Heritage Day attracts steady visitor flow
LAWRENCE
A BOUT of cloudy weather did not stop people from across Otago joining Lawrence residents in celebrating Lawrence Heritage Day yesterday.
SPO Shoeing operator Phil Swanson gave onlookers a demonstration of his handiwork.
He had his own unique style of farrier practice.
“I shape the shoe for the hoof rather than rasping the hoof around the shoe.
‘‘That makes it last longer,” Mr Swanson said.
The Tuapeka resident began in the field 18 years ago when he could not find anybody suitable to maintain his horses’ hooves and bespoke shoeing them.
The heritage day also had tours of the township’s many historic buildings, goldpanning stations, a woodchopping competition and a display of rare vintage machinery. An appealiing feature was the opportunity to handfeed eels.
Tuapeka Vintage Club treasurer Mel Foster said there was a “steady flow” of people throughout the day, arriving mostly from Dunedin and Balclutha.
“The heritage day was something the vintage club set up a number of years ago,” Mrs Foster said.
“And we’ve just started to build on that with the Lawrence Heritage Trust coming on board and the Chinese camp now involved as well.”