Historic Hawke’s Bay: What Havelock North was worried about 100 years ago

Havelock North in 1925. The War Memorial on the right was used for the first time that year to commemorate Anzac Day. Photo / Michael Fowler Collection

So, just what was occupying the hearts and minds of the good people of Havelock North (population 1050) 100 years ago?

Well, for starters, the state of the footpath on Te Mata Road from just past St Luke’s Church to the shops on the right of the photograph above.

Forty-three residents gave a petition to the Havelock North Town Board in May 1925 requesting that the footpath’s “rough state” be asphalted. The matter was to receive attention when budget estimates were drawn up in 1926. The Town Board’s power generator had just blown up, so the budget for improvements in the village was now “taken away”.

The undesirable footpaths weren’t the only problem. Mrs E Silvester wrote to the Town Board complaining how “public safety was menaced by persons riding bicycles on footpaths”. She had been knocked over and badly injured.

The issue of the state of the footpaths would not go away. At a meeting of the Town Board in October 1925, a Mr Sladdin attended as a deputation from residents who asked for more footpaths to be made from the tracks alongside roads. This would enable older people and children to stay off the roads and avoid accidents. The footpaths, he said, would need to be wide enough so perambulators (prams) could be used.

The Town Board had discussed this matter the night before. When it measured the footpaths, it found it would need to form 17 miles (28km) of them. With only £170 (about $21,000 in today’s prices) to spend on footpaths, chairman John Phillips said this would be “a very expensive business with such a small number of ratepayers”.

A decision was made to limestone the footpath from the Mangarau stream bridge to the corner of Middle and Joll Roads; from where Maina Café & Bistro is on Havelock Road to the Havelock Road Bridge, and from the corner of Napier and Havelock Roads to the end of the row of houses.

Another troubling occurrence was the “excessive speed of some users of the highway”, who were a danger to children and the general public. The word “highway” probably refers to Napier and Te Aute Roads through the village.

In response, the Town Board employed a man to assist police “to put a stop to this dangerous practice”.

The War Memorial in the village centre was completed in early 1925 for use in Anzac Day commemorations that year.

While the villagers were happy with the War Memorial, the same did not apply to its surroundings, with one calling them “ugly”.

A newspaper correspondent also took a dim view: “The immediate surroundings of the sacred cross are open to the trespass of wandering cattle and a playground for noisy children.” He said Clive and Taradale – sister towns of Havelock North – kept their War Memorial surrounds in good condition.

What was needed, and the Town Board agreed, was a concrete wall and iron railings around the War Memorial in the form of a cross.

The committee that raised funds for the War Memorial was resurrected and began a community appeal for the £110 ($14,000) needed.

Work was meant to be finished in time for Armistice Day, November 11, but was delayed. It was completed in time for Anzac Day in 1926.

In June 1926, the Havelock North Girl Guides volunteered to beautify the grounds around the War Memorial. It was reported that “To thoughtful people, the War Memorial is symbolic of our honoured heroes’ graves, and it is a woman’s prerogative to attend to such. It is therefore fitting that our Girl Guides should undertake what is a sacred duty, and the inhabitants of Havelock North are grateful that the girls have volunteered to carry out this work.”

The concrete surrounds and railings, containing a small gate, were later demolished to make the memorial more accessible, which ironically would allow “noisy children” to congregate near it, if they wished. “Trespassing wandering cattle”, however, are unlikely to seek pasture near the War Memorial again.

Michael Fowler is a contracted Hawke’s Bay author and historian. Contact him at mfhistory@gmail.com