PO Box 56076, Tawa Wellington 5249; Secretary ph 232 5901
Website: tawahistory.org.nz
The Tawa Historian
Newsletter #50 – June 2020
Dear Members and Friends,
We recently had our second Executive meeting for 2020, and on this occasion were able to meet (with appropriate social spacing!) together, rather than virtually.
Tawa Historical Society Annual General Meeting
Our AGM will be held on Monday 31 August 2020 in at 7:30 pm in the Tawa Community Centre, Cambridge Street, Tawa. All members are urged to attend. Some material will be sent to members before the meeting.
Books in preparation
Currently we have three books in preparation for publication:
A book about the Porirua Road will hopefully be published before the end of this year. It will be a book well worth reading prior to undertaking a car excursion along the old Porirua Road from Kaiwharawhara, at the mouth of the Ngaio Gorge. The road then follows Cockayne Road, Box Hill, Burma Road, Fraser Avenue, Johnsonville Road, Middleton Road, Willowbank Road, Main Road, Tawa, Oxford Street, the Main Road again, Duncan Park, West Linden Park, the Main Road again, and Wall Place. The book will give information not only about each segment of the road, but also about people and events connected with each part of the old Porirua Road.
The second book will be in titled Tawa: its recreational parks and reserves. It will cover all of Tawa’s parks and reserves and those of Grenada North. It will be accompanied by photographs and maps. It will make good reading, and will be an excellent reference.
The third book is a history of the Linden Tennis Club, which we are undertaking at the request of the Club itself, who are funding the costs of the publication. The Club was founded in 1936, and was ‘wound up’ in 2016, concluding 80 years of service to the community. Having sold the land on which the Club played its tennis, the remaining members offered $50,000 towards the costs of the Tawa Memorial which was constructed and unveiled in 2016-17. That sum was gratefully accepted, and the Memorial was unveiled on 22 April, 2017. If any members have information or reminiscences about the Club, please contact me or David Parsons.
Expanding the membership
We spent some time at our recent Executive meeting looking at ways in which we could expand our membership. Over the years we have had, on average, between 45 and 55 members, but at the moment we are down to 41. We really need to boost our membership. As a start, it was suggested that members might know of family members, or relatives, or friends, who might welcome an approach from us regarding membership. If that is the case, please forward to me at bagmurray213@gmail.com the email of a person who you might consider would welcome an approach from our Society regarding membership, and I will ensure that appropriate material is sent to them.
Books available for purchase
A recent stocktake indicates that the following books we have published are now out of print:
• The Streets of Tawa (2005);
• The Historical Atlas of Tawa (2006);
• Best of Tawa Vol 2 (2008);
• Rails through the Valley (2008);
• The Takapu Ammunition Bunker ((2007); and
• Memories of Tawa 1928-1958 (2013).
Other titles which are getting low on stock numbers are:
• Lest Tawa Forgets - 19 remain;
• The Tawa Town Hall 1933-63 - 13 remain;
• Tawa; the tree, community and Reserves - 13 remain;
• The Tawa Cemetery 1861-1978 - 14 remain;
• Takapu Valley - a history - 15 remain
Other books in stock include:
• Best of Tawa - Vol 3.
• Arthur Carman - a biography.
• 26 Oxford Street and the Bartlett family.
• A History of Tawa.
• The Ranui Golf Club of Tawa.
• The Tawa Memorial, Grasslees Reserve.
• The Mexted family of Pluckley, Kent and Tawa Flat, Wellington.
• Willowbank Reserve and its environs.
Grasslees Reserve
At the northern end of Oxford Street, in Grasslees Reserve, there are four memorials: (i) the Brian Webb Memorial Rose Garden; (ii) the Elsdon Best Memorial (containing his ashes); (iii) a memorial plaque, mounted on a stone, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War I; and the Tawa Memorial itself, commemorating those from Tawa Flat who died in the service of New Zealand in the South African War 1899-1902, the First World War 1914-1918, and the Second World War 1939-1945.
Late last year we approached the Wellington City Council, suggesting that they place a sign in the south-eastern corner of Grasslees Reserve where these memorials lie alongside each other, calling this small area of the Reserve ‘Memorial Corner’.
A short while ago we received a response from the WCC saying that they would not proceed with such a sign because it conflicted with their ‘naming policy’.
Kind regards,
Bruce Murray
Chairman,
Tawa Historical Society