Ponsonby

Went up the road this morning on our Tuesday off and took in an exhibition at the Leys Institute Library in the Downstairs Reading Room on Ponsonby before the Harbour Bridge, which was completed in 1959 I think.

Apart from very old photos of St Marys Bay, Curran Street, trams and Trolley buses there were a number of photos showing the final stages of the bridge project with the central archway being barged out and linking the city with the North Shore. When the bridge was opened people had the opportunity to walk over the bridge one Sunday . Many Aucklanders availed themselves of the once in a lifetime chance including me and some of my schoolfriends.

That downstairs reading room was formerly the non-fiction part of the children's library which was also opened round about 1959. I can remember going there every day after school.

The picture of the Ponsonby Post Office looks a little drab. In recent years it was refurbished and nicely painted and then even more recently it was done up again and is now a Belgian pub with apartments on the top storey.