Tony Keals of Fletcher Construction fills bags with clay for Hugh and Jacqueline Roscoe. Photo / Martin Sykes
Tony Keals of Fletcher Construction fills bags with clay for Hugh and Jacqueline Roscoe. Photo / Martin Sykes
Potters Hugh and Jacqueline Roscoe were among the queues of people collecting bags of free clay dug from the New Lynn Rail trench.
A wide range of people turned up to the site, some coming from as far as Taranaki.
By the end of the day rail network company Ontrackand its contractor Fletcher Construction - aided by the Waitakere City Council, had given out 8cu m of clay.
Two people planned to use the clay to build pizza ovens.
Others in the queue included a clay-court tennis club, and schools and pottery enthusiasts keen to make the most of some free clay, which can sell for up to $60 a bag.
More than 90,000cu m of material is being excavated during the project, which lower New Lynn's railway lowered into an 8m-deep trench.
It is due to be completed, with the rest of the transport hub, in 2010.
Clay from the New Lynn area has a long history with potters.
It was once used for Crown Lynn tableware, the origins of which can be traced back to the 1850s.
