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The Canterbury Club Gas Light & Hitching Post
The Canterbury Club Gas Light – up to a few moments ago I thought it had been the first one ever but no ;-/ The first kerosene public light was erected in Market Square (Victoria Square) in 1862. The following year the Christchurch Gas Company opened and by 1876, 152 gas street lights flickered around …
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Spitfire Square
At 11.30am on the 21.11.1967, a Bristol Freighter ZK-AYM of Straits Air Freight Express was flying over Christchurch, heading towards the airport. Aboard was the airline’s founder and General Manager Thomas O’Connell, Operations Manager, Captain Robert Hamilton, First Officer Helge Torgersen and James McLaggan. At 11.33am, these men lost their lives as their plane crashed …
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The Lyttelton (Moorhouse) Railway Tunnel
I get the feeling that William Sefton Moorhouse drew in very deep breaths and rolled his eyes more than once when it came to dealing with his government colleagues. The man never seemed to put his roots down for long, in fact he would drop everything to chase a dream or an idea. He seemed …
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Ballantyne’s Fire – 1947
The year (1947) of the Ballantyne’s fire, it was regarded as one of the worst disasters Christchurch and New Zealand had faced. This photo of some of the firefighters that day tells the story in itself. The fire started down stairs in the furniture area and quickly spread through the three story department building. As …
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