Anzac Bridge guardians honoured

BRIDGING HISTORY: Peter Bryson, chairman, and Lynette Dewes, membership secretary of the Friends of the Anzac Bridge, with their TrustPower Community Supreme Award.

A group dedicated to preserving "more than just a bridge" has been recognised for its "outstanding service" to the northern Wairarapa community.

The Friends of the Anzac Bridge Kaiparoro Incorporated was presented the Supreme Award at this year's Trustpower Tararua District Community Awards, held in Pahiatua last month.

Having won the top prize for their region, the group, which received a $1500 cash prize, are now finalists in the 2015 Trustpower National Community Awards, to be held in Dunedin in March next year.

Friends of the Anzac Bridge membership secretary Lynette Dewes, who was present to receive the trophy with group chair Peter Bryson, said the award came as "a lovely surprise".

"It was overwhelming actually," Mrs Dewes said.

"There were three other groups that got first, second and third, and we thought would one of them would get the Supreme Award.

"Then they said, 'our winners are a group who have dedicated themselves to a bridge.'

"We looked at each other and went, 'wow, is that us?'"

The Friends of the Anzac Bridge was set up in 2006 by Dunedin import Kay Flavell, both to raise funds for the bridge's preservation and awareness of its historical role.

The bridge itself was designed by Kaiparoro engineer Alfred Falkner at the turn of last century, in response to demand for a safer crossing over the Makakahi River.

The bridge was built for just 800 pounds, using local labour.

"Falkner was crazy about bridges," Mrs Dewes said.

"His scrapbook is in the archives at Palmerston North, and it's full of pictures of bridges from around the world."

In 1915, Falkner was "hit hard" when both his youngest son and nephew were killed in World War I -- and the bridge was declared a memorial to his family when it opened in 1922.

It also bears the names of four other young men from the area killed in battle.

The bridge was well-used until the 1950s, when the more modern Bailey bridge was constructed.

At the time, the Ministry of Works planned to "blow up" the Anzac Bridge, but an outcry from the community ensured it remained.

These days, the Friends of the Anzac Bridge has taken the old monument under its wing: devoting time to cleaning its surface and pulling weeds, putting up information boards, creating a public walkway, developing a conservation plan, and gaining it a Category 1 Historic Place listing with New Zealand Historic Places Trust.

It also hosts the annual Anzac Day services for the Kaiparoro community, held at the bridge.

In partnership with New Zealand Pacific Studio, the group created the position of the Anzac Bridge Fellow, an artist selected to create artworks reflecting the history of the area.

Fellows have included Anna Borrie and Connah Podmore, who created a cloak of flax poppies and installation of postcards written by members of the community to the war dead, both displayed at the bridge.

"There's a real depth and a story there," Mrs Dewes said. "The bridge not only represents young lives lost, but it's a symbol of peaceful co-operation between communities and government, it links isolated communities towards, and brings together the past and the present.

"It's more than just a bridge."