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Stephanie Pietromonaco is a Wellington-based consultant with AskRIGHT, which recently became a corporate supporter of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
What is AskRIGHT?
We’re a fundraising consulting firm, so we do customised fundraising proposals and contracts for clients, covering everything from strategy, campaign planning and implementation, to coaching, grant-application writing and research. We’ve also recently launched our GrantsWIZ database, which amalgamates all the information on more than 3500 funders we’ve discovered during our research on different projects over the years.
How do you see your support of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga also supporting the wider heritage community?
All of us as consultants have worked on projects for heritage sites, and through that we’ve learnt more about the landscape and gained a better understanding of what it means to have a heritage building and all the rules around applying for funding.
Now that we've built up experience in this area, we thought it would be good to stay connected to all the work that’s going on in the sector.
I live in Wellington and many of my colleagues are in Christchurch, and the need we’re seeing for earthquake strengthening is quite staggering.
We’ve seen some really special places that seem quite threatened, and as the funding is limited it is really important to find other heritage supporters and make those connections.
What are some heritage places that are special to you?
I first worked in my role as a consultant on my parish church, the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, here in Wellington. That’s what got me into this work, and where we first found our community when we arrived in Wellington from the US.
Also, when I first came here in 2012 on a working holiday and was travelling around, one of the places I visited was Rewa’s Village in Kerikeri. I was really excited to read in Heritage New Zealand magazine [Winter 2020] about the cool restoration that’s happening there and how that’s going to be a living heritage site.
And in terms of the heritage projects that I and my colleagues have worked on, one in particular recently won a Canterbury Heritage Award: the Sacred Heart Basilica in Timaru. We were able to meet the fundraising goal for the restoration of that Category 1 heritage site, so that win was pretty exciting.
Please contact Brendon Veale (below) if you would like to become a corporate supporter.
Brendon Veale
Manager Asset Funding 0800 HERITAGE (0800 437482) bveale@heritage.org.nz
Letter to the editor
Please congratulate Averil Norman on her happy and praiseworthy response to the psychic nudge [‘A place in the heart’, Winter 2021]. The minute I saw your photo spread of the front of the house, I fell in love with it.
Through Averil’s and Warwick’s loving care, New Zealand now has one more colonial treasure to admire and enjoy.
Pamella Laird
We love to receive letters like these
– and we’d love more!
So please get in touch to let us know more about the stories you’re enjoying reading in Heritage New Zealand magazine, and what you like about them.
Likewise, if there’s something you’re not enjoying or think we could be doing more of, or better, we’d like to hear your thoughts (kindly put, of course). Your feedback makes for a better magazine, so drop us an email at heritagenz@gmail.com.
You can also give your feedback on the video stories we now produce alongside each issue of the magazine. Take a closer look at www.youtube.com/HeritageNewZealandPouhereTaonga – Ed.
BEHIND THE STORY WITH WRITER ATARIA SHARMAN
For this issue of Heritage New Zealand magazine, you visited the HQ of the Whangārei Men's Shed at the restored Whangārei Railway Station. What did you enjoy about taking on this story?
It was a real privilege to write this story. First of all, the Whangārei Railway Station is in the heart of our city, so it’s an important building. I’d been there before, but at that time I had no idea of the story behind the restoration. So when the opportunity came to write this article, I was quite excited to go beyond that first experience I’d had of the building.
As a young woman, it also felt quite special to peek into the worlds of our older men. I left my kōrero with Duncan Sutherland at the Whangārei Men’s Shed with a real appreciation of the legacy they’ve left, not just for their group but for our wider Whangārei communities. I also felt that my grandpa John Derham – a retired plumber and a real handyman, who passed away many years ago – would’ve loved the Men’s Shed. It felt like my duty to write something that would be a testament to the work they’ve done.
'Freelance writer' is one of a number of hats you wear. What are some of the others?
I’m an editor for online arts journal The Pantograph Punch, the creator of an online magazine called Awa Wahine, and an entrepreneur. I don’t just write articles either – my children’s fiction novel Hine and the Tohunga Portal is available for pre-order now on HUIA's website.
Honestly, I just really love working for myself and being able to pick what projects to work on. Often I get asked to do something and I feel drawn to it, like ‘yes I’d love to do that’. Then when I get into it, like writing this article, it’s really enjoyable. That’s the best kind of work I think, and I’m lucky to get to do it.
What's a heritage place that's particularly special to you?
As I'm of Māori and Pākehā descent, Te Pitowhenua/Waitangi Treaty Grounds is special to me. One year my partner and I stayed at the Copthorne Hotel and Resort Bay of Islands during the Waitangi Day commemorations with all the politicians. It was so busy, and visiting the top marae with the waka in the harbour was awe-inspiring.
Keep up to date by subscribing to our free e-newsletter Ngā Taonga i tēnei marama Heritage this month. Visit www.heritage.org.nz (‘Resources’ section) or email membership@heritage.org.nz to be included in the email list.
Whangārei, p30
Places we visit
Auckland, p10, p24, p48
Oamaru, p16 Christchurch, p8
Dunedin, p20 Tauranga, p42
Napier, p36
HERITAGE NEW ZEALAND POUHERE TAONGA DIRECTORY National Office PO Box 2629, Wellington 6140 Antrim House 63 Boulcott Street Wellington 6011
(04) 472 4341
(04) 499 0669
information@heritage.org.nz
Go to www.heritage.org.nz for details of offices and historic places around New Zealand that are cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
wāhi tapu sacred site
wāhi tūpuna ancestral site
KIA KAHA TE REO MĀORI
... WITH BEC COLLIE
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Marketing Advisor
William Morris was once again the talk of the town following our Facebook post in May, which reached almost 20,000 readers. St John the Evangelist Church in Cheviot, Canterbury, boasts some spectacular examples of stained-glass windows produced by William Morris’s company Morris & Co.
While you can still quite easily view and purchase textiles and furnishings based on William Morris designs today, there are very few examples of William Morris stained-glass windows in New Zealand. They are certainly worth looking at if you’re in the area.
Did you know Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga is on Instagram? It’s a great place to see visual representations of the work undertaken by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
One of our favourite Instagram posts is from June last year and showcases Māngungu Mission under the Milky Way. We will be building our Instagram over the next year, so make sure you follow us for a great selection of heritage photos from around the motu.
While we’re talking about Māngungu Mission, have you seen the wonderful videos that follow the wallpaper conservation project currently underway? A series of three videos (with more to come) on our YouTube channel shows how we care for our properties and the process of wallpaper conservation.
Instagram: www.instagram.com /heritage_nz
YouTube: www.youtube.com /HeritageNewZealandPouhere Taonga
motu: country
COMMUNITY
In the thick of night in rural Northland, a small group of soldiers was seated at an observation post in the bush, relaying secret messages up and down the east coast.
The year was 1942 and the men were serving in the Home Guard, Northland’s first line of defence in World War II, keeping watch for the enemy who threatened to invade by sea.
One of them was Kaitāia man Tom Trigg, who was aged 20 when he joined the Mounted Rifles platoon, which, along with stints manning the observation post 31 kilometres down the road at Taipa, required lengthy treks away on horseback.
Tom was based at the nearby Peria camp. More than 75 years later he vividly remembered his sore jaw caused by round upon round of fire from his regulation .303 rifle during training.
Tom was one of more than a dozen people who came forward after Heritage New Zealand called for help to identify military places in Northland associated with the war. He passed away at the grand age of 102, just a few weeks after he told his story to Jack Kemp, a volunteer researcher who, along with Dr Bill Guthrie, has spent the past two years piecing together the locations of long-forgotten military camps, airfields and other sites.
“It was absolutely incredible to be able to talk to a 102-year-old fit man, and his recall was as clear as if it had happened yesterday,” says Jack.
“This is the history of our area; this is what happened at home while all the soldiers were serving overseas. It just goes to show the importance of getting a story from somebody before it’s too late.”
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, New Zealand became intensely aware of its vulnerability to Japanese attack. With the fall of Singapore and the bombing of Darwin, New Zealand was thought to be next in line and military attention turned to Northland.
By early 1942 New Zealand’s susceptibility to military attack was acute. Although the role of Northland in military defence is reasonably well known, Bill and Jack have shed new light on the sheer extent of it.
The project came about in 2017 when Heritage New Zealand Area Manager Northland Bill Edwards realised there was much more to discover about the subject.
Throughout the years of his work around Northland, Bill would hear people mention locations of former military camps.
“It seemed to me like there were military camps everywhere,” he says. “I thought, ‘What’s going on? There can’t be that many military camps in Northland’, but of course there were, as we’ve found out.”
Although most camps were bulldozed flat following the war, there are still traces of physical evidence, including concrete water tanks and roadways connecting army huts, which can be seen via Google Earth. Some buildings were repurposed – farmers using huts as storage sheds, for example, or as baches in campgrounds.
Bill talked to Jack, from Kerikeri, and Bill Guthrie, from Doubtless Bay, who jumped on board as volunteers. They were perfect for the job: Jack has a long-held interest in the war, including his involvement with the proposed World War II museum at Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu, while Bill Guthrie is a former professor of anthropology at the University Macau, whose father served as a master sergeant in the United States Army Medical Corps in India. Heritage New Zealand Archaeologist Northland Dr James Robinson has also been involved, overlaying maps and identifying features in the heritage inventory.
Bill Edwards says there are three sides to the project: the technical details of places and locations via maps and documents; the stories associated with those places that tell the human side of war; and the wider context of what was happening in the world at the time and Northland’s contribution.
“It’s to fill a gap in knowledge that no-one knew about,” he says.
“Our recent past is sometimes quickly forgotten, but World War II is a defining point in New Zealand’s story. Society changed profoundly after World War II ... it’s a story that needs to be told, especially to Northlanders, who had no idea what was going on in their own backyard.”
Calls for information went out via the media, and the resulting discoveries were monumental.
One resident, Kevin Hall, came forward with photographs of HMNZS Killegray clearing sea mines in the Bay of Islands.
WORDS: JENNY LING • IMAGERY: JESS BURGES
MOTHERLODE
New light is being shed on the extent of Northland’s importance to New Zealand’s military defence during World War II through the stories of those who were there
20 Spring 2019 Heritage New Zealand
SINCE WE WERE THERE
Heritage New Zealand
Dr Bill Guthrie (left) and Jack Kemp (centre) with Heritage New Zealand Area Manager Northland Bill Edwards at the site of the Waitangi Cactus Camp, wartime host to the 1st Auckland Battalion.
Spring 2019 21
SPRING 2019, ISSUE 154
When Jack Kemp and Dr Bill Guthrie began digging deeper into Northland military sites associated with World War II, the sheer extent of what they uncovered – including documents showing the locations of 76 military camps – was staggering.
The findings of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga volunteer researchers were the subject of a story in our Spring 2019 magazine – and they’ll soon be the subject of a major exhibition.
Opening later this month at Whangārei Museum at Kiwi North, Tora! Tora! New Zealand! will explore Northland’s military reaction to the Japanese threat during World War II. Highlighting Jack and Bill’s research, it will include copies of the Public Works Department maps the pair uncovered, logging the many sites of military camps.
Whangārei Museum Exhibitions Curator Georgia Kerby says the idea for the exhibition was sparked after she invited Jack and Bill to talk about their research at an event a couple of years ago.
“We had such amazing feedback on that presentation we just thought, ‘We have to do an exhibition on this’,” says Georgia.
“A lot of people have memories related to this – they’ll know that next door to somewhere there used to be a camp, or have stories of Americans or of military bikes found in swamps. But I don’t think anyone quite grasped the complexity and extent of the activity in Northland until this research was undertaken.”
The exhibition will also feature artefacts relating to the period –including a Japanese naval uniform and a 1930s American gaming machine believed to have been used at a camp in Kaikohe – which have been sourced from Auckland Museum and museums in the Northland region.
There will also be listening posts where visitors can hear first-hand accounts of the military activity, and a number of public talks are planned for the duration of the exhibition.
Tora! Tora! New Zealand! will run from 24 September 2021 to 28 February 2022 in the Whangārei Museum at Kiwi North:
www.kiwinorth.co.nz/whats-on/exhibitions
MUCH TO LOVE
A book filled with gorgeous paintings of native flora, such as those above, is one of many treasures housed at Ewelme Cottage in Parnell, Auckland. And now, thanks to the marvels of technology, the paintings are accessible to all.
The botanical paintings of Caroline Lush are among the highlights of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga collection of historic items related to its properties, which are available to explore online.
Ewelme (pronounced ‘you-elm’) Cottage was built between 1863 and 1864 by Reverend Vicesimus Lush. Caroline was the wife of the Reverend’s third son (with wife Blanche), John Martin Hawkins Lush. An award-winning artist who began painting lessons at age 10, Caroline focused primarily on capturing native flora and fauna in her paintings – 33 of which can be explored in the collection online.
In 1971 the Lush family gifted to the public not only Ewelme Cottage but also its contents. In an arrangement with Auckland Council – which took ownership of the cottage, outbuildings and land – Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga took ownership of Ewelme’s collection items and the day-to-day running of the property.
This year marks 50 years since the cottage was first opened to the public, and Amy Gaimster, Auckland Property Lead for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, says it’s a significant milestone.
“Ewelme Cottage was the fourth historic building to be opened by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, now Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga,” notes Amy.
“It shares with its predecessors – Te Waimate Mission, Pompallier Mission and Old St Paul’s – an ecclesiastical background, having been built by the first resident Vicar of Howick, Vicesimus Lush.
"However, unlike its predecessors it was not a public building prior to its conservation and opening. Instead it was a private home for the Lush family for over a century.”
More than 2,000 collection items are housed at Ewelme, and you can read more about what’s involved in keeping the cottage’s many treasures in good condition in this issue’s feature story on preventive conservation (page 48).
You can also visit the cottage when it’s open to the public from 10.30am to 4.30pm on Sundays. While you’re there, says Amy, you’ll find much to love. “I really enjoy being on the verandah, talking to visitors and surveying the lovely garden,” she says. “I am very fond of the kitchen, full of utensils and crockery that would have been used by the Lush family, and also the original wallpaper, now in the lobby of the study, which once adorned the walls of the drawing room.”
