1980
Architecture Issue F
New Zealand
the Elizabethan style oriel window. The decorative barge boards and elaborate verandah contrast with the Ionic order expressed in the pilaster-framed front door with its arc.hed portico. Broadgreen is a cob house, as indicated by its deep-set windows and the chamfered corners of its front walls. The house is situated in Nelson, in the north of the South Island. This was an area the early settlers apparently found scarce in timber suitable for house building, so that many adopted the English provincial technique of building their houses with earth walls (cob walling).
Government Buildings, Wellington, is the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere - in fact it has the largest floor space of any wooden building in the world. Designed by the Colonial Architect, William Oayton, it was opened in 1877. For economic reasons, Oayton was directed to design the building in timber, rather than the more permanent building materials he would have preferred. However it has survived well and at present is undergoing restoration work. Fine native timbers used in the interior panelling are being revealed under layers of paint.
Modelled on a traditional Devonshire farm house, Broadgreen was built around 1857 for Edmund Buxton. It was occupied by members of his family until 1901, when it was sold to Mr Frcd Langbein. Called "Langbein" for a while, the property was bought by the Nelson City Council in I 965 with assistance from the Historic Places
Regardless of the building materials used, Clayton managed to express his love of the grand neo-Renaissance style and detail he most admired. Even the kauri weatherboards and the carved decorations under the eaves were painted in a mixture of paint and sand to make them resemble masonry.
Trust, and restored.
The regular pattern of fenestration is in fact composed of windows of different designs for each of the four floors.
The building depicted on the 25c stamp was opened in 1883 and is still in use as the Oamaru Courthouse, but was not Oamaru's first.
The court had been active in Oamaru since 1861, partly in response to the gold rushes in the district. The first permanent courthouse was opened in 1863. It was the town's first public building in Oamaru stone - the creamy white easily worked local limestone. The 1883 Courthouse is also built in Oamaru stone, as are a long list of the city's other public buildings designed at around the same time by the architects Fonester and Lemon. The courthouse is considered the best of their classical buildings. The front of the building follows the Corinthian Order. The triangular pediment over the portico is supported by six columns, at whose heads arc carved the traditional
acanthus leaves. Providing a graceful balance to this ornate central block are the two simple wings, using the same arched windows but on a lower level.
The other public building, depicted on the 30c stamp, is also still in use, housing departmental offices.
The land on which the building stands was reclaimed from the harbour two years before the central block was built in 1876. The two wings were added in 1897 and 1907. The stamps meaSUre 42mm x 25mm and were printed in Holland by Joh Enschede en Zonen,-by lithography.
Don atcher The best solutions are usually the simplest
Certainly when it comes to stamp design, Auckland graphic designer Don Hatcher finds that simplicity is
mountain photographs were simple, almost monochrome."
an essential ingredient.
Another issue he particularly enjoyed
Don has designed or provided graphics for 12 issues of New Zealand stamps since 1970. Many have been scenic issues, incorporating photographs.
Of these, Don says the issue that gave him most satisfaction was the
1973 mountain set. The photographs used had a bold simplicity which made them ideal in the context of stamp design.
working on was the 1974 New Zealand Day issue. For this five stamp set he collaborated with the Wellington designer Alan MitcheU, setting the style with his illustrations of the buildings on the upper two stamps, and the layout and graphics for the Queen stamp.
Don was one of the two designers of the six stamp 1980 commemorative issue, although this time not working "The great difficulty with photographs in collaboration. He designed the for pictorial stamps", says Don, "is
three 125 th anniversary stamps, as
that they generally have too many colours, too much detail. The
weU as the miniature sheet. The challenge in designing this
particular issue lay in maintaining a
clear simple overall design, which functioned weU in declaring the stamp denomination. the anniversary 'message' and the country, without
becoming distracted by the elaborate detail of the 1855 stamp. To do this Don has offset the historical stamp image with a comparatively large empty space. The effect is that the eye can take in the various pieces of information
on the stamp in a logical order. In Doo's words, an important part of stamp design is "making words and pictures work together without
fighting each other."
LARGE HARBOURS Maori canoes, clippers, steamers, container ships - all have plied the waters of New Zealand's large harbours. In June, the New Zealand Post Office will issue a set of four stamps depicting the large harbours which serve the major cities of Auckland, Wellington,
Christchurch and Dunedin. Port activity is a feature of these harbours - reclamations with their
stacks of brightly coloured containers; aggressive straight lines of jetties and caI~O
terminals; cranes crouched over
the long ships; grey strips of road and rail arteries. But it wasn't always like this. Paintings of the early l800s show these harbours as pale blue bays disturbed only by canoes or an occasional whaling boat. Bare hills in yeUows and browns rise
abruptly from the sea. Sometimes a small group of tents or huts huddle on the waterfront. In later illustrations these waterfront slopes are flI1ed with settlers' houses and neatly laid out streets. Oippers
lovers. Indeed, its occupancy was
bloodily contested by many tribes. But by 1840, when Captain HOQson chose the site as capital of the new colony, the native population had been decimated by epidemics and the area was virtually uninhabited. Port facilities were rudimentary at rust. William Bertram White, a Native Land Court Judge visiting the city about 1850, described a scene of cart horses up to their girths in water unloading rows oflongboats laden with cargo from ships anchored out in the harbour. The next twenty years saw a period of stagnation for AUCkland, until the 1870s Thames goldmining boom boosted the city's economy and set it on the road to becoming the prosperous modern city seen across
the waters of Auckland Harbour on the 25c stamp.
were bustling harbours serving growing
Wharf facilities have increased and improved to keep pace with the city's needs. By thc 1970s, containerisation had transformed cargo handling world-wide and Auckland quickly developed a container terminal and bought its first container crane.
towns and their hinterlands. Prosperity fluctuated, but the primary importance of thesc ports as gateways of trade was already established.
A feature of Auckland Harbour is the bridge which links the central city to the North Shorc.
and schooners tie up at jetties or moor
in the harbour, with longboats bringing in their cargoes of people, provisions, mail and news from home.
By the turn of the century the four
AUCKLAND HARBOUR Auckland city is on the isthmus between two harbours - Manukau to the west and Waitemata (referred to as Auckland Harbour) to the east. Maoris had favoured the site. They called the isthmus "Tamaki-makaura", the maidcn contested by a hundred
The vision of such a link begins in mythology, far back in time when tribes of fabled fail-skinned fairies lived on the isthmus. One peace-loving tribe longed to reach the tranquility of the North Shore, away from the constant quarrelling of its neighbouring tribes. One night they began to build a causeway acrosS
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the harbour, aware that as soon as the sun touched their work it could not be continued. Despite frantic efforts they were unable to finish before sunrise.
You can see the remains of their unfinished work today - a tongue of fragmented lava which runs out into the harbour not far from the southern terminal of the bridge. Auckland had to wait until 1959 before the present 1020 metre steel structure finally spanned its harbour.
WELLINGTON HARBOUR WeUington is known for the beauty of its harbour as much as for the gustiness of its wind. Charles Heaphy, artist and draughtsman, described it in 1839 as "A noble expanse of water surrounded by a country of the most picturesque character..." Heaphy was on board the "Tory", the first ship of the New Zealand Company, which arrived in Wellington Harbour (Port Nicholson) in 1839 to prepare the way for a Company settlement. Immigrants began arriving in Wellington in 1840. Fifteen years later the town's central position, prosperity, and excellent harbour combined to wrest from Auckland the prized status of capital city. The harbour has been the home of many colourful characters. One of these was Dicky Barrett, a genial and shrewd whaler married to a high¡ born Maori woman. In 1840 he opened a hotel on the Wellington waterfront, and during that rust difficult year of settlement Barrett's Hotel became a welcoming social centre and meeting place for the immigrants. It was Dicky Barrett who, in 1839,
piloted the "Tory" into Wellington Harbour. On the way in the ship passed a reef which was promptly named "Barret!'s Reef'. In 1968 this treacherous reef was the site of tragedy. Violent winds and waves drove the inter-island ferry "Wahine" onto the rocks, tearing its hull. The
ship foundered, with the loss of 51 lives. Both nature and man have changed the the shape of Wellington Harbour. A large earthquake in 1855 raised some of the land, but most of the work is man's. Harbour waters once lapped several of the main streets now in the heart of the central city. Now over ISO hectares of land have been reclaimed, about 60 hectares of which are used for wharves, cargo storage, and other port facilities. Achieving a balance between harbour beauty and port needs is difficult. The recently built Thorndon Container Terminal, shown on the 30c Wellington Harbour stamp, juts out into the inner harbour, but its two container berths and three cranes have kept Wellington in tune with international cargo handling trends.
LYTTELTON HARBOUR Lyttelton Harbour lies tueked in the north-west side of Banks Peninsula on the east coast of the Sou th Island. The Peninsula itself was originally a volcanic island built up by the lava from two craters which now form the upper reaches of Lyttelton Harbour and nearby Akaroa Harbour. In 1848 the New Zealand Company with the Canterbury Association - an Anglican colonising organisation - chose Lyttelton Harbour as a suitabl~ port for settlement. A larger town of Christchurch was planned for Lhe plains beyond. Lord Lyttelton, on a 1868 visit to his namesake, described the port as "cramped in between the shore and the hills and with a general look like some small English seaport." Indeed Lyttelton was seriously short of flat land for housing and port development. The port was also troubled by strong sea swells. Reclamation and breakwaters were necessary, but development dragged because of lack of money. Even so, six wharves and a two-armed breakwater were built between 1855 and 1885.
Since 1950 another boom in the port's development has seen many facilities rebuilt or expanded. In the '70s the new methods in cargo handling req uired major wharf developments, and the picture on the 35c Lyttelton Harbour stamp shows the extensive area reclaimed
for the port's container terminal. Lyttelton had another handicap to overcome - its 13 kilometre distance from Christchurch. The harbour is separated from the city by the volcanic rock of the Port Hills. In the early days all goods had to be carried over the hills or taken by small boats up river to Christchurch. A rail tunnel was essential. In spite of obvious engineering problems and expense, the project got underway and was frnished in 1867. On the frrst public holiday afterwards 2000 people - about a third of Christchurch's population then - went by rail and boat to picnicking places around the harbour. It was almost another 100 years
before a road tunnel - New Zealand's largest - was built through the Port
Hills.
PORT CHALMERS Frozen meat. It doesn't sound very glamorous, but for New Zealand the discovery of refrigeration was more importaflt in the long term than any gold strike.
Ironically, it was the people of Dunedin who frrst tasted the frozen meat intended for London. The initial thousand carcasses frozen
onboard at Port Chalmers had to be unloaded and sold when a breakdown in the equipment suspended all operations. On February 15, 1882, the "Dunedin" frnally sailed from Port Chalmers with the country's rust cargo of frozen meat - 4311 sheep and 598 lambs. It arrived in London 98 days later with cargo intact and ready to be sold for good prices.
The 75th anniversary of this event was commemorated by the issue of two stamps in 1957. Port Chalmers is situated almost halfway up the narrow channel of Otago Harbour. Over the years the Dunedin city waterfront, about 13 kilometres further up at the head of Otago Harbour, has taken away some of the Port Chalmers' shipping trade. However Port Chalmers is a deep-water port and containerisation has given it a new lease of life. The 50c Port Chalmers stamp shows two ships working cargo at the port. In the background are St Martin's Island and Goat Island. St Martin's Island has quite a colourful history. Originally it was a quarantine island, and once held 400 immigrants
after a case of smallpox on the clipper "Victory" in 1863. Carpenters amongst the passengers suitably occupied their time by building a hospital on the island. The island was also home for the 80 dogs of Byrd's 1928 Antarctic expedition. The dogs fell ill and seemed certain to die, but a locally invented new-formula dog biscuit was rushed to the island' in time to save all but four of the dogs, and the expedition got safely underway. Dozens of hulks are witnesses to Port Chalmers' strong links with the open sea. One of the most interesting is the wreck of the "Don Juan," in
Deborah Bay. An old Spanish log book was found which told of the ship's connection with the slave trade. Wrist and ankle shackles in the ship's hold also testifred to a gruesome past. The Port's frrst immigrant shipsthe "John Wickliffe" and the "Philip Laing" - were commemorated
in the one penny Centennial of Otago stamp issued by the Post Office in 1948. The designer for the Large Harbours issue is Don Hatcher, and the stamps will be printed by photogravure by Heraclio Fournier, Spain. Each stamp measures 30 mm x 34 mm. ." J
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Port Chalmers played a key role in the early development of the frozen cargo trade, supplied by the sheep farms of its hinterlands.
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sheep, and excess carcasses were being
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thrown into the sea or boiled down for tallow.
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By 1880 New Zealand had a glut of
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Refrigeration opened up the distant British market. William Davidson, general manager of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, seized the opportunity. He persuaded the A1bion Line to provide a ship, the
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"Dunedin", with on-board freezing
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capacity - a floating freezing chamber. Immigrants landing at Lyttelton, 1870s
Preview: 1980
Heal th Issue.
Illustrated above is a mock up of the miniature sheet for this year's Health issue, designed by Margaret Chapman of Christchurch. Release date is 6 August 1980.
Provisional Overprinting The need in 1979 for provisional overprinting of 8c and 6c stamps with 4c and 17c, posed a visual problem., The be and be rose designs lell nu room for the overprinted figures to show against a clear background. It was important that they be printed directly over the original denomination, but as in most overprinting, a considerable margin of error could be expected, since batches of sheets have different selvedge widths. To ensure a more accurate feed through the letter press machine, the top and left selvedges were removed before overprinting these
sheets, which significantly reduced the spoilage normally encountered with overprinting. The selvedges had to be removed by land, whi,h occupied three and sometimes four people for several weeks. No doubt they were pleased that the I Qc 'Queens' did not also require selvedge removal: there are over twice the number of these stamps (overprinted with 14c). Fortunately the I Qc Queens were printed with more uniform selvedge widths, and the stamp design itself allowed the Government Printer more leeway in placing t he overprinted denomination onto a clear background.
Offices Opened and Closed OPENED: Nil CLOSED: Makirikiri Mowhanau Ngaere
Wanganui Wanganui New Plymouth
NEW ZEALAND POST OFFICE ~
I
FIRST DAY COVER
16.5.79 2.7.79 29.6.79
Maheno Rangiriri Te Hoe Bannockburn Kai Iwi Makotuku
Oamaru Hamilton Hamilton Dunedin Wanganui Palmerston N.
11.7.79 25.7.79 26.7.79 31.8.79 11.9.79 29.11.79
Presenting the new 'standard' first day cover A new size C6 'standard' first day cover is now available at post offices and philatelic sales positions to replace the larger 'standard' cover featuring the flag and map of New Zealand. The selling price for the new cover, here illustrated, is 5c. The small 'flag' covers remain on sale at 3c.
(actual size)
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