Golden Bay Museum’s booklet represents a pictorial diary
The Golden Bay Museum just gets better and better in its offerings on the historical record of the region.
The museum has launched a booklet that contains 30 historical photographs of Golden Bay that were on display at the museum from late 2010 to early 2011.
The photographs represent a pictorial diary of the life of early settlers in Golden Bay, and opens with a view of mainstreet Takaka. Many of the photos show a lifestyle no longer recognisable. Featured prominently are the industries that drew people to the Bay and sustained them here, including linen flax milling, tree felling, wool transport, images of the early Robertson smithy at Wainui, and bringing in the hay at Kaituna.
Some of the photos show recognisable locations much altered from the past, such as the wharf at Puponga, of which little now remains, and a picture of the Onekaka Iron Works in the 1920s, showing the huts that housed 800 workers.
One good reason to get the book is to discover which building in Takaka is the oldest and which shop is still there. When you find it, as the book says, you can “walk across an interesting and ancient rolling floor”.
The booklet is the first in a series the museum hopes to publish, summarising exhibits held there. The proceeds will be used to produce a similar publication based on the current exhibit, Huts and High Places, The Cobb and Beyond.
Following that, the next publication will highlight the history of the medical centre here in Golden Bay, an exhibit held a few years ago.
The handsome booklet costs $15 and is glossy and A5 in size, making it easy to mail overseas. Copies are available at the Golden Bay Museum.
Em Hofstede
