POTATOES!!! This is what crosses my mind every time I drive along the Christchurch Southern Motorway and glance towards the Addington Raceway below. I have no idea where I read that the land there once was fields of potatoes but the thought has never left me. Inspired by The Press’ article about the Addington Raceway …
Today, locals and Christchurch visitors can take the pleasant ride up to the top of Mount Cavendish on the Christchurch Gondola. The reward is to be able to look out over the patchwork of the greens and browns of the Canterbury Plains and view its capital: Christchurch…New Zealand’s unbreakable garden city. If you are still …
“I should recommend every gentleman who comes here to wear a mustache. All those who have not done so have suffered very much from sore lips”. Fanny Erskine Fitzgerald ~ 23rd December 1850 *wife of James Edward Fitzgerald, Canterbury’s first Superintendent, founder of ‘The Press’ newspaper and the first Canterbury Association settler to step ashore* …
“One need not be in a large town to see the horror and misery of drunkards. For even here it is enough to make one dread it when one sees the quarrelling and fighting that is going on. There were 20-30 people here (at Port Levy) – mostly whalers from Akaroa”. Joseph Greenwood ~ 25th …
The Meditation Of A Cockroach I am no less than a cockroach bold, creeping and crawling from deck to hold, hunting each cabin and hammock and bed, under the pillow where rests your head, under the tablecloth, up the chair, I run up your sleeves and I crawl through your hair; neither man or child …
On the last Sunday of October 1853, in a small carpentry shop in Cashel Street, owned by James Johnston, a small group of Scottish Presbyterian settlers gathered together. Among them were John and Jane Deans. Not only was this an historic day for the Anglican based Canterbury but it was a day of reflection and …
To me, the taming and breaking of the plains were done by those gentle giants, the Clydesdales. They helped to take the European farmer further into the wild back country than ever before, pulling along behind them the heavy load of supplies that man needed to survive and make a start in life. They …
“…nothing said about the Pilgrim Mothers? Yet they bore the same discomforts, hardships and privation and in addition had to put up with the Pilgrim Fathers”. Mary Rolleston (nee Brittan) * Wife of William Rolleston – Provincial Secretary 1863 – Canterbury’s fourth and last Superintendent 1868 -1877 – Member of Parliament 1868 – 1899 – Minister …
“The earth always seemed large – one could see so far in the clear air – though the tiny settlement [Christchurch] and its minute affairs were so small. Far away across the ocean was another world, the great world of affairs, where there were nations, Parliaments, wars, big cities, and terrible crimes. The monthly mail …
In 1877, the Canterbury Jockey Club took on an adventurous project to try and increase the foot traffic around Riccarton Race Course. Off the Main South Line of Canterbury’s railway system, they had their own 1.4km railway track lead off northwards towards Upper Riccarton and these tracks ran right into the grounds of the racing …
