The AvondaleHistorical Journal
November—December 2010
Volume 10 Issue 56
Official Publication of the Avondale-Waterview Historical Society Incorporated
(Above) Interior of St Jude's in either the 1960s or the 1970s,taken by Des Gate. When the photo was exhibited at the 2009St Jude’s Photo Exhibition, it was labelled 1960s, but a print given to us by Des Gate has 1970s written on the back.(Left) St Jude's in 2009, photographed through the trees fromthe road by Lisa Truttman.
Next meeting of theAvondale-Waterview Historical Society:
Saturday, 11 December 2010,2.30 pm
Lion’s Hall,corner Blockhouse Bay Road andGreat North Road
the largest tomato business in the country, under glass.However being a single man he was anxious to founda dynasty and acquire a spouse. I am not sure whetherlove came into the equation for he decided to test thequalities of all those eligible girls in the district,wooing each in turn until he settled on the one withthe characteristics he desired and required. I know thisbecause my sister was one of those he tested andrejected. It must be admitted that the chosen one wasindeed the pick of the bunch, elegant if not beautifuland one he would be proud to have accompany him toany social engagement. It so happened that as a callowyouth in limbo between schooldays and militaryservice I took temporary employment with Mr Curreyand indeed he took a shine to me, that was untilsuddenly, belatedly and unexpectedly he sired a son of his own, and in any event I was called away to do myduty and our paths diverged.But with the war he was in his element and with hismilitary background took charge of the local HomeGuard, putting them through their paces and bayonetdrills. From our kitchen window we could see theseactivities, effigies suspended from the branches of hispine trees and his men charging and inflicting theirdire intentions. Of course he became very wealthy and
The Avondale Historical Journal
Volume 10 Issue 56
Page 2
From last issue: It just goes to show, you can’t believe all that you read in a library database. My thanks to Eric Waterfield and Rich Afford for pointing out that this photo is of Whitney Street, looking up from Tiverton Road (foreground). I’ve let the photolibrarian at the Sir George Grey Special Collections, at Auckland City Libraries, know about the error, and it has now beenchanged in their database. Inset photo by Jane Hammond, showing the site today.
It is strange how some small incident or some smallcasual remark will rekindle an old memory andperhaps in some cases memories that had best beenleft to obscurity, but others may revive happy timesand times that bring a smile to the face. One suchmemory occurred recently when I read an articletouching upon an old pioneer of the tomato industryand resident of Avondale, a man by the name of Arthur Currey.Now Mr Currey, or Captain Currey as he liked to becalled, was a typical survivor of the First World War,an Englishman I gather, who decided to settle inAvondale and bought a goodly acreage in NewWindsor Road and established what at that time was
A Tiverton correction!
Old Memories Recalled
by Rich Afford
Thank you to everyone who got in touch with me inresponse to the last issue featuring Sylvia Thomas’article on early days on New Windsor Road. It waswonderful to know that her article has meant a lot to you readers, as it also does to me. Here are some of the responses received. — Editor
The 3rd paragraph from top, left hand column of page 5Volume 10, Issue 55 ...."most houses had bare floors,perhaps varnished, or lino covered.
Ash's
and Exler'sboth had earth floors....". Mum and I knew the
Asher
family who lived in that house...could be that the authorhas the wrong name.The daughter's name is
Innes Asher
and the last Iheard, she is/was a Dr. at Starship Children's Hospitalin Auckland...
NO
, I have just googled her and she is aProf. no less....we used to go to Playcentre together (sheI recall his comment to the effect he could walk downQueen Street and purchase anything that took his fancyregardless of cost. But like many wealthy men therewas a streak of parsimony. He liked to make a socialvisit to us as neighbours once per year and he wouldpresent us as a gift with one tomato for our admirationand delectation.knew me as Briar Nicholls)…Innes and I went toPlaycentre at the St. Judes church.
The Avondale Historical Journal
Volume 10 Issue 56
Page 3
A letter from Kathleen Homewood
Thank you for sending me the newsletter, particularlythe last one which brought back many happy memories.As a young child, my parents, brother Ken and I livedin the house on the corner of Bollard Ave, oppositeJudd’s shop in New Windsor Road and Bentleigh Ave.
I can remember we used to play under the oak tree thatgrew on the section opposite, with the Carter girls(twins and Lena) and remember the Scarrotts and MrsWalker with Stella and Billy (her two children). Alsowalked to school down Church Street (now calledChalmers Street) and on odd occasions my brother Kenwould double me on the bike, down the hill, much tothe horror of friends, who lived at the top of the hill, ashe rode over the railway lines.
This would be in the early ‘30s as we arrived fromEngland in 1926 and would be about the second homewe occupied. I’m not sure, but I think I was about 5 or6 years old. I can also remember we moved aroundquite a lot but always stayed in Avondale, until I gotmarried, and had many happy days there.Lisa, I wish the Avondale-Waterview Historical Societyall the success and look forward to more letters fromyou. Thanks for the memories,
Kathleen Ivy Homewood (née Child)
Thanks for your letter, Kath. It made my day receivingit! I remember my cousin Linda doubling me (her aged 14, me aged 6) on the way down a steep slope inOamaru — the terror of it (for me)! — I can wellimagine the Chalmers Street incident...
Note from Gail Ellison
Back in 2004, I received an email from Ruth Wintour of Kaukapakapa, which included these memories of Tiverton Road. It may have been forgotten as around that time I was switching computers here at home, and it has resided in cyberspace for the past six years. Sincethen, I’ve lost touch with Mrs Wintour.
After the 2
nd
World War my Great Uncle Grahamreceived a rehab loan after serving in the 2
nd
NZExpeditionary Force. He used it to build a house for himand his parents, Mr and Mrs Marr, in Tiverton Rd. It wasa small 2 bedroom bungalow, weatherboard, tile roof,coal range, and a tin garage out the back next to the plumtree. It was cold, uninsulated and decorated with friezesin the bedroom and a glass wind chime with red dotshung from the lounge ceiling. Mr and Mrs Afford weremy great-grandparents’ friends and after returning on thetram to Avondale they would stop half way up the roadto have a cup of tea with them.In 1963, my parents bought the property from my great-uncle. It had been subdivided previously and that left thehouse and nearly a ½ acre for us to play on. We kneweveryone from Whitney Street up and half of those fromWhitney Street down, from the Atlantic petrol station atthe bottom to Mr McDonald’s IGA and Mrs Ward’sbook shop at the New Windsor shops. Names like MrFrench, O’Leary, Kent, Marquet, Wiesse, Grant, Shirt-cliffe, Lonigan, Johnson, and Voss were part of mypresent but also spoken of in connection to my great-grandparents.Tiverton Rd was very steep and narrow. To visit myuncle, we would all pile in to the Prefect, Dad would rolla cigarette, and then back the car out of the garage, anddrive up the road. To get to the top he would have to stophalf-way and start again. My sister and I, thinking wewere helping, would push hard against our parents’ seatsin an effort to get the car to the top of the hill.There was no footpath at the front of the house. Theproperty sloped lower than the road level and was edgedwith deep kikuyu. The children in the neighbourhoodwould spend hours making huts in the long grass duringseemingly endless summer days. We would climb thetrees, pick the plums and roll down the hill in cardboardboxes. Freesias, spraxias, ixias, and bluebells grew wild,planted years before by my Great-Grandma.The one place we were not allowed to explore was thecreek at the back of the house. Edged by a fringe of macrocarpa, the creek proved tantalisingly irresistible
An email from Ruth Wintour
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Avondale Historical Journal No. 56
Journal of the Avondale-Waterview Historical Society, Auckland, New Zealand
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