Advanced Search Agency AAQT. Photos from Archway. There are many more wonderful photos out there with an excellent zooming tool. Who was Mr W. Neill the photographer? There was a Bill Neill Wellington photographer in 1973.
I remember Ashwick Flat covered with stones with Mt. Ribbonwood covered in a fresh coating of snow. The snow is probably down to 4000ft. Years ago before the stone pickers that were driven by the PTO on tractors stones were picked up by hand onto a trailer bed pulled behind a tractor and dumped along the fence lines, into river beds and in the corners and even the middle of the paddocks and sometimes a tree would be planted in the middle of the heap to provide shade in later years for the rams. There was even an old stone sheepyards on Ashwick Flat, the old Ballantyne place, probably not far from the plantation of trees in the photo. There is a good stone pile at Monument Corner, over the fence. The old stone building, the Ashwick Stables, still stands on Ashwick Station today, photo taken March 2016, now used by birds, and has a new corrugated iron roof. Stones are still found on Ashwick and farmers still come up with ways of using them e.g. stonewalls around the garden is not a new concept, stone entranceway etc.
R. Coad, photographer. 1977. Ashwick Flat. Stones and more stones. Jim
Gallagher's place, Springfields. On the corner of Hamilton Rd and Strathallan
Rd, where Garry Bolton lives now in August 2017. There were plenty views like
this on Ashwick Flat. Our family friend John Perry's motto was when picking
stones by hand pick up the biggest one you could see first thing in the morning
after that they got lighter through the day.
Romneys were common back then. Terrible lambing percentage
lucky to make 105% in a good year, dreadful mothering ability, and needed
constant shepherding during lambing. When At least four rounds a day and had
sheep tied up everywhere for mothering-on. Meadowslea Farm on Mt Cook
Road, near Fairlie. The Manager is Mr G Giddins. Photographer: Mr Neill, 1968
springtime.
Hereford cattle and short horns eating hay on Mr
Trotter's farm, Mount Cook Road, Fairlie. Photographer: Mr Neill, 1968.
Hereford cattle and short horns on Mr Trotter's farm, Mount
Cook Road, Fairlie. The Sherwood Range in the background with Mt.
Ribbonwood, approx. 6,286ft (1916m) to the left, half of it in the shade and Fox
Peak, 7,604ft (2317m) to the right. In amongst the pine trees would be a
homestead. This photo was taken mid afternoon. Photographer: Mr Neill, 1968.
Mr Bob Patton on "Farm Bike" scooter moving sheep, Green Meadows,
Allandale. Has Farm bike on the tank. Photographer: W Neill. 1970. These 'farm
bikes' were the latest thing in those days before the invasion of Honda CT90s
and Suzuki RVs. Bob also had probably the first Suzuki RV in the district
as well.
Ray Barwell and his team of Clydesdales on Allandale near
Fairlie. Kowhai Tour party, Mount Cook Landlines bus, at the "Strathaven
Clydesdale Stud" Photographer: J. Waddington. 1977
Gallagher's 'Springfield", with Mt. Dobson in the
background. Photo taken from the corner of Strathallan and Hamilton Road.
Mt Melville is the next high point. Then the razor back at the front Great
photo. This is part of the Two Thumb Range. Mt Ribbonwood is on the Sherwood
Range at the South Ophua end. We look at it everyday. The round baler never had any tying mechanism so had to tie the
bales off by hand in that paddock.
A busy day ahead. An Allis Chalmers round baler that
baled the hay. They were the first on the scene but their problem was that they
produced low density bales wrapped with twine, that did not repel any light
showers and could not be built into any kind of stack. Apparently the photo was taken from
halfway down Hamilton Road in a paddock at Springfield, the last paddock,
alongside what is now Strathallan Road. Very uncommon hay bales even in 1977. Looks like they would
be inefficient bales -difficult to transport and to stack The hay bales look rounded because they are. I wonder if
they have been tied with wire too rather than twine, just a feeling that could
be the case. Not at all common, in fact I don't recall actually seeing any. Not
seen at all now. Over a thousand, to be picked up by
hand. Mt. Dobson in the background. This photo was taken in the morning.
Photographer: R. Coad. 1977. The little bales we called them square bales even
though they were rectangular in shape were widespread are still used a bit
today, in 2017, but mostly for small land holders, because they are easy to
handle and store. Their weight depended on what was being baled, meadow or
lucerne, with the latter being the heavier. 50-60lbs/20-27kgs (from memory). The
dropped singles could be picked up by a hayloader, attached to the side of a
truck that moved along the row and the bales being lifted up to deck level by a
moving chain/crossbar on the elevator, either ground driven from the forward
motion of the truck or separate motor. But these bales would have been picked up
by hand and thrown on to the deck of a truck where someone was stacking then to
the hayshed and again unloaded by hand and stacked in the shed. This is how we
did it when on the farm on Sherwood Downs. We did wear gloves and my brother
wore chaps. It was a family thing to get the hay in, Dad and the kids.
Generally the balers had one of
two methods of consolidating the bales once they come out of the baler (apart
from dropping as they go as in the photo). One method was a cradle that held
three end to end before a trip tipped them off, this enabled them to be stooked
in threes - two on the bottom on their inside edges with the third sitting
snuggly on top...imagine the bottom two forming a V for top bale to fit. The
other method was cruder, just a sled collecting the bales as they were pushed
out and then being released at certain points. The bales then needed to be
arranged in order for them to be picked up with a front-end loader grab to load
onto a trailer/truck (usually 8 bales, row of four end to end pairs). This is
how we did it the last time I was in the hayfield in the 1990s. A conventional
hay bale is about 1.2.m long (4ft), 1½ft wide and 1ft tall.
Romney sheep.
R. Coad, photographer. 1977.
Sheep grazing in the Sherwood Downs area of the Fairlie Basin Photographer: R.
Coad. 1977.
Clayton homestead, 1977. The original section is the limestone and the original
was two storied. Extensive additions to the homestead was made in June 1881 with
Peter Clayton as contractor -builder, with three other men, and Mr West as
architect. They raised the ceiling in the kitchen, added the back verandah,
pantry, bedrooms. Plasterer in July 29th 1881 mounting plaster in both dormer
windows upstairs. Photographer: J. Waddington. Historic Place Category 1 RS
14214 (CT 129507), Canterbury Land District.
The homestead in 2013. 66 Lochaber Road, Fairlie.
The Clayton Stables
Historic Place Category 2.
Clayton Station.
Blade shearing Clayton Station, 1977. Left to right; Peter Corder, Paddy
O'Neill, Maurice Oakley (Morrie) and Euan Butters. There were six blade shearers
working this day. Photographer: J. Waddington. In 1970 a new
woolshed and covered yards, 13,000sq. ft. with a capacity to hold 1100 ewes was
built. Has six stands and raised board. It replaced the twenty stand shed
that was built in the 1880s in the Hamilton era.
More action at the Clayton Station Woolshed in 1977, taken by J. Waddington.
From left; Des (Barney) Brien (wool classer), ?? , John Benson
Clayton Station, modern raised board woolshed with cover yards. 1979.
Photographer: J. Waddington.
Clayton Station sheepyards, 1979. Photographer: J. Waddington.
Freshly cut grass is wet, teddering dries it into hay. A tedder or hayrake
turns wet grass to dry then you can windrow it just to make baling easier. Clayton Station, 1979. Photographer: J. Waddington.
This young fella is using a Kuhn GA 3000 rotary rake/tedder behind a Fordson
Dexta tractor, Rural folk like to know these things. In the photo he is raking
the hay into rows for baling - you can tell that because he has already been
around the paddock in the opposite direction, hence the windrow sitting next to
unraked hay. The hay has already been teddered, that's why there are no
discernible mower tracks over the rest of the paddock. To ted you lift the
machine up off the ground and lift a lever on top of each rotor axle (there are
two), and do some grunting and pushing/pulling. This changes the angles of the
tynes and the direction, so when you scoot along a mower windrow the grass is
flung out behind in a fan, spreading it for drying. In the configuration seen in
the photo both rotors are going in the same direction, making a windrow. You
will see right at the outside L there is another rake, really just a row of
tynes that stop the hay from being flung out too far, making a tidy windrow. As
for the weight of the big rounds of the Gehl, I would hazard a guess of around
400kgs. Depends how much clover they have in there and as it is meadow hay I
would think nearer the 400 mark (900lbs).
A Massey Ferguson 1100 tractor with a GEHL Bale 1500 round hay baler. The hay
has to be dry to bale. Clayton Station, 1979 summertime. Photographer: J. Waddington.
Photo taken from the Meikleburn Saddle, looking east, past Clayton Station.
Probably Tripp Peaks, part of Four Peaks. Photographer: R. Coad. 1977.
Blue Mountain Lake in 1979. Photographer: J. Waddington.
Fox Peak to the left with the High Claytons to the right.
Romney Stud Ewes in snow, Mt. Dobson (6864ft, 2092 m), in background, Punaroa Downs, Fairlie. 1970.
Photographer: W Neill
Border Leicester stud ewes and lambs on Mr Trotters farm, Mount Cook Road,
Fairlie, Mount Dobson in the background. Nice open face and legs.1968.
Photographer: W Neill.
Romney ewes and lambs on the farm of Mrs H D Roberts, School Road, Fairlie.
Looking across to the High Claytons. Lombardy poplars in the foreground with an
old pine tree to the left. Photographer: Mr Neill, 1968.
Romney stud lambs and ewes on Mitchells, Meadowslea Farm on Mt Cook Road, near Fairlie. The
Manager is Mr G Giddins, 250 acres with 600 stud ewes. I count 28 ewes and
41 newly tailed lambs. A petrol browser with an underground tank is in the yard.
Cyclone gates with concrete posts. A one lane bridge crossing a creek with a
willow tree. Homestead on the hill. 1968. Photographer: W Neill.
"Poplar Downs" homestead, the property of Mr. Peter Siegert, Kimbell. Looking
towards Kimbell with a backdrop of the Sherwood Range. Photographer: J.
Waddington, 1975 springtime.
General view of Cave township, 1968. All
Saints Anglican Church is made of stone. The old goods shed still standing
beside the loading ramp. the loading ramp was still there in 2009. Photographer Mr. Neill.
Morning tea on Kirk's holiday farm 'Craigmore Downs' at Cave. A Ford tractor with a backend
grader blade. A motor bike with a shepherd's crook made of solid aluminum with anodised coating to avoid metal deterioration with rubber hand grip, strong but
light. South
Canterbury. Photographer: W. Cleal, 1981.
