What's On: Whangarei heritage sites Mair's Landing and Butter Factory under the spotlight

Whangarei's Butter Factory is one of two historic sites in the city that will be the subject of Heritage Northland events this weekend.

Heritage Northland is hosting two events for people wanting to learn more about Whangarei's archaeological and built heritage tomorrow.

A "Walk and Talk" experience at the Mair's Landing location on Hatea Drive will begin at 10am on Saturday followed by a behind the scenes look at the Old Whangarei Butter Factory in the CBD from 12pm.

The event will be led by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Northland manager Bill Edwards, who has carried out research into the history of both places.

Mair's Landing on the lower reaches of the Hatea River, Whangarei in 1890. The landing was adjacent to where Hatea Drive is today.

"Tawatawhiti/Mair's Landing is very well preserved and incorporates evidence of Maori horticultural practice and later waterfront activity beside the upper Hatea River. It is a landscape that has been changed and adapted by people over the years," Mr Edwards said.

"Mair's Landing itself is probably the oldest surviving European structure in Whangarei City, and the historic area is rare in that it spans the entire length of human occupation in the Whangarei area."

A behind the scenes look at the Butter Factory will also reveal much about the historic building's origins.

''We'll be looking at the Butter Factory's varied and interesting history – including the fact that the quarry from which the stone was hewn to construct the building actually makes up part of one of its walls," he says.

"The stone has its origins in the basalt pyroplastic flow which helped shape the Bank St landscape millennia ago."

For more information about the Whangarei "Walk and Talk" email: m.r.newlove@xtra.co.nz