Monumental efforts
A pioneering Anzac gesture symbolises the true heartland spirit found in a Wairarapa town. Illya McLellan reports.
A series examining some of the big issues facing our small towns and what the locals are doing about them.
When the people of Tinui attended an Anzac service at the village church on the morning of April 25, 1916, and later erected a cross on Mt Maunsell, they had no way of knowing how significant their actions would become.
The service, conducted by the Reverend Basil Ashcroft, is widely regarded as the first anywhere to honour the Gallipoli fallen, and the memorial the first to commemorate the campaign.
The history of the place is inescapable – the original post office, built in 1878, still stands in the village near the old general store, dating from the same year.
The famous Church of the Good Shepherd, built in 1902 and site of that historic first Anzac commemoration, is just down the road.
From the grounds the Anzac Cross can be just made out on the summit of Mt Maunsell to the west.
It is easy to picture Ashcroft standing on this same spot, thinking the hill would be just the place for a memorial to those who had died on the Gallipoli peninsula.
These days, the town’s monumental challenges revolve around a lack of employment opportunities and declining population. In the 1960s the local school had a roll of about 135 students; these days there are about 40.
The decline has been driven by upheavals in agriculture and forestry, and the lure of cities and larger towns as young people seek employment and education opportunities.
Even Ashcroft’s church might be moving with the times. Residents are currently split over a proposal to shift the building after it was deemed to be at risk of flooding.
Tinui resident Bridget Canning is a descendant of one of the area’s founding families, the Maunsells.
Canning and others think the church should remain where it is, out of respect for those who built it and because the current location looks up to the Anzac Cross.
Spending more than $200,000 on moving the church when the money could go on a scholarship or to help the needy seems wasteful, she says.
‘‘The flood risk could be lessened by raising the church’s foundations. I have heard it is up to the diocese now, though. Once the church moves, the view of the cross may be blocked and you probably won’t be able to see the church from the cross as you now can.’’
Regardless of the disagreement around the church it is clear Canning and her husband John have a deep and abiding affection for Tinui.
They speak fondly of the way the people of the area have always treated each other as equals, socialising without regard to wealth and social status.
One factor in the powerful community spirit dates from the arrival of returned servicemen after World War II, when the big stations were broken up to create smaller farms. The former soldiers brought more than skills and innovation – they developed a deep loyalty to the area.
Alove of Tinui is something the Cannings share with Neil Palmer, described by some as the unofficial mayor. But he disagrees with them on the issue of moving the church.
Palmer believes the flooding risk means the 116-year-old building has to move, and it makes sense for it to be in the village.
‘‘The church has in the past been badly flooded, sometimes up to 15 inches of water inside the building. The decision to move it was made by the parish.
‘‘It is funny that people who don’t even go to the church suddenly care about it now that it is being moved down the road.’’
Regardless of the disagreement, Palmer has a great love for Tinui, having moved into the village in 1996. He has lived and worked in the surrounding area for about 55 years.
‘‘It’s a friendly community where people look out for each other. If anything goes wrong people pitch in and help out. Probably part of the reason Tinui has retained its identity over the years.
‘‘We are optimistic about the future here. Things are the way they are, but we have a healthy community and things are pretty good.’’
Wellington-based Anglican diocese property manager Rob Moonlight says the parish had asked for the building to be moved because of flood risk and because it is too far from the village.
‘‘The church will be moved, the diocese is looking at final options as to where to relocate the building.’’
Wairarapa historian Neil Frances says this is not the only dispute involving the Tinui church – there is evidence that there were in fact hundreds of Anzac services on April 25, 1916, all over New Zealand.
There was even another memorial erected, a flagstaff, in Petone, by the railway workshops, on the same day, he says.
Frances says the government of the day actively encouraged New Zealanders to hold Anzac memorial services on April 25 that year and the now popular notion that Tinui held the first is disputable.
‘‘There were services all over New Zealand on the same day. The parish newsletter in the lead-up to Easter 1916 says the Anzac service would take place at 3pm.
‘‘Which means it may not have been the first after all.’’
Repeated reporting over the past 30 years that Tinui was first has entrenched the belief, when it may not be completely accurate, he says.
Either way, according to Frances, it is indisputable that the Anzac cross at Tinui and the flagstaff at Petone are the first two memorials raised strictly to commemorate those who fell during the Gallipoli campaign.
Frances says this is the more easily verifiable aspect to emerge from Anzac Day 1916 in Tinui, because memorials to the fallen at Gallipoli were not raised anywhere else in New Zealand for some years afterward.
The memorial itself is a tribute to the town’s celebrated tradition of togetherness.
Alan Emerson of Riversdale, who co-wrote a book in 2016 to mark a century of Anzac commemorations in the town, says that as someone from outside the region he has always marvelled at the Tinui community spirit.
He cites the volunteer effort to build the 5km loop track to and from the Anzac Cross in 2011 as a perfect example of the way everyone helps to get things done.
‘‘It’s a special place, it was a hell of an effort to build the track. I helped, but everyone did something. In 2016 Queen Alexandra’s Mounted Rifles helped out as well, making the track allweather with wooden frames filled with shingle.
‘‘The Historic Places Trust recognises the cross as being the first and awarded it Heritage NZ 1 listing, as is the church.’’
Emerson pays tribute to Bill Maunsell and John Bartlett for their continued upkeep of the track and the area around the cross.
Maunsell’s family settled the 9300ha Tinui station in 1859, and he still owns part of it to this day.
He is continuing another tradition in his work on the memorial; the family were heavily involved in the installation of the original cross in 1916.
The church might be moving down the road, but thanks to the dedication of Maunsell and many others, Tinui’s commitment to honour the Anzac tradition remains well and truly in place.
We are optimistic about the future here. Things are the way they are, but we have a healthy community and things are pretty good.
Neil Palmer