Recycling Waikato’s news history
I think the old fashioned ways were an interesting system that they used and I think it’s worth keeping in our history, worth remembering.
As the doors of the new Waikato Times office swung open, the finishing touches were put on a tribute to technology made redundant by the drive towards digital.
An ink-stained trolley, a printing plate and drum as well as the last edition to roll off the Times printing press have been bashed, bent and welded into a sculpture to adorn the new office on Anglesea St in Hamilton’s central business district.
The move to the city from the Te Rapa base was completed on Monday.
Te Aroha artist Adrian Worsley took the last remaining scraps of the print machine, added a laser cut frame for effect and hedge trimmer handles to mimic a press wheel, and breathed new life into the outdated technology.
‘‘I just really liked the old fashioned presses,’’ said Worsley.
‘‘I just think they look really neat and I wanted something, hopefully, everybody would really enjoy and like.’’
On August 30, 2014, the last edition of the Times rolled off the Foreman Rd press and brought a 139-year era in Hamilton to an end.
Worsley took a copy of the front page, from the lead up to the general election, with the headline, ‘‘Dirt hurts brand Key’’, and put it on the sculpture.
‘‘I think this technology is definitely more hands-on. There was a huge number of people in the process but these days it has become fewer.
‘‘I think the old fashioned ways were an interesting system that they used and I think it’s worth keeping in our history, worth remembering.’’
A hand-made trolley, one of many once used to cart reels of paper from storeroom to print factory through a 2-metre tunnel under the carpark above, was used as the base.
‘‘This is one of the original trolleys from the building they used to bring the rolls of paper and I’ve just fabricated up an old press dating back to when they first started, to the modern day.’’
Hammered, welded and beaten into place, Worsley’s piece of work was four days in the making.
‘‘This has all actually been made from scratch. We had these letters laser cut and I’ve actually welded them into a frame. ‘‘There is a lot of work in it.’’ An engineer by trade, Worsley has become well-known in Te Aroha and further afield.
He uses the abandoned scrap metal to design and build one-off sculptures and displays them in his Te Aroha gallery, Historic Creations.
The space behind his gallery is jam-packed with discarded tools.
Chipped chisels, bent hammers, rusted shovels, crane hooks and chains, pots, pans and old, enamel wash basins – thousands of formerly loved items from the shed line the catacomb walls from the gallery to the workshop.
‘‘A lot of the stuff I use was made and handcrafted by engineers and different sorts of people and it just seems a real shame to see that thrown away because we won’t see that sort of stuff again,’’ he said.
‘‘If I can turn it into something people can see and appreciate, that would be a good thing.’’