Governors Bay Jetty

The short jetty at Governors Bay, 1909 (Canterbury Museum)

The ‘long’ jetty in Governors Bay began life as a short jetty, constructed by Hollis and Williams in 1883 for £242. However by 1910 the future of the short jetty was in doubt. The Christchurch Press reported that the Lyttelton Harbour Board had decided, as an economy measure, to close the ‘upper wharf’ at Governors Bay. [1]  A petition opposing closure was signed by most Bay residents and a deputation presented the petition to the Harbour Board deputy-chairman. Arguments in favour of the ‘upper wharf’ included its accessibility by road, making it much handier for visitors and less expensive for commerce than the ‘lower jetty’ at the north-east end of the bay (Perceval’s or Sandy Bay Point). The deputation indicated that residents not only wanted to retain the upper wharf but that they also wanted to lengthen it and dredge an approaching channel. The costs would be covered by a toll levied on visitors using the jetty.   An extension to combat harbour silting was built in 1915 and another to produce the ‘long jetty’ we are all familiar with, in 1927. At the time of the 1915 extension, Eddie Radcliffe was going to school in Governors Bay. After school the children would rush down the jetty where there was a trolley on railway lines that transported materials to the construction end. The workmen would allow the children to get into the trolley and push themselves up and down the jetty![2]

Steam Pinnace Canterbury, 1902 (Canterbury Museum)

Despite the tidal difficulties, access by sea was popular with visitors. A regular steamer service ran from Lyttelton to Governors Bay on Sundays and public holidays, carrying picnickers and visitors to ‘The Pleasure Gardens’ at the Ocean View Hotel. Vessels on the run included: Canterbury, Waiwera, John Anderson, Purau and Monica. The dimensions of the Purau give us some idea of the nature of these steamers. She was 75ft in length with a beam of 16ft and a depth of hold 6ft 6in.  Her draught of water was 4ft 6in which made her particularly suitable for the shallow Governors Bay run.  The 35 tonne steel John Anderson, built in Lyttelton and launched in November 1891, was registered to take 250 passengers on harbour excursions. Purau and Monica were still carrying passengers to the Bay in the 1920s - but only at high tide. The long jetty was maintained by the Lyttelton Harbour Board until the Board’s demise in 1989. It then came under the jurisdiction of the Banks Peninsula District Council until amalgamation with the Christchurch City Council.[3]

Steam Pinnace Canterbury (Canterbury Museum)

Not everyone was happy. After the 1915 extension a Christchurch resident took a walk over the hill to Governors Bay, stopping at the “beautiful rest-house” at the summit. As he descended “one of the first things that came into my view (completely spoiling the beauty of the bay) was a hideous, snake-like structure, standing out in the mud.” Later in the day he strolled to the old wharf (presumably the Sandy Bay one?) and watched as the Purau steamed up and “gracefully settled in the mud some two chains from the wharf, and there she stuck for about two hours, the passengers subsequently being taken on board in the dinghy.”[4] Interestingly, the ‘snake-like structure’ has become one of the earthquake-damaged landmarks that locals most want repaired. Not because it is of any functional value, but because it defines Governors Bay and provides a must-walk-along experience for locals and visitors.

By the time of its final extension in 1927 the jetty was 230 metres long. Inspections in 1993 and 1994 revealed cause for concern about its condition. Twenty new piles were driven under the jetty in 1997. The pile driver was mounted on a flat barge made from mussel buoys. At the sea end of the jetty the 10-metre long piles went four metres into the silt. About a third of the work was done by local volunteers in order to keep costs down. By May 1999, $68, 814 had been spent to bring it up to scratch.[5]

Winter 2011

With thanks to Coral Atkinson sharing her postcard collection

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[1] Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13885, 9 November 1910, NEWS OF THE DAY, 8.

[2] Interview with Murray Radcliffe, 14 August 2014.

[3] J. Nicol, Harbour Link, Issue 20, May 1999. Lachie Griffen, Our Jetty. The Bay News, March 1994, 8.
[4] Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16233, 8 June 1918, GOVERNOR'S BAY WHARF ACCOMMODATION, 10.

[5] J. Nicol, Harbour Link, Issue 20, May 1999.

Thomas Potts and Ohinetahi

Recently David Bundy, Joseph Aldridge and I (with permission) walked up the valley adjacent to St Cuthbert's Church, on land that was once a part of Thomas Potts' farm when he and his family lived at Ohinetahi. Following the stream bed we found evidence of old stone walls, paths and steps which suggested there had once been a walkway in the shade of the lovely native bush and exotics planted by Potts. 

Ohinetahi Valley stream bed

Higher up and out in the grassland David pointed out the ruins of an early farm worker's cottage. We found the collapsed brick chimney, covered with grass and surrounded by an old home orchard, the trees still bearing fruit.

Revealing the old brick chimney

Further on, the site of another cottage. We found some intriguing bricks. And everywhere the beautiful trees planted by Potts. Also lots of regenerating native bush.

A home-made brick?

Old exotic with regenerating natives beneath

One of the many pleasures of writing about the head of the harbour has been finding out more about Thomas Potts. He was a very influential figure in the early development of this area and an indefatigable champion of the native flora and fauna. 

More on Potts to come...

Ernest Adams and Cholmondeley Children's Home

As a child I associated the name Ernest Adams with cakes - or maybe it was sponges as we didn't buy cakes. Anyway I knew the name, but that was all. When I started to write about the head of the harbour, I read Colin Amodeo's history of Chomondeley Children's Home - A Beautiful Haven - and was touched to learn of Ernest Adam's close association with the home and his generosity; a businessman with a strong social conscience. From my draft (drawing on Colin Amodeo's work)...

In 1939 Ernest Adams became President of Cholmondeley’s Board of Trustees, a position he held for the next 15 years, after which he remained on the Board and as a sub-committee member. He became Patron of Cholmondeley in 1968. Son of a master baker in England, Ernest Adams came to Christchurch via Australia. He established the Adams Bruce partnership, which then morphed into Ernest Adams Ltd – a highly successful South Island-based bakery. Ernest Adam’s experience of his father’s bankruptcy and the death of his first wife and second child in childbirth, meant that he was particularly attuned to the problems of poverty and the stresses of family life. He would organize his Christchurch staff into working parties to do repairs and maintenance at Cholmondeley and see to the upkeep of the grounds. A trust fund set up by Ernest Adams in 1960 provided over $100,000 for the building of a new wing in 1993.

Forster's Bridge

We'd all been concerned about the big trucks using Gebbies and Dyers Passes since the post-quake closure of Evans Pass. And the accident waiting to happen happened in January this year on the tight bend heading out of Governors Bay towards Lyttelton. Fortunately no one was hurt.

What was generally not known was that the truck turned on a very special historic bridge. The bridge, adjacent to the then Travellers’ Rest Hotel, was built in 1863 by locals Samuel Hall and William Cowlin. Known as Forster’s Bridge (so called after William Forster, the proprietor of The Travellers' Rest) and is acknowledged as a ‘Listed Heritage Place’. Prior to the recent truck accident which damaged the bridge, Heritage Christchurch reported that:

This is a good example of a nineteenth century stone arch bridge, the likes of which are rare in New Zealand. The reason for their rarity is often attributed to a lack of suitable stone and masons at the time of early settlement…The bridge cannot be seen from the road and instead must be viewed from private property. This allows the viewer to appreciate the engineering that went into the design of the bridge and the symmetrical features which give the bridge an aesthetically pleasing appearance. [The bridge] is a testament to the technological skill of its designer and the craftsmanship of its original builders.

Now the bridge is being repaired and, thanks to the intervention of local residents, its significance is known to Fulton Hogan and the stonemasons. The keystone carrying the date 1863 has just been fitted back in place.

Here are the stonemasons of 2014 working on the job.

If anyone has a photo of the bridge taken from below, prior to the accident, and showing the arch in its full glory, I would love to know.