The Central Hawke’s Bay Museum is free this year. Here’s the cool things you can go see

Beatrice Ridgway was a nurse at the Waipukurau Hospital in the 1950s and remembers many trips in the old hospital ambulance, which is on exhibit at the Central Hawke’s Bay Museum.

Central Hawke’s Bay Museum has celebrated the start of a year’s free entry by revisiting some ghosts of the past.

The removal of entry fees comes off the back of difficult times, with Covid-19 restrictions and closures in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, which reflected reduced visitor numbers.

Museum manager and curator Jana Uhlirova says: “We hope this will encourage people to make the trip back to us. Visitors inspire us, feedback helps ensure we stay relevant and people through the doors keep the spirit of our museum alive. It really is a wonderful place for everyone to connect, learn and enjoy,” Jana said.

One of the blasts from the past is the Waipawa Hospital Board’s 1949 Humber Super Snipe ambulance which served Central Hawke’s Bay for many years, working out of the Waipukurau Hospital.

Photographer Jeremy Bright with some of his images of the old Waipukurau Hospital, on exhibition at the Central Hawke’s Bay Museum.

The vehicle was spotted for sale last year by CHB District councillor Jerry Greer and after some research proved it was the authentic Waipukurau Hospital ambulance. An anonymous purchaser then came forward to buy the vehicle, which is now on long-term loan to the museum.

It is currently on display alongside a photographic exhibition - Ghosts of the Past - a 10-year photographic documentary of the now-demolished Waipukurau Hospital, by Taupō-based photographer Jeremy Bright.

Bright was travelling through to the Wairarapa in 2009 when he drove past the old Waipukurau Hospital on Pōrangahau Rd. He stopped to look closer, which sparked a decade’s worth of regular visits documenting the site.

Guests and community members at the opening of Central Hawke’s Bay Museum’s latest exhibition by Jeremy Bright, Ghosts of the Past, featuring photos of the old Waipukurau Hospital.

The hospital was founded in 1879 and closed in 1999. Originally sold to be developed, the site sat dilapidated for more than 20 years. Most of the buildings are now demolished and the land is currently earmarked for a housing project.

Museum curator Jana Uhlirova, left, with a dubious-looking surgeon from the old Waipukurau Hospital.

Bright’s images show different traces of human presence – objects and infrastructure used to provide comfort and medical care, along with signs of people who used the abandoned hospital as temporary shelter. In documenting the buildings, he was particularly interested in the ways in which they were taking on a different persona through the damaging effects of time, use and vandalism.

Bright describes this body of work as “a documentary record of a small part of local history”.

Ghosts of the Past is exhibiting at the Central Hawke’s Bay Museum, High St, Waipawa, for 10 weeks.

The Central Hawke’s Bay Museum is open seven days a week and entry is free.