Transport, tearooms and technology
Recent meetings have covered diverse topics, most recently Graeme Ross gave an illustrated talk on ‘early transport’ in Tauranga. He focused on Heaton’s Transport, whose depot spanned between 8th and 9th Ave, and once his talk opened up to comments and questions, it was obvious that many remembered their early contacts with Heatons or with the drivers.
Graeme gave some biographical details on Jack Heaton, Alf Baikkie, and George Baikkie who used to work on road maintenance. He described the early trucks used, shovelling coal from barges and delivering it to the Dairy Company on 11th Ave, working on road straightening, transporting fertilizer from the landing at Tauriko to farms up the Kaimais.
He had prepared by mounting his collection of photos on seven boards, each with 2 – 8 photos, which he spoke to, describing the different trucks purchased, their different qualities – or lack thereof - the move to a diesel Leyland, and how when Jack Heaton wanted to buy a Ford Zephyr for himself he first had to buy a Ford Thornton for the company!
He also described changes in the structure of ownership of the company, with Alf Baikkie having first a minor then the major shareholding, and later (about 1985) Provincial Transport joined with Heatons but unfortunately this new venture went into receivership just a few years later, leading to Provincial Freightlines which later still became the Australian company Toll.
Graeme Ross had been an apprentice in the Public Works Department which used to operate opposite Tauranga Boys’ College. Fellow apprentices, Barry Luckman and Roy Robinson came to the meeting and contributed their recollections. Descendants of the Crapp family described their memories of a Heaton truck collecting their tamarillos from the corner of Ōmokoroa Road and the State Highway and added that their Uncle Wattie had been the mechanic for H L Duncan and later manager.
H L Duncan and Heaton’s Transport were both big heavy haulage companies, with H L Duncan owning about five quarries around Tauranga, involved with metalling and later the tar sealing of the roads. Others remembered Heatons assisting with their house shifts. Norm Bruning noticed the photo of the Heaton’s Tauranga home, which his grandfather had built. Graeme commented on the generosity of Mr Heaton, and members of the group added examples of this.
One member raised the question of the ye olde tearooms that used to be on the old Kaimai road, probably in the 1940s and 1950s. Any information on this building and hopefully a photograph would be much appreciated.
At the April History Group meeting, Marilyn Roberts was the guest speaker. Her area of interest and expertise has been the early years of Waihī Beach development on which she has published a book. She was heavily involved in the week-long display of local history of Waihī Beach, Athenree and Bowentown which was held in October 2018.
Marilyn’s subject was ‘bringing history into our homes’. Her most recent project has been the establishment of bollards at points of interest around Waihī Beach, each with its QR code which interested visitors and new locals alike can scan on their phones. They can then read at their leisure about earlier uses of that piece of land, or of that building, or of people or activities from earlier years.
While this idea of QR codes had been mentioned by Philip Martelli of Western Bay District Council to a small group of Ōmokoroa History Group members, it has not as yet been picked up and acted upon. There was therefore interest in the processes involved in the establishment of the bollards and the collation of historical information to be held on each QR code. Who does this? Can it be added to, corrected, etc? What has interest in the bollards been like? Have they collected data on the uptake or use of the QR codes? How is it publicized? What are the costs of such a project? How have the costs been covered? Plenty to think about!
Interest in the two books researched, collated and published by the Ōmokoroa History Group continues to be shown with regular purchases of each. Both Colin Pettigrew’s ‘Ōmokoroa’ reprint and enlargement of the 1970s history by Jenny Woods and the 2021 ‘Ōmokoroa Farming Families’ are available to be viewed and purchased at TOLO, or from members of the Ōmokoroa History Group as below:
Copies are available for $45.00 either cash or by online banking to the Ōmokoroa History Group account: 123146-0290374-000, using your surname as reference. Books can be collected from Val Hale, 5480 370, Chris Wright, 548 0088, and Don and Jo Cameron, 5480 655. Books are also available for purchase at the Ōmokoroa Pharmacy.
Interested in learning more about the Ōmokoroa History Group? Would you like to receive advance notice of meetings and guest speakers? Ring Secretary Jo Cameron, 5480 655, for further information about our meetings, planned for every two months.