Tawa Historical Society Incorporated
MEMORIES OF TAWA FLAT
Brian Mexted’s Talk – 2009 AGM
(The following is taken from a talk given by Brian Mexted to the Annual General Meeting of the Tawa Historical Society on 7 September 2009)
I was born in Tawa Flat in 1928 – the year in which Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse! There was only one church there in those days – the Methodist Church (1851) which was located opposite Aquaheat. There was no Church of England but an Anglican service was held in the primary school once a month. Come the day for my christening, my mother who was a keen Anglican, took me and a crystal bowl to the school for my christening service. My father, Cecil, unfortunately did not attend. A truck was caught by the incoming tide at Brown’s Bay and he played tennis
nearby until the tide went out and missed the service!
In 1930 the Tawa Central Real Estate, which was owned by members of the Mexted family, planned the subdivision of the western hills of Tawa Flat – and named streets after themselves – Wilfred Street, Cecil Street and Roy Street.
The Ranui Golf Club was established in 1923, with the clubhouse being what was originally the Bartlett House and is now 26 Oxford Street, the home of Elizabeth and the late Graeme Sutton. Wilf Mexted grazed his sheep on the golf course from Monday to Friday, but erected fences around the greens so that they were not damaged by the sheep. The fences and sheep were removed in time for the weekend golf. People travelled out from Wellington to play the course. Famous names included Dunbar Sloane. The course closed in 1930 in order to subdivide the land for housing and a course was established at Titahi Bay.
In 1934 I started at Tawa Flat Primary School – at the height of the Depression. Children started school at the age of six rather than five as a cost-cutting measure. Some 70 years or more after the school started, there were still under 100 pupils – 98 in fact. When the school reached 100 pupils, it was entitled to have three teachers. Physically, the school comprised two classrooms, a big classroom at the back of the
sole school building and a smaller one at the front.
Miss Margaret Magill, the head teacher, taught all the Standards children. She was a most magnificent teacher. My brother Graham always reckoned he gained University Entrance geography and history solely on what he learned from Miss Magill. Miss Magill had two other passions as well as education – tennis and gardening and they became mine, too. Miss Magill lived in Eastbourne and was, in fact, a Borough Councillor there. The annual school picnic was held in Eastbourne and it was a day for all of Tawa Flat whether you were associated with the school or not. She booked the Cobar ferry to take people to and from the picnic.
The next school north of Tawa Flat Primary was in Porirua (where the town centre now is), then Paremata, then Plimmerton, then Pukerua Bay and then Paekakariki.
One disappointment for me was that a new school had been promised for Tawa Flat, but the start of World War II in 1939 halted that. A new school was started in 1941, but the new block was built right on top of our tennis court! The Tawa Tennis Club operated at weekends at the school, so it then switched to using the court at Mr Nairn’s home in Takapu Road. It is important to understand that, like the Ranui Golf Club in the 1920s, everyone was involved in the Tennis Club whether they played tennis or not – most of us we walked to Takapu Road either by road or over the hill, while a few went by bike and some even by car. The Club operated at Mr Nairn’s hime until 1945 when Mr Nairn sold some land in Tawa Flat to the club and the club operated there for many years in Court Road. Members of the Tennis Club included my Uncle Wilf and his wife Dorothy. Uncle Wilf was the Patron of the Club.
It will not surprise you that the school rugby team was organised by my brother Graham. Unfortunately we did not have 15 boys for the team so we were helped out by two girls! June Robertson was a magnificent 1st five-eight!! Porirua Primary School used to trounce us in rugby every time we played, but we always beat the other schools in tennis. We played for the Law Cup – Mr Law was a resident in Paekakariki.
And then there was the Tawa Flat School Harmonica Band (note harmonica, not mouth organ). Entertainment in the community was carried on by ‘lesser groups’ because the men were away at the war. The band played at the Centennial Exhibition Studio and my brother Graham and I were two members of a trio that sang! Members of the Harmonica Band included members of the Hook and Turkington families. The Harmonica Band concerts were held in the old Tawa Town Hall.
Other entertainment for children included swimming in The River – called the Porirua Stream today. When the Porirua Stream was diverted to allow for the realignment of the railway line, we lost the famous Devil’s Elbow on the Ranui Golf Course where the stream ran under Duncan Street. Many a golf ball was lost at the Devil’s Elbow! We also used to bike through to Titahi Bay.
There was gorse everywhere. One good use of gorse was on bonfire night on 5 November. The combination of gorse and old tyres from Mexted’s Garage guaranteed a great bonfire. Unfortunately, one year Tommy Hall lit the bonfire on 4 November, so we had to turn around and build a new one during the next day!
Tawa Flat was still a small community in the 1930s. In the area north of Johnsonville and including Porirua there were just two party phone lines, each with four families on them. Although our family had one of the party lines, it was a challenge for us to make a phone call – one of the subscribers on our party line was a bookie (who took bets on horse races) so phone calls on Saturdays were hopeless. Tuition in Maori over the phone was taking place on another line! The tutor was someone from the Tawa Timber Co. which was located where the BP petrol station is now located. The student lived on The Drive. You never forget some things – our home number was 37955 and the business number was 37988!
It was 50 minutes by train from Tawa Flat to Wellington. The line was single track and ran from the City up to Johnsonville and then along what is now the motorway, along Duncan Street as far as McLellan Street where it joined the existing line today. The engines took on water at Johnsonville. The trains left for Wellington at 7.10am, 7.50, 8.29, 10.29 and 1.15pm. The trains from Wellington were 4.00pm, 4.45, 5.22, 5.47 and 6.15pm. The latter train was called the ‘Shix Fifteen’ because those were the days of the six o’clock closing, and the ‘Six O’Clock Swill’; there were no toilets on the train so there was always a rush for the toilets when the train arrived at Tawa.
You could also buy at ticket at the Tawa station in those days!
Mr Turkington was a railway employee and he was always running late for the 8.29 to Wellington – and the train would wait for him!
My train to school often ran late – so often in fact that there was a special area for the train boys in the assembly hall at Wellington College where we could sit when we arrived because assembly had already begun. On one occasion, the train was really late and, when I arrived, my teacher simply said “Cow on the line, was there, Mexted?”
The roads were not sealed so the women who wanted to go to town would walk to the station in the old shoes, gum boots etc and would carry their best shoes. At the station they changed into their best shoes and left the gum boots etc in the waiting room til they returned at the end of the day. And no old shoes or boots ever disappeared!
Saturdays were good fun. We went to town by train, enjoyed fish and chips and then went to the De Luxe Theatre to watch the westerns.
In the holidays I used to go to Levin by train to spend time on my uncle’s farm. The Paekakariki refreshment stop was an institution – thick ham sandwiches, pies, fruit cake, and tea in thick NZR mugs.
In 1937 our home at 64 Oxford Street was built. We had a fair amount of grass and my father, ever the entrepreneur, decided to buy a cow to keep the grass down. My brother Graham did not relate well to animals so I had to do the milking, even when I was attending Wellington College. But the cow produced too much milk for the family to consume, so my father bought some pigs to use the milk and to fatten them for Christmas.
The Town Hall was located on the site opposite where Mexted Motors is situated today. The Salvation Army and Wardell’s Supermarket occupied the site at other times. A big event held at the Town Hall was the Crowning of the Queen Carnival which raised funds for a special need. Three groups raised money – the Kindergarten Committee, the School Committee and the Plunket Committee. The crown was awarded to the committee raising the most money. My sister Norma was keen for Plunket to raise the most money and she was duly crowned. There was a community dance associated with the Carnival.
The Centennial Dinner for the Tawa Primary School was held in the Town Hall.
Two key events occurred in 1958. Firstly, there was the referendum to change the name of Tawa Flat. There were three options: retain the name; Tawanui (reflecting Ranui to the north); or simply Tawa. Much to my surprise Tawa was voted in by a very small margin. The name changed in 1959.
Secondly, water and sewerage were installed so that septic tanks became a thing of the past. We had planned for a septic tank at our house at 22 Oxford Street, but it was not needed so it became a back terrace on the section. With the new facilities of water and sewerage came significant population growth.
The rail yard at the station became very busy. The Armstrong Timber Company handled timber, steel, joinery and gibraltar board for the new houses. The Paparangi subdivision near the Belmont Gulley also went ahead and Mexted’s won the contract to deliver all the supplies to the builders in the subdivision. The materials were brought by rail to the Tawa siding and we had just two days to clear each delivery before the next one arrived. Business was great for the company, but it was very busy work.
Sheep and cattle were also trucked from the siding. On one occasion some yearlings were being unloaded and they escaped from the crate into the Armstrong Timber Company yard. Great efforts were made to round them up, and the efforts of one large Maori employee were particularly spectacular as he tackled animals in succession and brought them to the ground.
I should also mention that I had a family member who worked in the telephone exchange and she told me that not a single call ever went through the telephone exchange when ‘Coronation Street’ was on TV!
My days in Tawa were great days. I might live up on the Coast these days, but ‘my heart is still in Tawa’.
Brian Mexted
7 September 2009