The pioneer spirit
Volunteers with a ‘‘fascination for anything old’’ give new life to old cottage, writes
When Shirley Shefford heard there was an old and dilapidated cottage at risk in Havelock, she quickly rallied forces at the Marlborough Vintage and Farm Machinery Society.
Six years on, the 1884 Pioneer Cottage is sitting pretty at Blenheim’s Brayshaw Heritage Park, relocated, restored and rejuvenated, as a charming example of settler life in the late 19th century.
Inside its well-worn walls are furnishings, clothing, books, kitchenware, and items of daily life at the turn of the century. A charming brick path, shaded by bright flowers, leads around the outside to a replica laundry, dairy and the outhouse, which is perfectly accessorised with pieces of old newspaper, in lieu of modern day three-ply. Beyond those rustic corrugated iron sheds is the cottage orchard, planted in heritage varieties by the team that have given this home, and its story, a bright new lease of life.
It’s a far cry from the day Shirley’s army first saw the leaning cottage on a country road, says her partner in crime Doris Holdaway.
‘‘When I first saw it I thought, ‘Oh my God, what have I let myself in for here?’ You had to watch where you stepped in case you went through the floor.’’
Doris’ husband Ken Barr had a similar sinking feeling on seeing the drooping ceiling and drafty walls and floor.
‘‘You sat in the bathroom and you could look outside. That’s how bad it was. You couldn’t walk on the floor because it was all bent and rotten.’’
They were just in time to change history.
‘‘They were going to put a match to it and I think I would have just about done it when I saw it,’’ says Ken with a chuckle. ‘‘She was a real wreck when we got there. But we’ve all had a bit of fun.’’
That fun began with removing the lean-to, cutting the cottage in half and transporting the front facade to Blenheim in the wee small hours of the morning.
It arrived at Brayshaw Heritage Park at the break of day, says Doris, who had helped prepare a big breakfast for the workers. ‘‘Then the fun part began.’’
The house was set down on new piles, the back half and leanto rebuilt, the ceiling propped up and the walls and floors straightened and tightened, to create a solid structure. One volunteer tradesman came in to rebuild the brick chimney, while another laid the brick path outside.
Shirley searched high and low for the right vintage wallpaper, all the while collecting remnants of pretty past wall coverings found in the house during the restoration. Each piece is now labelled in a frame within the cottage, ascribed with the design and approximate year it was hung. When it came to the kitchen, they used old newspaper spreads, as was typical in cottages of this type and time, making a modern read of the room a fascinating lesson in history.
Over the years the house has become a treasure
‘‘They were going to put a match to it and I think I would have just about done it when I saw it. She was a real wreck when we got there. But we’ve all had a bit of fun.’’ Ken Barr
trove of antiques, with pieces sourced by Shirley and her team, or accepted from the many people who turn up and say ‘‘look, this will be good for you’’, says Ken. They include a Denby plate from 1846, and a 25cm thick edition of Medicology, a turn of the century encyclopaedia on health.
Doris’ favourite room in the house is the nursery, where perfect wee infant outfits lie on the edge of the baby’s cot. In the master bedroom, the shaving kit is out, awaiting the man of the house, while a pristine ‘‘lady’s dressing case’’, dated 1880, sits open on an antique dresser.
Over the years the work has ticked on, with Brian Pinnell working on the loo, dairy and washhouse, all of which are perfectly in keeping with the cottage’s period, down to the antique wringer, heavy iron and ingenious clothing rack in the laundry, and the butter churn, skimmer, and steel urns of the dairy.
It’s been a huge job from day one to completion, says Ken.
‘‘A lot of people don’t realise the amount of work they put in. The girls did a hell of a job.’’
Around 20 others have helped them along the way, thanks to ‘‘a fascination for anything old’’, Ken says. Brian agrees with a quiet smile. ‘‘Because we’re all old, it brings back a lot of memories.’’
Doris, whose father founded and owned the Perano whaling station, spent plenty of holidays in Port Underwood and the Marlborough Sounds, staying in old cottages much like this one. She is clearly chuffed to have had a hand in saving it.
These days all the helpers have a bit of heart where this home is, she says with a deadly serious look in her eye.
‘‘God help anybody who damages it.’’