Actually its two weeks of heritage for Auckland with many many tours, exhibitions in every suburb of the city - about 20 alone in Ponsonby. Last week we went to a concert in All Saints Church Ponsonby with the Leys Institute Orchestra playing an interesting collectyion of shorter and longer pieces that would have been played at the time of the orchestra's inception, a hundred years ago, using their collection of sheet music. The conductor found an old manuscript of the score of a march, Haeremai March by Raimund Pechotsch and it is surmised that this could have been the first performance. The composer was originally Austrian and had various positions in NZ and Australia. He fostered the musical career of his notorious son, Eric Mareo who owas embroiled in 1he 1936 murder of his wife over her friendship with Freda Stark, another Ponsonby identity, who was one of the Civic dancers of the day.
This morning we went on a tour of Allendale House, now home of othe ASB Charitable Trust and one of Ponsonby's original stately homes, complete with stables and a turret with a wonderful view in all directions. Since its original purpose as a family home, it has been a private hosptal, a boarding house, a residential home for alcoholics, doctor's surgery , and before the ASB took it over, an upmarket restaurant, Orsini's. Some of the slate shingles remain from the early days, the old ceilings are intact, complete with ceiling roses and the most beautiful red stained glass windows. The place was a hive of beneficent activity this morning, with meetings taking place, office workers deciding on grants etc . The rooms are all furnished nicely with lovely NZ art works, most of them prints by such people as Stanley Palmer and Michel Tuffery. There was the most wonderful quilt with a Pacifica theme, with sections done by various ethnic groups under the direction of Carole Shepherd, artist and book maker whose courses I have done at times at Art Station. I think it was done when the Commonweath Games were held in Auckland and another one was gifted to Canada for the following Commonwealth Games.
I met a various nice Japanese woman there, she said she was a visitor and was housesitting in Ponsonby for 3 weeks, in John Street, 2 streets along from us, so I offered to show her my Ponsonby haunts on our way home.
First we went to Art Station, which was of course the old Ponsonby Police Stations complete with cells. It is the school holidays so there were children's art classes taking place. There was also a wonderful exhibition by Waterview resident and artist, Zoe Nash who mounted her exhibition in a bid to stop annexation of park and wild life habitat for a section of roading linking the area with Mt Roskill.
Looked briefly at the old wall next to Art Station which when we first moved to Auckland in 1957 was still the Reservoir and held water for that part of Auckland. Wow, that is 50 years ago. How old is she!
Then we walked along past the top end of Western Park, admired the old brick facades, looked at the window displays in such iconic shops as Bhana Brothers, and Superior Meats, and one of the cafes whose name escapes me to look at their display of old glass and pottery, not to mention its yummy old fashioned baking.
Which reminds me I did some of my own recently walnut drops, from the Fielder's recipe book of the 1950s and Soldier's wives biscuits from my mother's Aunt Daisy cookbook of the 1940s, I presume.
Which also reminds me, did I ever tell you I am related to David Livingstone ( I presume). He is my great, great, great uncle, related by marriage only, on my grandmother's side of the family. Her father or grandfather were McLachlans from Glasgow. They settled in Kaiapoi and there is a Hugh Street there, which was my great grandfather's name. I think he was a roading contractor.
Well I digress, it seems. Carried on our walk down through Tole Park and home to 95 Clarence St for coffee and guided tour of the house and its various collections of memorabilia of our lives up until now, minus those things gone Trademe Way.
Next instalment will be of our trip to Vietnam so watch this space.
This morning we went on a tour of Allendale House, now home of othe ASB Charitable Trust and one of Ponsonby's original stately homes, complete with stables and a turret with a wonderful view in all directions. Since its original purpose as a family home, it has been a private hosptal, a boarding house, a residential home for alcoholics, doctor's surgery , and before the ASB took it over, an upmarket restaurant, Orsini's. Some of the slate shingles remain from the early days, the old ceilings are intact, complete with ceiling roses and the most beautiful red stained glass windows. The place was a hive of beneficent activity this morning, with meetings taking place, office workers deciding on grants etc . The rooms are all furnished nicely with lovely NZ art works, most of them prints by such people as Stanley Palmer and Michel Tuffery. There was the most wonderful quilt with a Pacifica theme, with sections done by various ethnic groups under the direction of Carole Shepherd, artist and book maker whose courses I have done at times at Art Station. I think it was done when the Commonweath Games were held in Auckland and another one was gifted to Canada for the following Commonwealth Games.
I met a various nice Japanese woman there, she said she was a visitor and was housesitting in Ponsonby for 3 weeks, in John Street, 2 streets along from us, so I offered to show her my Ponsonby haunts on our way home.
First we went to Art Station, which was of course the old Ponsonby Police Stations complete with cells. It is the school holidays so there were children's art classes taking place. There was also a wonderful exhibition by Waterview resident and artist, Zoe Nash who mounted her exhibition in a bid to stop annexation of park and wild life habitat for a section of roading linking the area with Mt Roskill.
Looked briefly at the old wall next to Art Station which when we first moved to Auckland in 1957 was still the Reservoir and held water for that part of Auckland. Wow, that is 50 years ago. How old is she!
Then we walked along past the top end of Western Park, admired the old brick facades, looked at the window displays in such iconic shops as Bhana Brothers, and Superior Meats, and one of the cafes whose name escapes me to look at their display of old glass and pottery, not to mention its yummy old fashioned baking.
Which reminds me I did some of my own recently walnut drops, from the Fielder's recipe book of the 1950s and Soldier's wives biscuits from my mother's Aunt Daisy cookbook of the 1940s, I presume.
Which also reminds me, did I ever tell you I am related to David Livingstone ( I presume). He is my great, great, great uncle, related by marriage only, on my grandmother's side of the family. Her father or grandfather were McLachlans from Glasgow. They settled in Kaiapoi and there is a Hugh Street there, which was my great grandfather's name. I think he was a roading contractor.
Well I digress, it seems. Carried on our walk down through Tole Park and home to 95 Clarence St for coffee and guided tour of the house and its various collections of memorabilia of our lives up until now, minus those things gone Trademe Way.
Next instalment will be of our trip to Vietnam so watch this space.
