The Story of the Lighthouse Cottages
The Story of the Lighthouse CottagesCompiled by Stacey Balich using Tiritiri Matangi: A Model of Conservation and 150th anniversary of the Tiritiri lighthouse written by Anne Rimmer for the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi IncPhoto credits from the SoTM ArchivesIn 1864, as Auckland’s busy port saw more and more steamships arriving, the New Zealand government commissioned a prefabricated cast-iron lighthouse from Simpson & Co in England. Packed into 279 crates weighing around 75 tonnes, the pieces were shipped across the world and hauled up Tiritiri Matangi’s steep hill by twelve bullocks. Over four months, crews dug three metres down for the foundations, then bolted the rectangular iron plates together like a giant Meccano set. On New Year’s Day 1865, the colza (rapeseed) oil lamp was lit for the first time. Within the hour, the Barque Meteor sighted the light from 26 miles away, a beacon visible even from Princes Street and Auckland’s windmill hilltops. Before construction began on the tower itself, two small cottages were built to house the workers. These modest timber homes, made from weatherboards, corrugated iron, and nails hauled ashore by boat, looked north over the island. They later became the first lighthouse keepers’ cottages, with small fenced gardens, chicken coops, and water tanks close by. By the early 1900s, the settlement began to grow.…
The Aldis Lamp
The Aldis Lamp Written by Stacey BalichPhoto credits: Stacey BalichImagine standing on the deck of a ship at night, waves crashing around you, holding a small lamp in your hands. You aim it across the dark water, pulling a trigger to tilt a mirror and send a secret message in flashes of light. Before the days of reliable radios, this simple yet ingenious tool was a lifeline for sailors a silent language of dots and dashes that could mean safety, rescue, or vital instructions at sea. Today, the Maritime Precinct is filled with these fascinating tools and technologies from the past and one of the most iconic is the Aldis lamp. Invented by Arthur Cyril Webb Aldis of Birmingham, England, the Aldis signalling lamp became a vital tool for maritime communication in the early to mid-20th century. The Aldis lamp was designed to send visual messages using light, long before modern radios and satellite communication were reliable. It worked by flashing Morse code signals between ships, aircraft, or shore stations. This was particularly useful during wartime, allowing fleets to stay in contact while maintaining radio silence to avoid detection by enemy forces. The way it worked was ingenious. A bright light source was aimed at the receiving vessel, and the operator would create pulses of light to form the dots and dashes of Morse code. In larger lamps, this was…
The Life and Time of Mr Blue the Takahē
The Life and Time of Mr Blue the TakahēFrom the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi Archives. Bulletin 28, Summer 1996/97. Editor Peter LeeFor many visitors, Mr Blue was Tiritiri. No visit seemed complete without a sight of the ‘old man’ mischievously investigating visitors around the nursery. Somehow, he always seemed almost human in his fearlessness, his curiosity and his desire to have his chin scratched. It was difficult at times to remember that he in fact was a representative of one of the world’s rarest species. Yet he was… Mr Blue’s story started as an egg collected from the Murchison Mountains in Fiordland and hatched at Te Anna on 12 December 1984. From there, he was transferred to Maud Island – where his inquisitive nature soon showed up, as the photos show. His fame, though, truly arrived when he was chosen in 1991 as one of the two takahēs to initiate DoC’s policy of enhancing the species’ survival by building a population of takahē on Tiritiri. The release would herald a number of firsts – the first onto an ‘open’ island, and the first outside its hitherto-accepted ancestral range. Would it work? And who would pay the cost? Fortunately for Tiritiri, funding was made available through the generous sponsorship of Du Pong New Zealand. This, and subsequent donations by Du Post, made it possible to implement the programme. Many of us…
How WWF Sparked New Zealand’s Open Sanctuary
How WWF Sparked New Zealand’s Open SanctuaryThis narrative is compiled with reference to Anne Rimmer’s detailed account in her book, Tiritiri Matangi: A Model of Conservation.In 1982, Sir Peter Scott, son of legendary Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott, was in New Zealand scouting potential conservation projects for the World Wildlife Fund. A visit to Tiritiri Matangi Island, arranged by his friend Ronald Lockley and accompanied by conservationists John Craig, Neil Mitchell, and Graeme Turbott, sparked his imagination. As they sailed to the island aboard MY Bondi Belle, Scott saw more than just windswept paddocks, he saw possibility. It was Scott who first coined the now widely used term “open sanctuary” to describe Tiritiri Matangi: a predator-free haven accessible to all. Motivated by Scott’s vision, the World Wildlife Fund adopted Tiritiri Matangi as a flagship project. Under Scott’s direction, WWF formed a fundraising committee, and over $40,000 was raised by public subscription. With a two-to-one government subsidy, the fund grew to nearly $150,000, an impressive sum for the time. This allowed the project to move from drawing board to reality. Landscape architect Mike Cole, alongside Tiritiri’s first park ranger and last lighthouse keeper, Ray Walter, began the hard graft of ecological restoration. In 1983, a…
With Matariki approaching, it is an opportunity to look back and look forward
With Matariki approaching, it is an opportunity to look back and look forwardAuthor: Ian Alexander, Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi Island ChairDate: June 2024Photo header credit: Geoff BealsWith Matariki approaching, it is an opportunity to look back and look forward, celebrating the past year and thinking of what can be achieved over the next year. It has been a year of change for volunteers and staff on and off the Island. Having farewelled two of our beloved members late last year, we remember them – Ray Walter and Mel Galbraith, two men who contributed a life of service in many different ways to the development of our island conservation project. And there are others who have passed away during the year who in their own way have also contributed to the work of the Island. Guiding both public and schools has continued to be a major part of the operations of Tiritiri Matangi as have efforts made by all our sub-committees and task groups across biodiversity, infrastructure, advocacy, education, fundraising, membership, retail and IT. Climate has and will continue to dominate the Island ngahere and tracks requiring constant attention by our regular working parties and individuals. Looking forward there remains much to do to ensure the proper care and attention to the Island’s flora and fauna and to continue to provide opportunities to everyday…
Tiritiri Matangi Island Signal Mast Reconstruction
Tiritiri Matangi Island Signal Mast ReconstructionAuthor: Carl HaysonDate: Taken from the Dawn Chorus, 135 November 2023Header photo: Geoff BealsThe replica mast has been rebuilt to the exact specifications of the original structure which was erected in the late 19th century. It last existed in the 1940s but, along with all the other signal masts on lighthouse stations around the country, was taken down when manual signalling was no longer required. In the early 2000s, SoTM restored the 1908 watchtower which had fallen into disrepair, and this is now a popular attraction for visitors. The mast was an integral part of the original signal station, and when Ray Walter and Carl Hayson discovered a small section of the old mast in 2003, a plan was conceived to rebuild it.
Its original function was to provide shipping information to the Ports of Auckland in the days before wireless transmitters were available. Signalling was conducted with a combination of flags and woven baskets which were seen by a station on Mt Victoria in Auckland. At 25m tall, the mast is slightly higher than the lighthouse and can easily be seen from the sea.
Copper Rod
Copper RodAuthor: Trevor ScottHeader Photo from the archives, pre 1971Date: March 2024Did you know that lighthouses are often struck by lightning? To prevent damage caused by these strikes, lighthouses are equipped with metal poles called lightning rods. These rods are attached to a thick copper wire that runs from the top of the lighthouse down to the ground. When lightning strikes the tower, it enters through the lightning rod and travels down the wire into the ground, minimizing potential damage.
Trevor Scott, who was the lighthouse keeper on Tiritiri Matangi from 1958-1960 and 1966-1969, shared that he remembers seeing the spare left over copper rods used to hang up curtains in the lighthouse keepers house.
Eight long needles of light
Eight long needles of lightSourced from Tiritiri Matangi, A Model of Conservation, Anne RimmerDate: 17 September 2023Header image: 'Eight long needles of light': the Davis Marine Light, 1965Credit: Peter TaylorDid you know that the Tiritiri Matangi lighthouse is a Category 1 historic place? It was actually the first lighthouse to be established on the approach to Auckland in the Waitematā Harbour. Interestingly, when it was built, there were only two other lighthouses in the entire country, Pencarrow (1859) and Boulder Bank (1862). Today it is New Zealand’s oldest working lighthouse. The lighthouse in New Zealand was a remarkable feat of engineering. It was designed by McLean and Stilman Civil Engineers in London, and constructed by Simpson and Company. The prefabricated parts were shipped all the way from London to New Zealand, where they were put together. The end result was a stunning structure that served as a beacon of light for ships navigating the nearby waters. It’s impressive to think that the original light lasted a whole 60 years before being replaced with the 11 million candlepower xenon lamp in 1965. There were murmurs among Aucklanders that the Tiritiri Matangi light was inadequate, likened to “just a glimmer, like someone standing up there with a torch.” Fortunately, Sir Ernest Davis, a former mayor of Auckland,…
How a shortage of rakes led to the creation of an extraordinary environmental legacy
How a shortage of rakes led to the creation of an extraordinary environmental legacyAuthor: Jim Eagles, taken from the Dawn Chorus Bulletin 113Date: May 2018Jim Battersby was first and foremost a Presbyterian minister, having been ordained in 1953 and retired in 1987. In an article written for a church magazine in 2006 he recalled that, ‘Like many of my generation of students, I felt the call to ministry early after leaving secondary school, and so ministry became my whole career. I served 22 years in three parishes, and about 13 years in a hospital chaplaincy.’ Unsurprisingly, when he retired from the ministry, it left a big gap in his life. And, as it happens, about this time the island of Tiritiri Matangi had stopped being farmed and, thanks to the efforts of people like John Craig and Neil Mitchell of Auckland University, was slowly being re-afforested under the supervision of former lighthouse keepers Ray and Barbara Walter. And the Battersbys started to get involved. Asked at one of his talks how he came to get involved, Jim said he thought the fact that he and his wife Barbie had island blood, his people coming from the Chathams and hers from the Isle of Man, made them pre-disposed to like islands. But the immediate reason was that when he was chaplain at Greenlane Hospital ‘a friend who also worked there came to visit us and said she’d been…
History of Wattle Track
History of Wattle TrackAuthor: Ray and Barbara WalterSourced from Dawn Chorus 70, August 2007There seems to be varying commentary on the history of Wattle Valley. Here is the account of this famous walkway.
Wattle Valley formed part of the Lighthouse Keepers cow paddock and was fenced off from the main farming block until the 1970’s. It was not grazed from approx. the 1950’s and so it naturally regenerated in mostly, mānuka, tī kōuka/cabbage tree and Harakeke/flax. Big Wattle Valley was mostly tī kōuka and Wattles.
The wattles are from a Lighthouse Keepers gardens shelter belt. The 1940 aerial photograph shows 6-8 wattles and 2 fig trees at the bottom of the valley. From these few wattles, Big Wattle Valley was soon populated with further wattles. When the planting programme began they were left as they gave a rich source of nectar for korimako/ bellbirds and tūī. This was one of the major sites for students studying korimako.
As the bush has regenerated the wattles, being light-loving plants, have reduced and also the Australian Quail scratched the germinating seedlings.
