If anyone asked what the most well-known street in Warkworth is, I think the answer would be unanimous – Hill Street. But if we were asked how Hill Street got its name, many of us would make the incorrect assumption that it was because it is positioned...... Read More

American servicemen stationed in Warkworth during WWII were a long way from home, training for the Pacific theatre and an uncertain future. Initially, the men were not allowed beyond Warkworth, but eventually that changed and they were allowed further...... Read More

From small beginnings, the archives kept at the Warkworth Museum have grown into a useful resource. Donations of photographs, documents, family trees, diaries and publications of local interest continue to arrive for appraisal. Last year, access was...... Read More

Schedewy’s Transport began with Martin Schedewy, who emigrated to New Zealand with his parents as a two-year-old. The Schedewys settled on land in Puhoi. Martin and his wife, Lena, took over the farm when Martin’s father retired. Martin was...... Read More

Before early settlers in and around Mangawhai could get organised into cultivating their new land allotments, timber wolves were scouting about buying timber from newcomers. The main attraction was kauri and rimu. The massive size of kauri in the early...... Read More

Thomas Inger was one of many wanting to emigrate to New Zealand. William Brame, the Albertland movement founder, was keen to have him. In his letters, Brame wrote that he considered Inger exactly the sort of man the Albertlanders needed. Each...... Read More

The first Wharehine settlers were cut off from direct access to Port Albert by the large Paraheke Maori Reserve, next to Wharehine Creek, and indeed by the creek itself. Travel from Wharehine to Port Albert meant either a long, rough trip along the Tauhoa...... Read More

Shopping for meat in a supermarket is a dull chore, but during my childhood, accompanying my mother to Stubbs Butchery was an adventure. After running the gauntlet of the disembodied cow’s head, horns aloft, on the shop frontage, a bell tinkled...... Read More

Benedict Remiger is another interesting early Puhoi settler. He was less than 12 years old when news came to his village in Bohemia that land was being given away in New Zealand. Families were daring to dream that they could become farmers on their own...... Read More

Today’s column is a compilation of notes made by an early settler girl on her arrival to Mangawhai in 1862. Her father had already been granted land, which he named Boyce Farm. He was Charles Haselden Snr and played an integral part in the formation...... Read More