Dead tell tales
Alwyn James (Olly) Seeley 1925 - 2013
In one of Hamilton’s gullies, the AJ Seeley Gully Reserve, stands a plain white cross inscribed ‘‘Ruru, my nocturnal caller’’. The cross marks the grave of a morepork, the first one heard calling in the gully after Alwyn (Olly) Seeley had spent many years planting native trees there. Seeley became very attached to the bird, named Ruru, who lived there for several years. When Ruru’s body was found, the Seeley family gave him ‘‘a good Christian burial’’ and put a cross on his grave.
The Seeley Gully Reserve is a hidden ecological gem in Hamilton East, in a gully nestled between Armagh and Whyte Streets. Sixty years ago the gully was bare paddocks but now, thanks to the work of Olly Seeley, it is a peaceful haven within mature native trees. More than 600 metres of easy tracks lead through the gully, with side tracks up to seats. The Putikitiki Stream that runs through the gully is crossed by several bridges.
Alwyn (Olly) Seeley was born in Pukekohe in 1925 where his Irish parents were farming. After finishing school in 1941 he was required to work on the family farm; he went to Otago Medical School in 1945, graduating in 1950. After two years he started his specialised career in ear, nose and throat surgery, including more study in Edinburgh and London. When he returned to New Zealand with his wife Margaret and son Michael, the first of their four children, he took up an appointment at Waikato Hospital. According to a lengthy obituary published by the College of Surgeons, Olly Seeley became a proficient surgeon, performing a revolutionary operation using new instruments, and having great success with restoring normal and lasting hearing.
He bought a property in Armagh Street in about 1960 (one source says 1953) and later bought the adjacent gully. Seeley described how he loved the idea of working on the land again, and for a few years he grazed the paddocks down the gully with cows ‘‘but after the cows had broken through the fences one too many times … I started my own seedling nursery and started to plant them in the gully’’. He planted kahikatea, totara, mahoe, rimu, matai, nikau, manuka and kanuka which have all thrived, along with several sturdy kauri. Dr Seeley was still working at the hospital - ‘‘When I was needed up at the house or hospital my wife Margaret would call me up by ringing a bell’’.
Seeley’s aim was to encourage native birds back into the gully, and he was very excited when he heard the first morepork calling from there. Whenever new birds were heard, he would share his excitement with conservationminded neighbours.
In 2004 Dr Seeley gifted the 2.2 hectare reserve to the city; in 2012 an access track through the reserve was opened. Council staff and volunteers continue Dr Seeley’s work restoring the native habitats, planting to increase the biodiversity and weeding out unwanted plants. The workers keep the tracks and bridges maintained and have erected several information panels relating the history of the gully and the species to be found there.
The gully is significant for Maori too – there was once a pa, Waipahihi, overlooking the gully; it was occupied by Ngati Parekirangi before the Waikato War of 1863-64. Putikitiki Stream is a habitat for eels and kokopu, and also has deposits of kokowai, the pigment used for ornamentation.
Olly Seeley died in 2013, just a few months after Margaret. They can be remembered with the living legacy that is the AJ Seeley Gully Reserve. Seeley had the satisfaction of knowing that his project and all the hard work it had entailed would be continued.
Anyone interested in helping with the restoration effort can contact the Seeley Gully Trust or Gerard Kelly at Hamilton City Council (07 838 6501, Gerard. Kellly@hcc.govt.nz ).