When I started researching/writing about sea transport for
Head of the Harbour I thought there were two jetties in the mudflat area between Governors Bay and Teddington - one a long-abandoned skeleton at Sandy Bay Point and the other the still functioning but earthquake-damaged long jetty in Governors Bay. Local knowledge, plus some significant detective work at
Archives New Zealand, revealed that there had, at one time, been at least seven identifiable jetties at the head of Lyttelton Harbour - and maybe more! Some of these I'll write about in subsequent posts...
The structure in the photo below is a puzzle however. It looks like an abandoned jetty but seems too flimsy for the purpose. The image is dated 1868 and titled 'Parsons Bay'. This refers to Charles Parsons who, along with John Dyer, built the original cottage that became known as Waitahuna. (Both Waitahuna - the house peeking up over the ridge - and the stone cottage on the hill in the distance are still lived in today.) If you have walked around the foreshore track from the Governors Bay jetty to Sandy Bay then you will have passed this spot. The Scout Den is just around the point.
There was another jetty just short of the point at the far right of this photo, built to service the Dyer/Parsons household. So what was the structure in the curve of the bay used for? Was it an earlier jetty that proved inadequate? Was it some sort of fish trap? (There is a stream flowing into the sea where the piles are grouped). A boat shelter of some sort? Does anyone know or want to hazard a guess??
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| Governors Bay 1868. Dr AC Barker collection, Canterbury Museum |
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| Corner where the posts can be seen in the Dr Barker photo (JR 2017) |
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| Waitahuna visible centre-left, closest to the waterfront (JR 2017) |
If the closely spaced sticks/poles are part of the puzzle, I'm told that they were typically used so that sand would build up on one side of the jetty leaving the other side with more depth for boats.
ReplyDeleteYes, the poles are the puzzle Gina. And that is a possibility I hadn't thought of. I guess the poles, plus sand/mud build-up would provide more shelter too.
ReplyDeletePage 99 in your book ,
ReplyDeleteshows to me what looks like a possible structure in the corner of the beach where the stream comes out. Enlarging this photo might verify this.
That shows a remarkable knowledge of the book Dave!! But I think the remains in the p. 99 photo are of the Waitahuna jetty which protruded out from near the present day Scout Den (I'll see if I can post something about this). So two separate structures...
ReplyDeleteI see what you refer to by the now scout den, but the structure I am referring to is further into the bay where the other stream comes out . It looks to me as though it is not even a jetty at all and possibly only some kind of fish trap. There is no decking I can see only poles sticking out of the beach
ReplyDeleteRig trap. Murray
DeleteYes, it is just poles (and fairly flimsy ones at that) which curve round in a semi-circle at the sea end. Fish trap seems a good possibility. Whatever it was, it doesn't seem to have lasted very long as other old pics show no sign of it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Murray. Rig swim in and can't get out?? Is there a reason for siting the trap at the mouth of a stream or is that just convenient/coincidental??
ReplyDeleteThere is most likely little reason for the trap to be close to the stream other than being at a corner of the beach the Rig could be herded more easily into a trap built in such a position. There has always been a track running up to the properties above at that point and remember, that in those days there were just so many Rig that they were easily caught with pitch forks and tossed above high water line. They were then used as garden fertaliser. It may have been something to do with the spawning season when hundreds/thousands of them would come right in to such shallow water that half of their bodies would be up out of the water as they intertwined and writhed about in mass. This was still a regular common sight when I was a kid in the 40's but commercial fishing for Rig saw their numbers dramatically decrease. Recently a quota has been placed upon commercial Rig fishing and they are making a come back in numbers. Another interesting coincidence re the names of landmarks is that of Percivals point. That name had all but been forgotten for many years and the point was called 'Smalls" point by many. This would have been very appropriate as the Maori name for the point is 'Iti" (small) something. I also wonder if there is still anyone out there who can remember prior to the mid 50's when there was no bridge or culvert at the bottom of Sandy Bay road and no car park down the one lane track to the beach. At the top of this track/road there was an AA sign which read "CAR PARKING" at the side of the main road. Another coincidence, Percivals house was directly across Sandy Bay road from the entrance to Rowan House, this was built mainly of sod and rough swan timber, a real pioneer style of house. Unfortunately in the mid 60's another person by the same name - Percival - purchased the property and demolished the house, a real shame. I purchased the old roofing iron from him to build a shed, the iron was stamped on the underside with the English manufactures trade marks. The material was four times as thick as todays product and had little rust on the top sides, it may have been there for the best part of 100 years.
ReplyDeleteGreat information, thanks Murray. I didn't know about the Maori name nor about the location of Percival's house.
ReplyDelete