Maritime history on display

A slice of Northland maritime history is about to go on display at the Kawakawa Library.

Sisters Myra Larcombe and Nancy Greenfield spent more than three decades recording the details and collected photos and other memorabilia from every ship that docked at what was then a bustling Ō pua wharf.

Their Book of Ships fills six albums, beginning with the visit of the Suffolk in November 1957 and ending around 1989, when the Northland Regional Council replaced the Bay of Islands Harbour Board, berthage fees increased, and cruise ships took to anchoring off Kororāreka Pt.

The albums will go on display at 10am on Saturday, June 19, with Myra and Nancy there to answer questions.

Myra will also have her records from the Port Valley Committee, which was formed to lobby the then Bay of Islands County Council to improve the “Port Valley”, as the area comprising Ō pua, Kawakawa, Moerewa

and Ō tiria was known at the time.

Photo / Peter de Graaf Sisters Myra Larcombe (left) and Nancy Greenfield with their records of the ships that visited O¯ pua when it was still a busy port.