Mapping the history and growth of the Remuera Shopping Centre - a presentation on the history of the Remuera shops, many of which go back 100 years, with photos past and present. 

Friday 13th Oct - 6.30pm at the Remuera Library

On the 12th of October 1917, 846 young New Zealanders were killed in the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium, with many more to die over the coming days from the wounds received on this one day. By the end of the day the total number of casualties, the wounded, the dead and the missing was 2,740. About a dozen Remuera men are buried nearby. It took two and a half days to clear the battlefield of the dead and injured. 

Come and hear Herb Farrant of the New Zealand Military Historical Society talk about the run up to the Battle for Passchendaele, New Zealand’s darkest day, and the proposed New Zealand Museum at Le Quesnoy, France on the Western Front. 

When: Friday 8th September 2017 at 6.30pm 

Where: Remuera Library 

Light refreshments provided. 

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Remuera Heritage notes with sadness the passing away of Mary Dixon, of Dixon Antiques. 

Remuera Heritage was fortunate to have both Mary and David Dixon participate in a very successful Antiques Roadshow with us in 2013. Mary’s knowledge of antiques, decorative objects and interior decoration was very extensive – she and David ran Dixon’s Antiques at 488 Remuera Road from 1987 until David’s death in 2015. 

These windows came from England as a gift from Alfred Bell, glassmaker to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, who owed his illustrious career to Albin Martin, who had given him drawing and painting lessons as a boy in England and set him on his path.  In order to ensure that the church building and windows are properly preserved the parish vestry has employed heritage architects to oversee the work that needs to be done. 

 The refurbishment will cost a considerable amount.  In order to meet the expenses the church will be launching a public fundraising campaign, beginning with a Victorian afternoon tea before which a short history of the windows will be given.

Image from Timespanner

 This will take place on Sunday 6 August at 2:30pm at Christ Church, 169 Ladies Mile, Ellerslie.

 You and your members are warmly invited to attend. There is no charge for the event. We simply want to share with all those interested in heritage the chance to view our beautiful historic windows and to give them the opportunity to assist in the project, where possible. We do hope that you and some of your members will be able to join us.  It would be helpful if possible to know the numbers attending, though there is no formal need to do so.

 RSVP to Pamela Stone People’s Warden            Phone: 579.4238  or pamela.stone@xtra.co.nz

Remuera Heritage members visited Crown Lynn Pottery Te Toi Uku in New Lynn and were treated to an engaging hour with curator Finn McCahon-Jones about the history of the company and its products which formed a part of every New Zealander's life. There were many stories and tales about our ownership and use of Crown Lynn dinnerware, vases, children's ware and door furniture over the years. A great place to visit! 

Our next Remuera Heritage Event is a visit to Te Toi Uku, the Crown Lynn & Clayworks Museum in New Lynn on Wednesday 26th July. The start time is 11 am.  http://portageceramicstrust.org.nz/

The plan is to travel by train on the Western Line from the Newmarket Station to the New Lynn Station. The train we must catch leaves Newmarket at 10.29 arriving at the New Lynn Station at 10.51 am. There is a 6 minute walk to the museum. Alternatively there is car parking at the Lynn Mall Shopping Mall, which is an 8 minute walk to the museum.

Where: 8 Ambrico Place, New Lynn, Auckland 0640

When: 11am Wednesday 26^th July 2017

Cost: Finn the curator will talk to us and show us around - there is a $5 visitor fee.

 RSVP: It is a small area, so if you are planning to come, please let Annette Jackman know asap at va.j@xtra.co.nz or phone 523 3614. 

The RRA now has a Facebook page – get the latest news etc here:

https://www.facebook.com/remueraresidentsassociation/

On June 9^th 2017 members of St Mark’s Church and Remuera Heritage gathered at the St Mark’s Hall to recreate a Night at the Tudor Theatre. Everyone was dressed in their best finery in order to honour the theatre at 333 Remuera Road which was a cornerstone of Remuera social life from 1928 until its closure in 1972 and demolition in 1980.

The Reverend Anne Mills introduced the evening and Terry Sutcliffe as MC gave a talk on the history of the cinema and the Tudor Theatre.  Annette Ferneyhough shared insights about her movie star grandmother Bathie Stuart who was the female star in the 1925 Adventures of Algy, a silent movie about ‘a silly ass’ Englishman who inherits a sheep farm in New Zealand and meets & falls in love with the girl next door Kiwi McGill.  

After the movie screened, a prize for the best dressed person was won by Valerie Muir wearing a 100 year old dress which belonged to her grandmother.

A cheque for $500 for St Mark’s was presented to the Rev. Anne Mills from funds raised by Remuera Heritage on the night.

Images

1. Rev Anne Mills and Terry Sutcliffe

2. Sue Cooper and Terry Sutcliffe

3. Beverley Newton, Sue Cooper and Valerie Muir

4. Annette and Bryan Ferneyhough

5. Bathie Stuart .March 1939 on board the Mariposa while on holiday in NZ National Library of New Zealand Ref 1/2-C-22839

Dress up in the period of 1920s to the 1970s when the Remuera Tudor theatre provided entertainment for Remueraites. Get out your furs and hats, suits and costumes for an elegant night at the movies. 

From director Beaumont Smith about a “silly ass” Englishman who inherits a sheep station in New Zealand and meets and falls in love with a great New Zealand girl Kiwi McGill. 

When: Friday 9th June 2017 at 7pm 

Where: St Mark’s Church hall, 95 Remuera Road 

Refreshments provided from 7pm and during the intermission 

Prizes for best dressed male and female in period costume. 

Tickets: $20 for members; $25 for non-members; $12 for students & children.

RSVP for catering purposes to Annette Jackman at va.j@xtra.co.nz or phone 523-3614

Payment by online bank deposit is preferred - Account 06-0257-0198761-00 Remuera Heritage Inc. 

The Tudor theatre opened in June 1926, at 333 Remuera Rd, owned by Fuller Hayward Theatres Corporation and F.G. Mumford. The interior was mostly in a Tudor style with lots of dark wood and Tudor rose emblems, with the exterior illuminated by floodlights at night. It seated 1066 people and was the centre of social life in Remuera until it closed in 1972. It was demolished in 1980, to be replaced by the Tudor Mall.

Images:

Tudor Theatre Remuera MOTAT 13-2233 1930.   Tudor Theatre at night 1930s J G McGuire Walsh Memorial Library MOTAT 

Bruce McLaren was one of the icons of motor racing in the sport's 60s ‘golden age’ – he won four Grand Prix, and joined fellow Kiwi Chris Amon to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The McLaren team he founded became one of the most successful in Formula One motor racing. In this documentary, director Roger Donaldson returns to the tarmac where he has made a mark before — Smash Palace, his fictional story of a race car driver, and two films inspired by Invercargill's DIY racing legend Burt Munro. 

There are many interviews with Bruce’s family and racing colleagues, with much racing footage not seen since the 1960s. It’s a story of guts and determination by a Kiwi who was born and bred in Remuera at the Upland Road garage, owned by his father. 

A film well worth seeing, it runs for 1.5 hours in New Zealand cinemas from 1st June 2017. 

You can visit the Bruce McLaren Trust and museum at 590 Remuera Road.

The RRA now has a Facebook page – get the latest news etc here:

https://www.facebook.com/remueraresidentsassociation/

The eastern suburbs have seen significant removal of the single house zone to be replaced with the increased density of the Mixed House Suburban or Urban zones. This will lead to the development of individual properties being intensified to 3 stories, alongside single houses, destroying the collective value and amenity of the area which the community has strived to protect for future enjoyment. Urban amenity has to be collective – individual owners cannot do both high density and still expect to retain the existing character and amenity. 

The Independent Hearing Panel wrote “there was an insufficient basis to restrict the demolition of buildings based solely on their age. The argument that the unitary plan should, on an alleged precautionary basis, manage the demolition of buildings in areas that may have ‘unidentified significant historic heritage places or unidentified ‘special’ character areas’ was not supported by evidence of the likelihood that such values would be identified, or that the rate of demolition required such a restriction”. 

During the Unitary Plan process, Auckland Council said it was not resourced to carry out character area surveys to identify significant historic heritage places or unidentified ‘special’ character areas’ but would cooperate with community groups to do this. Remuera Heritage offered its help to the Heritage Dept. and through Councillor Cameron Brewer but we never heard back. Council staff had countered to the IHP that a plan change to add or extend character areas should be ready for notification in early 2017. RH gave evidence of the removal of character buildings from Remuera South, parts of Remuera north and Newmarket to no avail. 

As a result, The Panel has kept most of the currently notified special character overlay over Auckland, with one notable exception – it has been almost erased throughout all the eastern bays, including Remuera, Orakei, Kohimarama, Mission Bay and St Heliers. The pre-1944 demolition control overlay has been removed in its entirety and there is now no protection for any identified or non-identified character buildings in Auckland. The pre-1944 overlay was only an interim measure to allow for the identification of character housing, so now demolition is a permitted activity. 

AT RISK: The Remuera Library which is a listed and protected heritage building has now been zoned as being part of the town business centre and buildings either side have been upzoned to THAB (Terrace Houses and Apartment Buildings). This includes Cotter House, another listed heritage building (the 5th oldest house in Auckland) and the Hearing Association house at the top of St Vincent Avenue. This zoning change does not help the protection of these historic heritage places. It is impossible to understand why there is such a lack of consistency here in having Category A status for a brick public building such as a library and a historic heritage house when the underlying zoning anticipates high density. Houses such as Cotter House are now at significant risk of demolition and redevelopment. 

Gains in Remuera have been the inclusion of the Extent of Place around the Chapel of the Holy Child (formerly the stables) at Kings School to include The Towers, the 1855 Graham/ McCosh Clark house. The Remuera Railway Station has been upgraded from Category B to A: “Given its integrity, it’s now rarity, having an integral and original relationship with its signal box, and being the best of Auckland‘s historic suburban stations, it warrants elevation from a B to A in its heritage categorisation. Accordingly, the Panel supports the scheduling of the ‘Remuera Railway Station and Signal Box’ as Category A and adopts the extent of place and description proposed by Heritage New Zealand.” 

The volcanic viewshafts fared better than heritage. Most (though not all) proposed viewshafts have been retained; a few have been deleted, and there is a new category of locally significant viewshafts. One of the differences between regional and local is that if a proposed building would penetrate a regional viewshaft it is a non-complying activity, whereas for a local viewshaft it is a Restricted Discretionary activity. The Panel has provided the Council with maps which represent its recommendations. 

To view what these recommendations may mean for Remuera and your own property, click here and here.

Mapping the history and growth of the Remuera Shopping Centre - a presentation on the history of the Remuera shops, many of which go back 100 years, with photos past and present. 

Friday 13th Oct - 6.30pm at the Remuera Library

On the 12th of October 1917, 846 young New Zealanders were killed in the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium, with many more to die over the coming days from the wounds received on this one day. By the end of the day the total number of casualties, the wounded, the dead and the missing was 2,740. About a dozen Remuera men are buried nearby. It took two and a half days to clear the battlefield of the dead and injured. 

Come and hear Herb Farrant of the New Zealand Military Historical Society talk about the run up to the Battle for Passchendaele, New Zealand’s darkest day, and the proposed New Zealand Museum at Le Quesnoy, France on the Western Front. 

When: Friday 8th September 2017 at 6.30pm 

Where: Remuera Library 

Light refreshments provided. 

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Our next Remuera Heritage Event is a visit to Te Toi Uku, the Crown Lynn & Clayworks Museum in New Lynn on Wednesday 26th July. The start time is 11 am.  http://portageceramicstrust.org.nz/

The plan is to travel by train on the Western Line from the Newmarket Station to the New Lynn Station. The train we must catch leaves Newmarket at 10.29 arriving at the New Lynn Station at 10.51 am. There is a 6 minute walk to the museum. Alternatively there is car parking at the Lynn Mall Shopping Mall, which is an 8 minute walk to the museum.

Where: 8 Ambrico Place, New Lynn, Auckland 0640

When: 11am Wednesday 26^th July 2017

Cost: Finn the curator will talk to us and show us around - there is a $5 visitor fee.

 RSVP: It is a small area, so if you are planning to come, please let Annette Jackman know asap at va.j@xtra.co.nz or phone 523 3614.