Page 8 - pākuViews Autumn/Winter 2013
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Winner
Wendy Aldrich
did her “schoolwork” before submitting an
answer in last issue’s
PakuViews
contest. “This picture of Tairua’s old
schoolhouse was taken in 1926. First official records state that in 1877
there was one teacher, a roll of 8 boys and 15 girls (but with an average
daily attendance of only 2 boys and 6 girls). The teacher was paid £33 6s
8d. An independent testimony mentions the teacher as “Captain Broun
who wields the birch”.
“By 1887 there were 2 teachers, and by 1891 the school roll jumped to
39. The original school buildings were presumably provided by the mill
company who leased them to the government in 1893. In 1892 an extra
classroom was added at a cost of £254 by builders Keyes and Maxwell
from Auckland, and heating stoves were also installed”.
The schoolhouse is now a private residence on Main Road and a part of
the
Tairua History Trail
. Look for a historical marker with engraved text and
photograph on the wharf side of the road. This self guided tour takes in
20 historical sites around Tairua. Pick up the your free “walking path tour”
pamphlet at the Tairua Information Centre.
LAST ISSUE’S WINNER
Simply name the building, other known details
and approximate date the photo was taken.
Correct entries received by 15 August will go into a draw for the prize.
Send to:
r PO Box 144, Tairua.
Eva Beach-Darrah, whose parents Mary and Charles Beach ran
Tairua Store for decades (see last issue), recorded her childhood
years in a narrated slide show. This is an excerpt from her story.
“Tairua’s first school was located about 200 metres from the present
school, on the opposite side of Main Road at the base of Tairua Hill”, Eva’s
account begins.
“Our playground was across the road. We played rounders and enjoyed
skipping. We had sports days when other schools visited with their
families. We would meet at the sports ground, today’s rugby field. Locals,
students and families joined in to compete in running races, 3-legged
races, even spoon and sack races”.
Eva has fond memories of her first teacher. Mr. Roche was a bachelor
and lived with his sister who taught dancing lessons. “I liked him because
he gave us the opportunity to act in plays! Parents were invited to our
concerts. We all had to recite poetry. At my first concert my mother said I
was so quiet that no one heard what I said”.
Amazingly Eva can still remember her first lines as the rook in “Who killed
Cock Robin’” and breaks into her singing voice and recites the verses:
“The birds and the bees went crying and sobbing when they heard of the
death of poor cock robin, when they heard of the death of poor cock robin.
I am the rook with my little book I saw him die”.
Senior students in the mid-1920s, two to a desk.
Going to
School
in the 1920
s
by Eva Beach-Darrah
PakuViews
contest winner
Wendy Aldrich
(right) accepts a
$50 voucher from
Erin Adams (left),
owner of Tairua
4 Square.
Photo taken by Mr. Roche in 1926 of Junior Students outside the old Tairua
School on Main Road. Eva Beach is 5th from right, back row, sister Margaret
(Peggy Agnew) 9th back row with ribbon in hair, brother Alan front row
2nd from right (see his ‘rugby recollections’ p16). Others in photo: Jackie & Becky
Parata (two taller girls on left); Joan, Dearly and Maggie Heath, Valerie Petley,
Johnny McCarthy, Lennie; Pat and Boy Thompson, Margaret Hazelden.
Reprinted from an account by Tairua teacher G.H. Roche;
“One of my first impressions after my arrival at Tairua was awaking to the
morning chorus of bird-songs.
“An inspection revealed the school’s two rooms with a porch between
them. It faced east and was warm and comfortable. The residence seemed
palatial for a bachelor. The five-roomed weather-board house contained a
kitchen with a fuel stove, scullery and sink.
“In the yard between the house and the School was a magnificent grape
vine trained over six foot railings. It had been planted about 1886 by one
Jules Lopes, a native of Cape de Verde Islands and a one time sailor. The
prolific crop from this vine was harvested by picking twice weekly and was
divided among the children attending the school”.
“Imagine a storekeeper these days leaving his shop unattended to go to
his home half a mile away. Charlie Beach did this. On going to the store
and seeing no one about, the writer waited. Presently a woman came in
and when asked by the teacher for 3 lb of sugar, the woman looked a bit
startled, but said, ‘I suppose I could get it for you’. When proffered the
money she exclaimed, ‘Oh, I couldn’t take that. I am a customer, but I will
write it in the book for you’”.
See page 8 for a “Nerve-wracking” account of this teacher’s
32-mile journey to Tairua.
6
PAKU VIEWS
ISSUE 7 AUTUMN/WINTER 2013
