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Ferrymead Heritage Park

Coordinates: 43°34′2.23″S 172°42′7.92″E / 43.5672861°S 172.7022000°E / -43.5672861; 172.7022000
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main street with tram tracks
A rare steam tram pulling double-decker tram trailers on the Ferrymead Tramway

Ferrymead Heritage Park is a museum in Christchurch, New Zealand, housing groups with historical themes, mainly transport related. Formerly known as Ferrymead Historic Park, it was founded in 1964 by groups, local government bodies and other interested parties. It is in the Heathcote Valley, at the site of New Zealand's first public railway.

History

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Early railway

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During the early European settlement of Christchurch, Ferrymead was the location of a ferry that took passengers across the Heathcote River on their way between Lyttelton and Christchurch.[1] For approximately the first 17 years of the colony, beginning in 1850, Ferrymead was a hub of activity, and was the location of the first railway in New Zealand. The railway, opened to steam trains in 1863, was a 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) service that connected the Bridle Path to the wharves at the Heathcote Estuary.[1] However, the opening of the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel relegated the Ferrymead tracks to little more than a branch line, and the service was closed in around 1867.[1] This made it both New Zealand's first railway to open, and the first to close. After the tracks and buildings were removed, the area remained undeveloped as it was a low-lying swampy area and prone to flooding.[1]

Museum of Science & Industry

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In the mid 1960s an association was formed to create a museum dedicated to "science and industry". This was in part brought about by the prospect of vintage NZR F class locomotives being relocated from the South Island to the North Island at the Auckland Museum of Transport and Technology, so the initial focus was very much on preserving trains.[2] Initial proposals for a location were at Hornby, Prebbleton or Heathcote, with the Prebbleton location being preferred initially but the association finally settling on Hornby.[3] The museum association began outfitting buildings in Hornby in September 1964.[4] The museum initially planned to open to the public in a large warehouse on Garvins Road in Hornby in October 1965,[5] but vandalism at the site[6] delayed this to March 1966.[7][8]

Move to Ferrymead

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The location in the Heatchote Valley had been on the table from as early as October 1964,[9] but existing train tracks and buildings at Hornby had made it a more viable option in the short term. Within only a few months of the Hornby site being opened, the organisers turned to establishing a presence on the Ferrymead site.[10] This quick move was because the museum had received an unexpectedly large amount of interest from heritage equipment owners keen to provide exhibits, and so needed a larger site to accomodate them all.[11] Additionally, the Tramway Historical Society had been formed with the intention of creating a replica tram track for their rolling stock, which required the additional space available at Ferrymead.[12] The Ferrymead site was provided by the Heathcote County Council.[11] By October 1966 work was well under way to convert the site into a heritage museum.[13]

Financial issues

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Over the following decades, a number of other historical preservation groups came to join the park, and it grew steadily.[12] However, from the very beginning it struggled to remain financially stable. It relied almost entirely on fundraising and volunteers from member organisations contributing their time and expertise to maintain the exhibits.[12] It was initially intended to become a tourist attraction and fund itself through ticket sales, but tourists to Christchurch did not show any interest in visiting the site.[12] Additionally, many of the organisations that moved to the park were not interested in supporting it as a commercial tourist venture; rather, they saw it as a convenient place to have clubrooms and store equipment.[12] This meant exhibits were open at uncoordinated times, or for only a few hours a week, limiting the interest of the park to public visitors.[12]

The park continued to struggle financially through the 1980s and 1990s.[14] In 1985 park management proposed a levy on Christchurch ratepayers to fund the park, though this would have required an act of parliament[15] and never eventuated. In 1995, the financial issues came to a head, and the trust that oversaw the park turned to the Christchurch City Council for help. In February 1996, the park was placed under interim management, and later the same year a deal was struck. Under this deal, the council would purchase a large portion of the park land, and then vest 8 hectares (20 acres) back to the park trust for their use.[16] This effectively served as a bailout of the park to pay off their debt in exchange for the council acquiring the land. The council would also adopt responsibility for park management. The move was controversial among the societies that operated at the park, with some seeing it as a secret plan to eventually close the park and sell the land.[17] The deal ultimately went through, and the park remained open.[16]

As of 2024 the governance structure of the park is complex.[18] At the top level the park is operated by the Ferrymead Trust, with day-to-day operations handled by Ferrymead Park Ltd, which is wholly owned by the trust. The trust also represents the 15 non-profit societies that operate at the park.[18]

In 2024 the park again came up against major financial difficulties, this time attributed to low public attendance in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic.[18] The park was given a grant of NZ$400,000 by the Christchurch City Council to remain operating.[18] After a change in management at the trust, several board members resigned, apparently in protest of planned changes to make the park more profitable.[18] Executive director Jarrod Coburn said that the park had to become "more than just a men's shed."[18]

Member societies

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View from a tram of a Ferrymead Heritage Centre sign

The following societies are currently active:

  • Canterbury Centre for Historic Photography & Film Inc.
  • Canterbury Railway Society Inc. (operators of the 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge Ferrymead Railway)
  • Diesel Traction Group Inc.
  • Ferrymead Aeronautical Society Inc.
  • Ferrymead Post and Telegraph Historical Society Inc. (with display of early Rotary system automatic telephone exchange)
  • Ferrymead Printing Society Inc.
  • Fire Services Historical Society Inc.
  • Friends of Ferrymead Fraternity Inc.
  • Garden City Model Railroad Club Inc.
  • Heathcote Studios Theatrical Society Inc.
  • Lions Club of Ferrymead Inc.
  • Radio Preservation Society of New Zealand (Ferrymead) Inc. (Radio Ferrymead)
  • Society of Rural History Inc.
  • Tramway Historical Society Inc. (operators of the standard gauge Ferrymead Tramway)

Other societies have come and gone, notably the Ferrymead Military Museum Society. Heathcote Studios Theatrical Society is the most recent member.

Geography

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The park is in the Heathcote Valley. Being close to the sea and low-lying, it was historically subjected to frequent flooding. A major event was the "Wahine Storm" of 1968, in which a large part of the site, then in embryonic development, was under water. This is no longer a major issue due to the filling of large parts of the site. Since the active involvement of the CCC began in the mid-1990s, flood and stormwater management have been implemented in the park and surrounding lands. The major project of the Heathcote Valley Park aims to integrate these along with the development of wildlife habitat areas and native plantings.

In the days of being managed by the Heathcote County Council, prior to local government amalgamation of 1989, part of the site was used as a rubbish dump. The raised location known as "Woods Hill" was formed artificially by the large-scale compacting of refuse dumped there over a number of years. This area is rather unstable land and buildings constructed there without appropriate foundations have been damaged by subsidence. The Tamaki Brothers of Rotorua received substantial CCC assistance to construct a tourist Māori village on the site, which opened in 2007.

Radio Ferrymead

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Radio Ferrymead is a radio station operated by the Radio Preservation Society (RPS) in Christchurch, New Zealand. The RPS is a non-profit incorporated society based at the Ferrymead Heritage Park, whose aim is to collect, preserve and display radio and radio related historical items. The station normally broadcasts from Friday 8.00am through until Monday midnight and from 8.00am to 6.00pm during Statutory and Christmas/New Year Holidays. The studio is open to the public on weekends between 10.00 am to 4.30 pm. Live broadcasts are done by volunteers during daytime and automated music plays at night.

The station broadcasts a mix of historical musical recordings from dancebands, stage, screen, radio and television covering music from the 1930s to the 1980s. The station transmits on 1413 kHz AM at 900W from a nearby aerial, and its historic call sign was 3XP. The station plays music from 78rpm recordings as well as vinyl LPs and 45s, compact discs, cassette tapes, reel-to-reel tapes and automated mp3 music on computer.[19]

See also

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References

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Bibliography

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  • "Ferrymead Railway and Heritage Park", Engineering New Zealand, archived from the original on 26 August 2023, retrieved 5 November 2024

Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d "Careful restoration and return to the past", The Press, p. 8, 22 March 1978, retrieved 7 November 2024
  2. ^ "Vintage Locomotives To Stay In South Island", Press, p. 16, 17 March 1964, retrieved 7 November 2024
  3. ^ "Two Sites Considered For Museum Of Science", The Press, p. 14, 28 April 1964, retrieved 7 November 2024
  4. ^ "Museum Of Science", The Press, p. 14, 23 September 1964, retrieved 7 November 2024
  5. ^ "MUSEUM OF SCIENCE: Opening Date Decided", The Press, p. 10, 14 June 1965, retrieved 7 November 2024
  6. ^ "MUSEUM OF SCIENCE: Vandals Delay Opening", The Press, p. 14, 18 November 1965, retrieved 7 November 2024
  7. ^ "Science Museum Opened", The Press, p. 21, 28 March 1966, retrieved 7 November 2024
  8. ^ Philp, Matt (Spring 2024). Dunlop, Anna (ed.). "Park life". Heritage New Zealand. No. 174. Heritage New Zealand. pp. 45–46. ISSN 1175-9615. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  9. ^ "Museum Suggested For Ferrymead Site", Press, p. 22, 22 October 1964, retrieved 7 November 2024
  10. ^ "Ferry mead Park Planned", The Press, p. 14, 26 May 1966, retrieved 7 November 2024
  11. ^ a b "PLAN FOR BIGGER SCIENCE MUSEUM", The Press, p. 10, 1 June 1966, retrieved 7 November 2024
  12. ^ a b c d e f Sinclair, Roy (16 October 1987), "Time to pull together or fall to bits?", The Press, p. 13, retrieved 7 November 2024
  13. ^ "FERRYMEAD PROGRESS", The Press, p. 16, 7 October 1966, retrieved 7 November 2024
  14. ^ "Ferrymead park 'suffers from decay in 1990s'", The Press, 16 June 1998, retrieved 7 November 2024 – via Proquest
  15. ^ "Ferrymead hopes to levy rates", Press, p. 9, 17 April 1985, retrieved 7 November 2024
  16. ^ a b Christchurch City Council (1996), Ferrymead Historic Park Land Issues (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2023
  17. ^ Henzell, John (11 July 1996), "Groups split over Ferrymead future", The Press, retrieved 7 November 2024 – via Proquest
  18. ^ a b c d e f Harvie, Will (10 May 2024), "Ferrymead Heritage Park has to be 'more than just a men's shed'", The Press, retrieved 7 November 2024
  19. ^ Radio Ferrymead
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