman is on top of the stack and Geoff Mellsop on the ledge halfway down. Ref. Footprints 01307, Haystack at Flat Bush, 1956, photograph reproduced by courtesy of Mangere Historical Society, South Auckland Research C...