There are a lot of photographs, from various collections, and these have been split into three divisions…
The Goldmine
Miners of the early 1930s all set to go on shift with necessities including fuse wire, candles and the odd carbide lamp (but not the bicycle). Near centre, wearing a wide-brimmed hat at an angle, was union president S.P. Williams. (J. Divis photo, Dean collection.)
Another truck of mullock (waste rock) on its way out of the mine with Herbert Dodd pushing, Val Lethwick in front and possibly Archie Green at right. The pipes at top right were carried water and compressed air for the wet drilling process. (Gidley collection.)
Bill Gidley and Jim Wilson with their gelignite shots all fused and ready to fire the quartz loose at No. 13 level in the Prohibition workings in 1938. (Gidley collection.)
In the battery down by the Snowy River, quartz from the mine was crushed and the gold extracted by various means from 1908-38. For most of its life quartz was delivered via a tramway from the top right, and in the last few years by aerial cableway. (Dean collection.)
Looking down the rails of an incline tramway, known as the skip, which carried equipment and goods between Waiuta township and the Snowy River battery, seen in the distance. (Orchard collection.)
Herbie Dodd taking a seat in a mine drive, with Val Lethwick harder to spot behind him. An array of tools hanging up shows that miners used more than drills, picks and shovels. (Dean collection.)
The Prohibition ball mill, with (at right) the roof of the conveyor that delivered quartz from the mine to be crushed. The tower right of that was originally part of an aerial cableway that previously took quartz down to the Snowy River battery. (Orchard collection.)
In 1938 the old stamp battery down by the Snowy River was replaced by a modern ball mill up by the mineshaft on Prohibition hill. Revolving drums containing steel balls did the work of crushing the quartz so gold could be extracted. (Orchard collection.)
At the Prohibition shaft brace in the 1940s (from left): Stan Purton, Jack Young, Bill Gidley and Charlie Bond. In a sports-mad society, national amateur boxing champion Whitebait Purton enjoyed special status. (Gidley collection.)
The Town
A typical trim dwelling of the 1940s: Harrises� house on Bottom Road. Garages were common in a town with a high percentage of car owners. (Gidley collection.)
Rough and ready as their exteriors may have seemed, many of the Red Huts were well set up inside, Bill Gidley’s in 1942 being no exception. (Gidley collection.)
After being restored by the New Zealand Forest Service for use as a lodge, the Waiuta hospital burned down in September. Paddy Fisher (left) was among many former residents who sadly visited the ruins. (Hurst collection.)
Judging by the relative heights, young Lance Dean probably had help putting the head on this snowman of the 1930s. (Dean collection.)
The aroma of freshly baked bread would bring people from all over town to the Waiuta bakery when Les Harvey opened the oven door on a fresh batch of loaves. (Hurst collection.)
A few kilometres down the road from Waiuta stands the cottage where former miner, Ossie McTaggart (right), lived until the 1990s. At Christmas 1977 he was visited by another former Waiuta resident, Paddy Fisher, his daughter and grandchildren. (Hurst collection.)
For nearly 30 years after the town closed, this two-roomed building was the home of Waiuta�s last resident, Dick Willan. The building, which previously served as police station and post office at different times, remains today. (Hurst collection.)
Waiuta houses were typically New Zealand in that era weatherboard cladding and iron roofs with verandas partly filled in as sunrooms. The Dean house on Side Road completed the picture with shrubs and standard roses on the front lawn. (Dean collection.)
Houses of company staff on Nob Hill were better than most. This rare view was from the south shaft mine chimney, probably when it was being reduced in height during 1943. (Gidley collection.)
Central Waiuta in 1929 with a boarding house and the hall prominent above Top Road either side of centre, and another boarding house at right. Just out of view, left and right, are two other important places, the Empire Hotel and Blackwater Mine. (Dean collection.)
High standards of carpentry, so vital for mine installations, were extended to the construction of workers houses and huts, like this one in the bush behind the town. (Dean collection.)
The eastern end of town in the early 1930s with the Blackwater Mine buildings dominated by the headframe over the 563 metre deep shaft. The bowling green has been laid on the heap of mullock or waste rock and the post office is at right. (J. Divis photo, Orchard collection.)
One of the last houses sold for removal was Gidleys in 1953. The identities of the dismantling crew are not known. (Jos Divis photo, Gidley collection.)
A view along the main thoroughfare, Top Road, in the early 1940s with footpaths above and below and Blackwater shaft poppet head in the distance. (Gidley collection.)
Steam indicates the mine was working on this winter’s day while children had snow fights in front of the general store at left. The lock-up at right would certainly be a cooler for anyone unfortunate enough to be spending a night there. (J. Divis photo, Orchard collection.)
The satellite settlement at Dingbat Flat with the Waiuta-Prohibition Road at left. (Gidley collection.)
Looking up to the Main or Top Toad about 1920 with the miners� hall at right and a hip-roofed boarding house toward the left. The buildings between the two, a shop and billiard rooms, burned down in 1927 and the hall followed in 1942 (Orchard collection.)
A long view of the southern side of town during the final decade with the school down to the right, the second miners� hall standing out left of centre and the Anglican church below left from the hall. (Dean collection.)
The fact that this was taken from a hill, not a plane, emphasises the mountainous nature of the Waiuta environment. The Empire Hotel and stables are straight below with the two rows of single men�s �red huts� straight above. (J. Divis photo, Sadler collection.)
On a day like this the Empire Hotel at left appeals as the place to be, but steam in the distance suggests work went on 500 metres below the surface in the Blackwater Mine. Definitely no play on the recreation ground at right though. (J. Divis photo, Orchard collection.)
Inland near the mountains at over 400 metre altitude, Waiuta received its share of snow. This view shows Top Road at left with the Blackwater Mine at the end, and the recreation ground and public tennis courts to the right. (J. Divis photo, Orchard collection.)
The People
Margaret Sadler below Top Road, late in the towns life. (Sadler collection.)
Margaret Sadler (left) and friends in the late 1940s. (Sadler collection.)
Margaret Sadler catching a double outside the bread shop, with Top Road buildings in the background, late 1940s. (Sadler collection.)
A lunchtime spread during a cricket match at the Recreation Ground during the 1940s. (Gidley collection.)
Traffic along Top Road was usually sparse enough to allow a photo to be taken even at the busiest junction. Outside Hempseeds store were (from left) Charlie Anderson, Sue Dean, and Mick and Alma Anderson. (Dean collection.)
Many Waiuta people were among the crowd when Charles Kingsford-Smith and his crew landed their Fokker at Ikamatua during a NZ tour following their trans-Tasman flight in 1929. From left: Avis Ramsden, Mrs Anderson, Mrs Rose, Mrs Beckwith. (Gidley collection.)
Rapidly dispersed to many parts of New Zealand and overseas following the town�s abrupt closure, Waiuta people have always been keen on getting together at any opportunity. This group was pictured in December 1955. (Dean collection.)
During Waiuta’s brief, hot summers the Olympic length swimming pool was a popular place although apparently not for Margaret Teape who required some persuasion, to the obvious delight of John Sullivan. (Dean collection.)
Waiuta kids loved dress-ups as much as any others. Here is Margaret Sadler all set in Dutch costume for a kiddies party in 1949. (Sadler collection.)
The last old-time resident to remain near Waiuta was Ossie McTaggart (left) who lived a kilometre down the road from the township. He was visited in 1982 by another former Waiuta lad, Paddy Fisher, his daughter and grandchildren. (Hurst collection.)
After houses and shops closed, and mine structures were stripped and people moved away, Grahame Gidley and Judith Thomas became ghost town kids in 1952. (Gidley collection.)
Not even a good fall of snow could stop baker Les Harvey and assistant Patrick Fisher doing deliveries in the Waiuta Bakery’s Model A Ford bread truck in 1934. That’s the Empire Hotel behind at right. (Hurst collection.)
Bill and Reece Gidley following their wedding at the Waiuta Anglican church on 28th October 1946. (Gidley collection.)
Usually a free-ranging trio, Margaret Sadler (centre) and the McGuinness boys Michael (left) and Brian must have been promised a treat to sit so still. Their most hair-raising exploit was trying to skate on very thin ice at the town swimming pool. (Sadler collection.)
Although mining was a reserved occupation during both world wars, many Waiuta miners enlisted anyway as did some of their daughters including Joy Lines who joined the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps. (Dean photo.)
Taffy and Janet Jones travelled from Halifax, Canada via the north of England to finally settle at Waiuta. Taffy worked in the mine and they raised a family at their home on the Bottom Road. (Sadler collection.)
Droughts were common enough, but a car and a 44-gallon drum soon brought a solution. Grahame and Reece Gidley snapped in the act of pumping water up to the house header tank. (Gidley collection.)
his might have been a gathering of Waiuta’s strong Women’s Institute, except for one minor detail. (Dean collection.)
Four matriarchs who between them not only brought up many children but also contributed greatly to the towns renowned social life: (from left) Mesdames Ward, Lines, Sullivan and Dean. (Dean collection.)
One of many good-spirited assemblies that took place amidst the Red Huts over a period of more than 40 years. (Gidley collection.)
Just 12 years away from a licence, Eddie Stancombe with his Dads BSA motorbike. (Stancombe collection.)
Young Margaret Sadler and canine pals, one of which might have been more interested in the latest offerings from the nearby butcher shop or bakers oven. (Sadler collection.)
Miners gathered at their hall for a union meeting in the 1930s. A much larger crowd could be expected for the movies, advertised in the posters on the wall. (J. Divis photo, Sadler collection.)
There was no shortage of willing hands and onlookers to help the local bus regain the road during a mishap on the way up from Blackwater in the 1940s. (Gidley collection.)
Waiuta’s champion cake maker, Mrs Fred Rose, turned out this beauty for Reece and Bill Gidley’s wedding in 1946. (Gidley collection.)
The Nailer wedding party on Deans front lawn, with the bridge and groom second and third from left at the back. In the background is the Empire Hotel, scene of celebrations for a range of other occasions. (Dean collection.)
A few people found other ways of making a living after the mine closed. Here, a load of silver pine posts cut by Bill Gidley and Doug Robertson was being towed down to the Blackwater Road. (Gidley collection.)
After a week in working clothes, the prospect of a day out in Reefton guaranteed a tidy turn-out at the bus stop across from the hotel. Many returned from such trips with their best clothes worse than rumpled and their pay packets badly depleted. (Dean collection.)
Even with a good-sized dog for company, every kid still needs Mum in the background that’s Reece Gidley keeping an eye on Grahame, 1949. (Gidley collection.)
A newspaper was probably as good a gift the towns last resident, Dick Willan, would hope for in his cottage at Christmas 1977. (Hurst collection.)
As Waiuta’s last resident, Dick Willan often entertained visitors and even instructed them in the art of panning for gold, as on this occasion in 1975. (Hurst collection.)
Bill Stancombe on Bottom Road, all set for a cool ride and a bumpy one too, down the road to Blackwater on a machine with nothing much in the way of suspension. (Stancombe collection.)
With just the bare 13 required for a league team, and not a substitute in the squad, these Waiuta players had to be hard. The black armbands were worn in respect of a late league stalwart, possibly Fred Dean. (Dean collection.)
Reece Gidley-to-be and her Dad Bill Bristol Harris on the way to church on 28th October 1946. (Gidley collection.)
