Revisiting the life of the Kiwi drover
By Ruth Entwistle Low Penguin, $45 (available in shops on Friday)
Take a step back in time with Ruth Entwistle Low as she revisits the life of the New Zealand drover.
Through research and interviews with nearly 60 drovers, their family members and others in the industry Entwistle Low takes us back through the years to the days of moving livestock over large distances by walking them “on the hoof“.
The book is beautifully presented and includes some wonderful photographs from days gone by.
Hawke’s Bay features several times. Below is an extract about Drovers Memorial Huts.
The Drovers Memorial Huts are of special significance to the Hawke’s Bay.
Built after World War Two, they commemorate the lives of three past Hawke’s Bay drovers killed at war.
A hut was built near State Highway 50 at Maraekakaho in memory of Lance Sergeant Wilfred James (Togo) Kirkley of the 2nd New Zealand Divisional Artillery, 5th Field Regiment, who was killed as a prisoner of war on 9 May 1945, aged just 27.
Trooper James Edward (Jack) Oliver served in Egypt in a New Zealand cavalry division and was killed in action on 23 January 1942, aged 27; a hut was built in his memory in a paddock near Middle Road in Havelock North.
The third was built next to the Taihape road, just below Pukehamoamoa School, for Private Percy Botherway, who served in the New Zealand Infantry, 24th Battalion; he was killed overseas at the age of 36 and was buried in the Sangro River War Cemetery in Italy. ■ Reproduced with permission from On the Hoof: The Untold story of drovers in New Zealand by Ruth Entwistle Low. Published by Penguin Group NZ. RRP $45.00. Copyright © Ruth Low, 2014