Book captures birds eye view of Bay

Alf Rendell with one of his favorite images, a Tiger over Cherrywood. Photo/File

Alf Rendell, an experienced Tauranga photographer, has found a lasting way to pay homage to his home town of nearly one hundred years.

The 97-year-old - with help from a friend - has compiled a book called Rendell's Tauranga - Historic Tauranga From Above.

The book, which will be available for sale in mid-November, features aerial photos of Tauranga and surrounds, taken between 1946 and 1956.

"I had friends who were learner pilots. I would pay their flying time so I could go up with them and take photos. It was only about 10 bob for about an hour or so. It was something I did for fun on the weekends after the war," Alf recalls.

He says over recent years he had contemplated compiling some of those photos into a booklet, or a calendar.

This photograph was taken from Willow St looking towards Washer's Garage on the corner of Hamilton Street. Photo/Alf Rendell

But Alf's friend Tauranga Heritage Collections curator Fiona Kean assured Alf loftier heights were warranted.

She dedicated time to helping Alf put together a 160-page hard-covered book to showcase his photographs. Two thousand of the books are being printed in the first run, thanks to financial backing from Legacy Trust.

"I'm tickled pink about it," Alf says. "It's so much better than I visualised. People who have seen it (in draft form) are finding it brings back memories. The phrase 'gee, I remember that' has popped up lots of times."

Fiona tells how she and Alf decided to team up the photos with memories of those who lived in Tauranga in the time period captured.

Alf's life-long friend Peter Densem (nearly 98), a WWII Fleet Air Arm Navigator and former Otumoetai Intermediate principal, is one of those quoted.

The book includes quotes from Tauranga's oral history archive. Some of those quotes are from people no longer alive, for example historian Gypsy Mackenzie; and Tauranga and Mount Maunganui mayor, businessman and philanthropist Bob Owens.

Alf says the 1946-1956 period was significant in Tauranga's history.

That's when Tauranga changed from a small, coastal fishing village to a city, he says.

The period marked the start of construction of the wharf at Mount Maunganui, for example.

From a historical point of view the photos capture Tauranga in a moment of transition, Fiona agrees.

"You can see old Tauranga and the Tauranga of the 1950s; but you can also see the potential of Tauranga moving forward," she says.

This is another aerial taken and supplied by Alf Rendell. It was taken in the early 1950's and is the Barkes Corner intersection with Cameron Road in the foreground.