Caring about New Lynn’s historic potteries; Community kindness growing and prospering

Since its inception in 2005 Te Toi Uku Museum has steadfastly worked to share the stories of the clay industries around New Lynn and West Auckland, including, of course, that of Crown Lynn.

Curator Rosemary Deane took up her role in October, 2019. She had previously worked for the Portage Ceramics Trust to manage the project to catalogue the Richard Quinn collection, which forms the basis of what is now Te Toi Uku. Prior to this she had worked in Libraries and Museums, and undertook a Museum Studies qualification from Massey University.

After working at Te Awamutu, Cambridge and Rotorua Museums, Rosemary returned to Auckland “I wanted to come back and this job came up which is perfect for me, but very challenging.”

With funding provided by Council for only one full time staffer, Rosemary certainly has a lot on her plate (no pun intended!).

Since she started work at Te Toi Uku, she’s been getting her head around the collection and what needs to be done. “My main focus has been on the core museum functions – which are collection, management and interpretation. There is a bit of a backlog of donations yet to be dealt with, and I hope to get funding to pay for a person to catalogue them. I have applied for an unpaid intern from Victoria University as well.”

While the main purpose of the museum is to present the history of the clay industry around New Lynn and West Auckland, Rosemary has plans to develop the profile of Te Toi Uku and extend its reach into the wider community.

“We aren’t interested in collecting every pattern or shape of Crown Lynn. Our aim is more to tell the stories of the people and culture, and how the products were made. The Quinn collection includes an archive and tools and equipment from the factory. We also focus on the early brick and pipeworks that were around before Crown Lynn came on the scene.”

New initiatives include a Friends Group where people pay $20 to join and become either a Member or a Committee member. Friends will receive invitations to special events, and the Committee will organise events to raise money for the museum and to raise its profile.

One of the upcoming events is the Crown Lynn Collector’s Market which is run twice a year. The next one is on April 26, and is held around the old Ambrico kiln. There are a lot of regular stall holders who sell and trade their Crown Lynn wares, and the market has become a wellknown and much-anticipated event. Among the new challenges for Rosemary is a gallery redevelopment. “Over the coming months we will use funds from a grant we received from Foundation North. We will be putting effort into better presenting and sharing the stories of the ceramics industry, the families and companies behind it, and how products were made. We hope it will make for a better visitor experience. Later in the year we want to undertake an oral history project focusing on the Māori and Pacific people who worked at Crown Lynn, so I am interested in hearing from anyone who worked there or who has parents or grandparents who worked there.”

Rosemary has already recruited a number of volunteers, including two who will be doing talks to groups. She hopes to also work with Robyn Mason, who currently conducts a walk around New Lynn called Remains of the Clay, which ends at the museum. To top it all off there will be a Community Neighbour’s Day on March 28 for all the people in Ambrico Place, “so we can meet them and they can visit the museum and meet each other.” Rosemary says she’s very busy but “it is all very interesting and I meet great people who come into the museum, including some who once worked at Crown Lynn or the brickworks.”

There will be more news from Te Toi Uku in the not too distant future – and be sure to get in touch to book your stall at The Crown Lynn Collectors Market. Email friends@tetoiuku.org.nz or, to talk to Rosemary, email curator@tetoiuku.org.nz. And if you have stories of parents or grandparents who worked at Crown Lynn – or if you worked there yourself – Rosemary really wants to hear from you.

Te Toi Uku is located at 8 Ambrico Place, New Lynn. Phone: 827 7349. Email: info@portageceramicstrust.org.nz. Web: portageceramicstrust. org.nz. Rosemary Deane has a lot on her plate.

– Susannah Bridges

Community kindness growing and prospering

Nine tonne of perfectly edible food rescued from a trip to landfill seems like a likely story. But it’s a fact and one Heather Tanguay from the Glen Eden Community Pātaka Kai Project is happy to share.

Heather was one of a number of members of the Glen Eden Resident’s Association to look at the viability of starting two or three community pātaka kai (free food pantries) in 2018.

“It was obvious from the number of people seeking help with food donations on local social media pages that some were under unbelievable stress,” she says. “They might have had an emergency that week, or rents are so high that people working two or even three jobs just can’t make enough money for food.”

Four pātaka kai were formed with help from a local builder, Eco Matters and concerned community members, and another was set up for bathroom items. The pātaka Kai in Vardon Road, Green Bay.

“The movement has grown considerably since then. We now have more than 1,000 members on the Facebook page we set up for those contributing food items or needing assistance. We have a number of local business that support us and the Waitākere Ranges Local Board gave us assistance last year,” Heather says.

“Food banks are under stress with record numbers of families, young people and seniors requiring food. We meet people at the pātaka working two part-time jobs, one low-paid full-time job, on sickness benefits, disability benefits, seniors, all trying to feed themselves. It takes just one emergency in the home – say costs for a dentist, doctor, school uniforms, car troubles, school books, school trip or funeral – for a tiny food budget to suffer and that means no food in the cupboard. We see people at pātaka trying to survive on a food budget of $20.”

Heather says the movement’s efforts to avoid food waste have grown too, with people in the community now sharing food if they have more than they need or if they cook too much.

“These people put a note on the Facebook page and people collect directly or it is delivered to a pātaka with a note to collect immediately. “In three months leading up to Christmas one of our volunteer hosts Continued on page 29 >>