Freak fire devours lifetime of treasures
When fire ripped through the muchloved 109-year-old Akitio Beach home of Muriel and George Cowan, it wasn’t just the home which was lost.
Gone too were a lifetime of memories and valuable historic records.
Fortunately, the Cowans weren’t at home when the blaze took hold but Muriel is still summoning the courage to look at photos of the destruction. “I’m heartbroken,” she said.
The fire came at a time when both Muriel, 77 and George, 81, have been battling serious health issues. George had a major stroke last October and is now living with their daughter in Napier.
“He’s been pretty stoic since news of the fire came through,” Muriel said.
A well-known author of a number of books, many detailing the history and characters of Akitio, Muriel is also a well-versed poet.
But now everything is gone, destroyed in the blaze.
“All my books, my archives, newspaper cuttings and old photos have gone up in smoke,” Muriel told the Dannevirke News.
“One very precious item was a lockable decanter set which had come off the Pleiades.”
Launched in 1869 and after sailing the seas for 30 years, bringing thousands of immigrants to New Zealand, the Pleiades met her doom by going aground at Akitio in 1899. No lives were lost, but the ship was unable to be saved.
“Our house was home to all the original furniture from George’s family and although we did have insurance, it was limited,” Muriel said.
“I had collected a lot of original art, including illustrations by Jan Menzies and historic paintings and I had an extensive collection of pottery and labelled china — all gone.”
The Cowans’ home was built in 1910 from Australian hardwood, which meant when George re-roofed he had to drill holes for the nails.
“It took teamsters five days to drag a load of that hardwood from Dannevirke to Akitio,” Muriel said.
“George’s family have been in the house since the 1930s and I first came to the house when I met George in the 1960s. The house is iconic and was a boarding house, accommodating boundary riders, artist Gottfried Lindauer when he was painting portraits of the early landowners, woolclassers, fishermen, schoolteachers and we had always used it as a holiday house.”
The house, which was one of the two oldest houses at Akitio, had also been the Akitio Post Office and was central to life at the beach. It was often photographed because it was so picturesque.
“It always had a mystique,” Muriel said. “It echoed with so many stories, like the time during World War II when George’s aunt was warned by the home guard that she had a chink of lamp light shining from the bedroom. She was told she could be responsible for leading the Japanese ashore.”
And in the early years a sawmill operated alongside the house.
“It was a financial failure and people were killed when the boiler blew up. I haven’t been able to find out how many lost their lives, but they were buried at the urupa by the river mouth,” Muriel said.
Friend Gail Munro has set up a Givealittle page to help the couple rebuild.
“I want to help raise funds so they can rebuild their lives at Akitio Beach,” she said.
“Any surplus funds will go to the Akitio Community Centre.”
And Muriel is determined she and George will return to the beach.
“With luck I am going back out there next summer,” she said.
Muriel is also keen to restore the wonderful garden, destroyed in the blaze on March 6.
“It’s ironic. Cherished garden ornaments, beautifully hand-painted and carved, have gone. But the [hideous] ones survived,” she said.
The Cowans are still assessing what they’ve lost in the fire as they itemise the contents for their insurance company.
“The cause is indeterminable, but it went up . . . very quickly,” Muriel said.