July/August 2005
HELLO EVERYONE
This is the FIRST newsletter of the year, so you haven't
missed one. The editor has been busy so this is a CELEBRATORY
issue. It includes the Notice of Meeting for the 2005 AGM.
Happenings since Xmas:-
Bach 38
- See the special celebration
pages included with your newsletter. We would like to
thank all those people and organisations that helped us
make it a special day. And especially AMP Financial Services
for being our sponsor.
Auckland Museum
- Celebrated the New Zealand House in Models for Living
1905 - 2005 which included Stephen Brookbanks models of
Rangitoto Baches - they looked fabulous.
Auckland Theatre Company
- Had another sell-out season of the play The Bach. Photos
and memories from our archives went into the souvenir program.
Motu Kaikoura Trust
- This Trust will look after Kaikoura Island off Great Barrier
Island. Our Trustees went on the trip for the official opening.
We wish this Trust all the best for its future endeavours.
Current Happenings:-
RIHCT AGM
- 10th August 2005. See notice with this newsletter. Apologies
for the shorter than usual notice.
Conservation Week 1 - 7 August.
- "Everything is Connected - Te katoa o nga mea tukupu
e mau hono takapari ana". Conservation Week activities
will highlight the work needed to ensure the ongoing survival
of our native species and conservation places and also celebrate
our unique natural and human history. Further details www.doc.govt.nz
50yr Anniversary NZHPT
- The Winter 2005 New Zealand Heritage magazine is available
in all bookshops. It is the commemorative issue covering
the five decades of the NZHPT existence with beautiful photos
and accompanying articles. There is a calendar of events
throughout NZ inside also. Look on www.historic.org.nz for
further details.
The Auckland Branch of NZHPT latest newsletter also featured
our Bach 38 celebration; www.historicauckland.org.nz
Look out for:-
Year of the Built Environment.
- There are number of activities and celebrations during
the year around this event. Keep an eye on the Ministry
for the Environment www.mfe.govt.nz
and Auckland Regional Council www.arc.govt.nz
websites for the calendar of events.
Heritage Week.
- Auckland City will again be hosting Heritage Week after
the success of the one in 2004. This year it is the 12th
to 18th September. The Trust will have Bach
38 open on a daily basis and there will be an opportunity
for a guided tour for interested groups on the Wednesday.
Look out in the City Scene closer to the time, the Auckland
city website and out own website for further details closer
to the time.
Working Bees
- Over winter the working bees are on hold until the weather
improves then the normal pattern will commence. Don't forget
all those who attend a working bee get a free return ticket
to the island. If you contact Alan (634 0161 or allangodsall@actrix.co.nz)
to say you are interested in attending he will get back
to you when they re-start. They are usually the 1st and
3rd weekends of the month.
Maintenance Corner with Allan
- Allan and his band of merry volunteers have not stopped
since finishing Bach 38
and waiting for the weather and transport before starting
on Bach 114 they have
been working on the Prison Camp. It has been very hot, dirty
and dusty work. Bottled water donated by Metrowater has
helped stave off dehydration - but it is still no walk in
the park. But the change has been enormous with outlines
of the original walls now visible.
We still have the grant from the Waiheke Community Board
to use and this will be spent on signage for the prison
camp. We are still looking for more photos of that period
to make an interesting and educational display board. Look
for temporary signs during Heritage Week.
Our volunteers have also undergone some 4WD training so
that they can drive the DoC vehicles on Rangitoto. They
all passed the 2 day course and their certificates will
be presented at the AGM. Well done everyone.
Now we have a building that is finished we need to set
up a cyclical maintenance regime. Alan has an outline of
the scope of work required and is looking for people to
visit Bach 38 on a regular basis to check the schedule and
initiate any R & M required. Please offer before Alan
taps you on the shoulder. If more than one person helps,
the schedule can be split up making it much less onerous.
In Memory of Lennie Sullivan
- One of the Trust's most stalwart supporters Lennie passed
away on the 31st March. A moments silence was taken at the
opening of Bach 38 in her memory. Lennie had worked very
hard to fulfil the Trust dream of its completion only to
just miss its culmination. All our thoughts are with Allan,
Ann and Suzie. She is sincerely missed by those who knew
her and worked with her.
Archives
- Susan received a small grant to research the post WW11
period. She would like to be in contact with people who
were on the island in the 50's, 60's and 70's who have not
already been interviewed. She is looking for photos and
oral histories. Don't forget that our archives are available
to anyone doing research. Contact Susan in the first instance
and she will inform you of the copyright obligations etc.
In mid March two paper conservators from Auckland City
Art Gallery spent the weekend repairing the damaged wallpaper
over the fireplace in Bach 38. A leak in the roof had led
to water coming in and causing the paper to curl and come
away from the wall. The underlying wallpapers and patterns
were tantalising visible and we wanted to have those old
papers displayed. After removing the damaged portions, an
area of each pattern was exposed. The brown, turquoise,
white and red leaf pattern was the original put up in 1928.
It was followed some time later by the autumn leaf pattern.
The next paper was the choice of the next owner Mr Biddulph.
His daughter Fay remembers helping her father put up the
leaf frieze, probably in the mid 1940's. A surprise and
puzzling find was another frieze underneath the leaf one.
It took two days of painstaking and precise work by Camilla
and Ute and the results are wonderful.
STOP PRESS - Camilla will be our guest speaker at
the AGM
Look out for the September issue of On Holiday magazine
for a wonderful article on the baches.
Don't forget our website www.rangitoto.org
- there is a link to the ARC pages on the shipwrecks on
Rangitoto. Our website is updated regularly and all newsletters
are available from there.
YOUR CURRENT COMMITTEE -
Elizabeth Andrew - 634 1398 Newsletters,
Shirley Collins - 279 9819 Treasurer,
Membership and Wharf rep,
Susan Yoffe - 445 1894 Archives,
Hilary Noall - 418 4920 Islington Bay rep,
Lois Eagles -443 5536 Beacon End rep,
Allan Godsall - 634 0161 Maintenance,
Jim Mason - 446 6228 Patron.
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