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Brian Alexander had to dig deep as he prepared his Little Manly site, on the corner of East Ave and East Point, ready to build a new home.
Under the bach, which was removed, lay a sandwich of clay, topsoil and clay. Getting down to the original clay therefore involved digging a very big hole, Brian says, and it was while the digger was hard at work on this that the railway tracks were uncovered.
Three tracks, each around six metres long, were found along with a large coil of steel rope. They seemed to be pointing down the steep slope from a corner of the site, towards the beach.
There was also a large concrete footing, across the site from where the tracks were found.
Brian surmised from this that the tracks could have allowed items to be winched up the hill from the bay, anchored by whatever was on the footing. There was once a jetty at Little Manly Beach.
“I would say the tracks are at least 100 years old because they are made of a high carbon steel that bends,” Brian says.
He suggests that the system could have been used by the army, or perhaps a farmer, from early last century.
“It’s a sheltered bay and maybe they had a loading platform down there and brought things from a boat up the hill.”
Brian is curious to know more about his find. If anyone can help, email terry@hibiscusmatters.co.nz or phone Hibiscus Matters, 09 427 8187 and we will pass the information onto Brian.
