The rich history and warm heart of little Mangaweka

Margaret Noble (left) and Alison Dorrian in the Mangaweka Museum, open on Sundays and by appointment.

Mention Mangaweka and you will probably get mixed reactions: It has a fabulous cafe, and it’s a great place for kayaking, fishing, white water rafting, camping, or bushwalking.

But as Liz Wylie discovers, there’s much more to the little Rangitīkei town.

Art enthusiasts are likely to recall a painting by Robin White, a poem by Sam Hunt, or the Fakes and Forgeries art contest held at the Yellow Church Gallery that was inspired by art forger Karl Sim who was born in Mangaweka.

There’s a lot of traffic passing through on SH1 that has bisected the town since the early 1980s.

The elevated DC-3 aircraft that formerly sat on the roadside was moved to Shannon for restoration last year but recently came up for sale online.

Some locals, I’m told are interested in clubbing together to buy it and bring it back to Mangaweka.

Walking Mangaweka’s former main street, the optimistically named Broadway, one could be forgiven for thinking there’s not much happening here.

The only people around are the life-sized painted characters created by the Mangaweka Art Project led by artist Julie Oliver. It seems as if one might open a door in one of the century-old buildings and fall through a portal to the past when Mangaweka was a bustling town on the brand new main trunk railway line.

Many of the original buildings in Mangaweka's main street remain. Photo / Bevan Conley

A safer glimpse into the past is offered by Mangaweka Heritage president Alison Dorian and treasurer Margaret Noble at the Mangaweka Museum.

It is housed in the former railway station building relocated to a patch of land beside SH1 opposite the Yellow Church Gallery.

It is open on Sunday afternoons and by appointment at other times.

The space is limited and a number of surplus items are stored in the former croquet clubrooms on the grounds. Every item in the museum has Mangaweka provenance and the women are selective about what goes on display.

“Sometimes we are given things that rightly belong in Hunterville or Taihape and we try to ensure that they find their way to the right people,” Noble said.

Every piece tells a story and every item in the collection has Mangaweka provenance.

There is a wooden finial from the roof of the original schoolhouse built in 1894 and rescued when it burned down in the 1920s.

The town’s original clock also recently found its way back to Mangaweka from Palmerston North.

“It had been passed down through a family and the present-day generation understood that it had been found in a ditch after the fire,” Dorrian said.

“That seems unlikely but we’re glad it’s come back.”

Another item that has found its way home is the delivery bicycle that belonged to NT Gower, the Mangaweka butcher.

“A member of the Gower family found it in an antique shop in Masterton,” Noble said.

“They had to pay quite a bit for it but they wanted to make sure it was returned to its rightful place.”

The original basket is long gone but it has been replaced with a picnic basket that belonged to a Gower family member.

Before the DC-3 became a feature in Mangaweka the town was home to another quirky attraction - Nola and Berry Edward’s Seashell Tearooms and Museum. The attraction included their proudly displayed 1937 Austin 10 decorated with 27,000 shells.

The Austin may be gone but there are some exhibits and photographs of the premises in its heyday.

One precious exhibit is the school roll book and the early entries recorded by teachers who wrote in beautiful script with fountain pens show the town and school were named “Three Log Whare”.

“We believe that was the name the surveyors gave the settlement before it was officially named,” said Dorrian.

A taste of what life was like for a young teacher at Mangaweka School at the beginning of the last century was recorded by Harriet Ashwell who recorded her recollections in the 1960s.

“For two years or more of one’s pupil-teachership, the tiny pittance barely paid for food. Girls could not possibly clothe themselves on it. Good-natured people took us in. They certainly did not make any profit. Girls who could live at home were not so bad. Others like I was, did all we could to help either with household jobs or by coaching the children of those who gave us a home.”

Mangaweka Museum open on Sundays and by appointment. Tuesday, November 15, 2022 Whanganui Chronicle photograph by Bevan Conley.

Dorrian, Noble, and a handful of others are the devoted keepers of Mangweka’s eventful history and the people who have populated its past. In the 1990s they wrote a book Mangaweka - The First Hundred Years. There were several reprints and it occasionally appears for sale online.

“We’d like someone to take on the task of writing about the next hundred years,” said Dorrian.

Every year, the town hosts Mangaweka Day on the first Saturday in March, and many descendants of the town’s founding families travel “home” for the occasion.

Mangaweka’s population may have dwindled since the train no longer stops and the motorway went through but it appears to be growing again.

The 2018 census recorded a population of 90 and it is now estimated to be 200.

There are young families who are either newcomers or returnees.

Brooke McIntyre who grew up in the Manawatu town of Āpiti said she is loving living in Mangaweka with her partner and 4-year-old daughter Indie after spending 20 years overseas.

“There are things you just don’t get to experience anywhere else,” she said.

“There is a pet day at the school today. That is something so uniquely small town New Zealand and I’m so glad Indie is getting to have those experiences.”

There was a recent community bonfire during Guy Fawkes.

“A group had been felling gums for a fundraising effort and there was a pile left so everyone was invited along for a bonfire night with a picnic supper,” said McIntyre.

Indie McIntyre Griffiths 4, at the Mangaweka community bonfire night. Photo / Brooke McIntyre

Mangaweka may be small but it has some big-hearted residents ready to welcome passing visitors and there’s a fascinating history to be explored at the museum on a Sunday afternoon.