The roads into the hinterland of the region were built with 'primitive' tools and manpower, as seen in this image of four road builders working in the Waitōtara Valley
The roads into the hinterland of the region were built with 'primitive' tools and manpower, as seen in this image of four road builders working in the Waitōtara Valley
MUSEUM NOTEBOOK
These notes by Nancy Bruce in 1985 share her memories of her father's time working on building roads in the Whanganui region, many of which are still used today.
During the summer holidays many of us will be spending time on these roads, spare a thought for the men who made them so many years ago.
"History happens all the time. 'It's a far cry!' said our grandparents, looking back to last century. It is an ongoing thing, the contract between then and now, and the 'then' is so important, not only to historians but to all of us.
Strangely, perhaps, because he was actually with us for a shorter time than anyone else, the contract most marked for me between childhood and now has been in the work and lifestyle of my father and the men who worked with him, and the conditions pertaining today.
He died when my sister and I were schoolgirls, and in our early childhood he was away for long intervals, surveying and mapping the roads in the Wanganui River area over which anyone can travel in comfort today.
Museum Notebook
In this age of heavy earth-moving machinery sometimes bigger than World War II tanks it is difficult to believe the primitive tools and conditions with which the surveyors, engineers and road-builders had to contend earlier in this century.
They opened up hitherto uncharted areas of bush and rough hill country, cutting through papa clay and rock and pushing ahead in the most hazardous conditions of terrain and weather with picks and shovels, wheelbarrows and just plain manpower.
In the 20s and earlier the men would be away for weeks at a time, living under canvas, unless they were lucky enough to manage the odd whare or hut, in rough, isolated country and with virtually no contact with wives and families.
The odd letter might be brought down by anyone coming out to town, and the telephone was not then the universal facility it is today, while air mails, mass radio and television still lay in the future.
To the wives and young families back in town it was sometimes almost difficult to remember what Dad looked like.
One most vivid memory from this time has stayed with me. It had been weeks since our father left town 'on the survey' and when Dad returned almost all of his nearly six foot length seemed to be coated in mud, plastered with it, trousers, heavy leggings, oilskin, the lot. He had borrowed a horse 'up there' and ridden so far, then walked over 30 miles to get home.
They lived in tough conditions in the bush.
Early bridges were made by hand from wood, with all material brought in by the builders
Everything had to be carried in, and until they had cut tracks wide enough for packhorses the men packed it in themselves, on their backs.
Dad and his fellow surveyor-engineer Frank Hermans frequently had to ford streams in flood. They carried plans and notebooks and other equipment, including the pay for the road workmen, in strong leather bags slung on their backs.
On one occasion while fording one of the flooded tributaries Frank Hermans was swept off his feet, and the precious bag containing books and wages money was carried away and lost.
One rare memory survives from those days, of a peerless early morning drive out to Kai Iwi beach for a brief check on the cliff area where the long-standing problem of slips continued.
We saw the plumb bob swinging away down over the cliff edge, and even got to look through a theodolite at the strange spectacle of an upside-down world.
In spite of the primitive early conditions that often undermined the health and shortened the lives of those who carried out the surveys and built them.
The scenery in some parts of the roads has not changed much, but the roads are much wider today
Visitors to Britain are still impressed by the roads that the Romans made.
And here, it is time to remember and be grateful to those who planned and surveyed and opened the way for us, and for the increasing numbers who will follow."
• Sandi Black is the archivist at Whanganui Regional Museum.
