Manawatū Heritage

Roger Berry: Life as a vet, part 2 - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio 26th February 2019. Roger Berry part 2 of 3. Farm equipment for handling animals. Injuries? Hours worked. Limited free time. Rugby. Small animal vets. Dentists. Working weekends. Callout distances. Phone exchanges helping. Office staff. Vet nurses. Limited social life. Cricket, church. Rural school activities. Squash club. Carnival, 1956. Manfeild. Marriage aged 30. Dance hall in Palmerston North. Other dances. Alcohol, flagons in the car. Smoking. Cinema. Vet Club buying a house for him to rent. Bought land and built a house in 1981

Margaret Beere, 1950s childhood in Palmerston North - Manawatu Conversations

Braodcast on Manawatu People's Radio, 30 October 2018. Margaret Beere. Summary: 1951 to State House in Ross Block (now Roslyn), could buy. “Ross Block kids”. Primary schools, zoning. Then Intermediate, long way to go. Get meat from butcher first thing in the morning. Bread delivered (leave basket out). Milk and groceries delivered. Meals. Desserts. Bread going stale. Intermediate School very big. Many green areas, kids playing. Mr Gardner(?)’s pool. Library in old Ross homestead. Radio. Radiogram for music. Had male teachers at intermediate. Behaviour at school. Punishment at Terrace End. Changes in town since 1950s. Regent cinema booked seats. Railway in the Square.

Reg Bridewell on Bridewell's Bakery - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio 8 January 2019. Reg Bridewell. Summary: Grandfather came to NZ in 1929 and set up a bakery in Palmerston North. Bakeries had zones. Self-help shops. Home deliveries, horse and cart, then a van after the war. First bakery in Victoria Avenue and Main Street (photo of this). Baking in brick oven heated with wood shavings. Horses in a paddock. Description of the oven. Grandfather’s lost recipe book. White and wholemeal bread only. More variety with electric ovens. Barracuda loaf. Working hours. New equipment after the war. Rationing supplies. Horses knowing the route. Now centralized, takeovers. Baking in Auckland. Boniface’s Bakery. Better quality now. Homestyle and Freshbake brands. “Improvers” added to the flour. Original bakery still standing.

Eric Franklyn, work and leisure part 2 - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu people's Radio 14 August 2018, Eric Franklyn Part 2 of 2. Summary: Made redundant and retired in 1998. Takaro Sports Club. Time in JCs. Changes in courts. Treasurer of Takaro Sports Club for 13 or 14 years until recently. Gaming machines, improvements to club. Skills of public servants. Viability of clubs, falling membership. Climbing Mount Taranaki/Egmont. School days. Discipline. Teachers. NCEA.

Bev Quinn, hospice - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio 23 October 2018. Bev Quinn. Summary: What is Hospice? How got into hospice – other nursing training and experience, including UK and Zimbabwe, district nursing in Palmerston North. Setting up the PN Hospice. Increased demand and changing nature of care, more in own homes now, palliative care nurses. Funding. Fundraising methods. Emotional involvement. Certification and accreditation. Activities for patients. Families staying over. Animals. Recording life stories. 8

Owen Dolan, missionary, bishop part 2 - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio 9 October 2018. Owen Dolan. Part 2 of 2. Summary: Missionary in Peru, other posts. Bishop from 1995. Role of bishop. Problems in the church. Catholic Church in NZ. Catholic schools. Debutant balls. Music in childhood. Bishops’ synods. Oscar Romero canonization. Changes in the Church. NZ focus? Priests from overseas. Celibacy.

Roger Berry: Life as a vet, part 1 - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio 19th February 2019. Roger Berry, Part 1 of 3. Training as a vet at Sydney University. Came to Feilding in 1953. Veterinary Clubs. Training selection process. 5 year bonding and repaying financial assistance. No vet training in New Zealand then. Nature of training. Far more vets now. Increased focus on herd health. Shift from sheep to dairy. 1976 scholarship for overseas study. Improved monitoring now, but farmers then could spot a lot. Robotic milking. Memorable incident. Position of vet in social structure. “Ram alley”. Small animal clinic in Kimbolton Road. Horse work.

Lorraine Holtham; Her life in Palmerston North, part 2 - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio 12th February 2019. Lorraine Holtham, Part 2 of 5. Intermediate school. Enjoyed school. Bike to school. Swimming sports. Subjects taken. Headmaster riding bike inside. Schools with swimming pools. Mother making clothes. High school: shorthand and typing. Male teachers in military uniform. Headmistress. Learning to touch-type. Lack of further education, difficulty going to university. History focus on England. Left school when turned 15. Father had retired (wounded in WWI), so tight time. Larger families then.

Dennis Quinn, architect part 2 - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio 27 November 2018. Dennis Quinn Part 2 of 2. Summary: Coming to Palmerston North. Why moved here. Projects, telephone exchange. Range of work. Interaction with clients. Operation of contracts, role of architect, problems that arose. Registration. Changed work environment, competition, computerization. Drawing skills. Now drawing may be done offshore. Women architects.

Ann Behrens, teacher, part 2 - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio 4 September 2018. Ann Behrens, Part 2 of 2. Summary: Coming to Palmerston North with a young family. Teaching at St Joseph’s. Comparison to St Dominic’s in Dunedin. No problem having a young child with her. History teaching. Playcentre and then the Psychological Service of the Education Service. Before the time of ADHD. Only woman in the service. Problems with their building. Became a manager, mainly of early childhood work. Management approach changed, “the era of managers”. Hobbies, family history. Germany and Norway. German submarine. Grandmother Scottish and a trained midwife (unusual in early 1900s). Why happy to stay in Palmerston North. Scandinavians in this area.

Abbeyfield residents - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Access Manawatu, 5 June 2018, Abbeyfield residents talk about Abbeyfield, a residence offering “senior flatting”. Summary: Part of a global system, started in England, 13 in New Zealand. Semi-independent living. Comparison to retirement village or rest home. Gardens. Why they came to Abbeyfield. Run by volunteers. National structure, establishment of new centres. Council donated the land, built by the army. New residents’ adjusting.

Dennis Quinn, architect part 1 - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio 20 November 2018. Dennis Quinn. Part 1 of 2. Summary: Architect in Palmerston North from 1979. Earlier life, Wanganui, then university. Why architecture? Bursary scheme. Work in New Zealand, then to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) for 2 years. Situation there. Architecture work, including UK, comparisons. Return to NZ, hiring and employment observations. Earthquake requirements.

Lorraine Holtham: Her life in Palmerston North, part 1 - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio 5th February 2019. Lorraine Holtham, Part 1 of 5. Born in Palmerston North in 1935. Lived towards top of Albert Street, private rental. State housing beginning then. Trotting stables next door. Description of house. 6 children, 4 rooms, getting inside bathroom. Coal range in kitchen. Moved into state house later. Father worked for council, mother house cleaning. Everyone poor. Penny ice creams. Growing food. Singer sewing machine. Primary school experience.

Andy Asquith, e-voting - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio 29 January 2019. Andy Asquith. Summary: A move towards e-voting. From in-person to postal and now perhaps electronic. Method does not tackle key issue of turnout. Security of result. Disengagement. Knowledge about candidates, issues. Career politicians. E-voting omits debating stage. Information through soundbites. Preference for entertainment. Councillors have governance and representative roles. First past the post versus Single transferable vote (FPP v STV). Importance of civics education.

Mike Behrens, lawyer, judge - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio 9 November 2018. Mike Behrens, Part 2 of 2. Summary: Appeared for the defense in well-known criminal cases. Difficulties with this. Lundy, John la Roche. Case where concerned about the result. Ongoing effects of cases, some affected people not moving on. Victim impact statements. Court action, witnesses, theatricals. Summing up. Cameras in court. Expertise of juries. Expert advisors and witnesses. TV representation of the law. Treatment of prisoners. White collar crime. Sensible Sentencing Trust. Rehabilitation. Circuit. Retirement.

Colin Dyer, Palmerston North Showgrounds part 2 - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio 18 December 2018. Colin Dyer Part 2 of 2. Summary: Many Showgrounds events in the 1990s. League test where ran out of balls. National image of Palmerston North. Team announcement after All Black trial. Tina Turner concerts, bomb threat. Other evacuations. Growth of venue management as a skill. Parallel growth of sports management. Personalities – Rob Muldoon, sports people. Tipene O’Regan, Frank Endacott, Kereyn Smith, Prince Andrew.

Kathy Buurman, Maori childhood on 1950s Foxton dairy farm - Manawatū Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatū People's Radio on 15th October 2019. Born in Foxton, on dairy farm, 1950s, 212 cows. Transformed from gorse and lupin. Aorangi Marae, Feilding. Maori roots. Holidays with grandparents. Mother worked in administration at Massey University. Mother looked fair, but understood Maori. Mixed community at school, generally seen as the norm. Enjoyed school, more to play than to work. One teacher was very strict. Maori children picked out. School for her children was different – more choices, punishment different. Social events for the whole family. Musical family. Effects of mother working in 1950s. Working on the farm, ploughing at 11 or 12. Father injured in a car accident, never returned to the farm.

Bob Lawrence, early life - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio, 31 July 2018. Bob Lawrence. Summary: Rugby player at school. Evacuated during World War Two. Guns firing across the English Channel. Dunkirk evacuation. War experience. University (17 when left school, so not National Service). Father was a driver. Conscripted after university. Fleet Air Arm, met. officer.

Anne Cheer, adult life - Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio 24 July 2018. Anne Cheer Part 2 of 2. Summary: Teachers College, Ardmore. April 1st pranks. Accommodation. Activities. Teaching. Rose to Assistant Principal. Pupils changing, less respect later. Changes with Tomorrows Schools. Pay. Working when a mother, child care. Retirement age. Reading recovery teaching. Living in a retirement village.

Paul McRae, early family experience in New Zealand, Manawatu Conversations

Broadcast on Access Manawatu, 8 May 2018, with Paul McRae (b. 1932). Part 1 of 2. Summary: Great grandmother in NZ in mid-1850s, brought a still to Hokonui and made whisky. ([https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/hokonui-moonshine/](https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/hokonui-moonshine/)). Father in police force. Moved around a lot in childhood. (Hammering noise in background). Schooling in Palmerston North. Boxing. Trawling for flounder.

Manawatū Conversations - Oral History

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