Maggie's Way walkway is in the hills of Taradale, Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland
Maggie's Way walkway is in the hills of Taradale, Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland
The final piece of theMaggie’s Way walkway in the hills of Taradale is now completed and will forever be the tribute to the generous donation from Basil McCoward.
The legacy given by McCoward grew to be the biggest financial contribution that any individual has given the council, with the donation reaching over $1 million.
He and his wife both died more than 10 years ago, but before his death, McCoward told Napier’s Rotary Pathway Trust that he wanted to leave behind a “legacy”.
The 3.5km pathway stretches from Ōtātara Pā, near Te Pūkenga (EIT) in Taradale, to Tironui Drive, and leads walkers through an off-road track.
McCoward worked as a mechanical engineer after immigrating to New Zealand from the UK in the 1950s and left behind a sum of money and a house for the Pathway Trust.
The couple didn’t have any children, and friend and work colleague Joff Hulbert said that might have been part of the reason he left the donation to the trust.
Hulbert said he was known as “Basil on his bike”, and would get to work every day on his pre-World War II pushbike.
“Basil was always keen on pathways and cycleways,” Hulbert said.
Napier’s Rotary Pathway Trust was formed in 2002, and has developed a network of more than 50km of paths that are walked, run, and cycled every day by the public.
Trust chairwoman Barbara Arnott, who has been with the project from the beginning, said before McCoward died, they told him that they would name the pathway Maggie’s Way, after his wife who loved walking.
“The amazing thing is he is didn’t want anything for it,” she said.
Rotary Pathways Trust chairwoman Barbara Arnott at Maggie's Way in Taradale, Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland
The final stretch of Maggie’s Way that runs from Dolbel St to Puketapu Rd completes the project, and Arnott said it feels “pretty good” to have the work finished.
“It is the last hurrah. We see pathways are now mainstream and we have done our job,” she said.
The goal of the trust has been to circumnavigate Napier and Hastings and join the two through the off-road cycle and pathways.
“The good thing about when you do a job like this is when you see the community using it,” she said.
The pathway is for walking only (no cycling) due to the amount of stairs and dogs have to be on leashes at all times, apart from a small section at the end of Golding Rd that is off-lead.
The Pathways Trust is publishing a limited-edition book, titled Pathways for People, about the project and others it has worked on over the past 20 years.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
