There had been ideas to have a windmill at Ferrymead right from the start of the project: Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31135, 11 August 1966, Page 14
Although the development of the science museum will be the major part of the scheme, the committee's immediate aim is to raise funds to buy land and build the first of a series of buildings. These will eventually include halls of science and space, transport, communications and community services, agriculture and food technology, and industry and power. The steering committee hopes to include a six-storey reproduction of Canterbury's first windmill and to lay out the extensive grounds as a permanent outdoor exhibition with its own railway station and with room for the erection or re-erection of large examples of structural and mechanical engineering and the display of large machines, including aircraft.Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31146, 24 August 1966, Page 9
The association has a small pilot museum open at weekends at Garvins road, Hornby.
Mr G. L. Evans, chairman of the steering committee, said that progress was restricted by the amount of money available from Heathcote County Council funds and the limited resources of the member organisations.
Voluntary work was being i done on the site to bring the I land about 2ft above flood I level. This would require ; about 12,000 cubic yards of I soil.
HEATHCOTE BRIDGEPress, Volume CVI, Issue 31376, 23 May 1967, Page 3
Preservation Supported
Any move to have the old Heathcote lift-span bridge retained as part of Ferrymead Historic Park would be endorsed by the Christchurch Civic Trust, the trust board decided on Monday evening. Mr H. G. Royds said the old bridge, now being replaced, was a very graceful and interesting structure when seen from upstream, and it could well remain as a museum piece and part of the Ferrymead project. Miss Rose Reynolds suggested that the bridge could be restored to the point where it could be operated again.
The trust also decided to consider supporting a proposal to build a replica at Ferrymead of a tall windmill which once stood in Antigua street and powered a flour mill.
MONEY FOR FERRYMEADPress, Volume CVIII, Issue 31570, 6 January 1968, Page 16
The Christchurch Civic Trust agreed last evening to accept money from the public for specific work on the Ferrymead historic park and the surrounding area. Mr I. G. B. Wilson said a group of major retailers was prepared to give money, through the trust, for specific things such as the proposed windmill.
RANDOM REMINDERPress, Volume CVIII, Issue 31765, 23 August 1968, Page 14
FUN OF THE FAIR
... today, they can take their children to Ferrymead. There can be few citizens of Christchurch who are not aware of the great project going on there. Ferrymead: no more suitable spot, physically or historically, could be found for the establishment of an area devoted to recreation, and a peep at the past. ... In the years ahead, there is every reason to believe that there will be steam trains for the children to have rides on, steam, horsedrawn and electric trams - with railway stations, a new jetty, boat rides, a heated learners' swimming pool, a shop and tea-room, an old-style windmill, a science and industry museum, and a dozen other attractions for the youngsters, the young in heart, and those interested in the early history of the province. Some of these facilities are available today, when there will be a carnival at Ferrymead to help raise funds for this long-term project. A steam tram and trailers will be running along a track of some 220 yards and there will be no shortage of passengers. An old steam locomotive will be drawing passenger trains on a railway track. There will be a circus and zoo, a ferris wheel, side shows, static displays, jet boat rides on the Heathcote. In other words, magnificent entertainment for men and women of all ages, organised to make possible the creation of a reserve almost without compare. It will be a great day for the family, and for the future.
Trust Needs $345,000Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32763, 13 November 1971, Page 11
The Ferrymead Trust would need at least $345,000 to complete the main development projects envisaged, the chairman (Mr G. L. Evans) said yesterday.
The trust would also need a steady income of between $500 and $1000 a year to cover general running expenses. Mr Evans said that the Railways Department had agreed to lease 12 acres of land to the trust at a peppercorn rental. The agreement came from long negotiations with the department through the Minister (Mr Gordon). The land is in the middle of the Ferrymead site and will be leased for 20 years with a renewal option after 60 years. Mr Evans said the trust had planned 10 major projects which would be developed as money became available. The most ambitious schemes would be a hall of agriculture costing about $100,000 to house early farm equipment, a hall of transport costing about $100,000 to house various forms of transport, and an aircraft hangar costing about $50,000 for vintage aircraft. He said that the trust wanted to provide a heated learners' swimming pool near the Bridle Path Road costing about $30,000. A planned feature of the science museum would be a replica of the first windmill built in Christchurch at an estimated cost of $15,000. A storage workshop costing about $20,000 would be needed for locomotives to be rebuilt by the Railway and Locomotive Society. Exhibits and working equipment of railways would be housed in a building costing about $15,000. Another building estimated to cost $10,000 would be needed to house a large number of horse-drawn vehicles. A miniature railway, children's playground, picnic areas and toilet facilities would cost another $5000. Mr Evans said that there was no shortage of potential development which could be undertaken over many years. As public interest increased, a Ferrymead association would be formed to bring together people with a general interest in developing and promoting the whole project but who did not want to be connected with any particular activity. A large stone shelter is being built near the Bridle Path road and tramlines are being laid by the Tramway Historical Society. Site development is in progress at Trustcotts road in preparation for more buildings.
Ferrymead mill to recapture the spirit of 1850's
(By FAYE BLOXHAM)
One of the most striking landmarks of early Christchurch was a great, white eight-storey windmill, the slatted sails of which "...could be seen for 50 miles around," according to an early description.
That was more than 100 years ago, and the imposing mill which once stood in Antigua Street has long since gone, but if plans at present being formed in the city come to fruition a replica of the Antigua Street windmill is going to rise again this time at Ferrymead.
When it does, though it may never actually grind wheat as its predecessor did, it will be a striking focal point for the Ferrymead Museum of Science and Industry's site. Working drawings are already under way for the windmill tower and sails, which are estimated to cost some $12,000; and when finance is found it will be built beside a small lake at Ferrymead.
Fittingly, the prime mover behind the windmill plan is a descendant of the very miller who brought the original mill to the new colony of Christchurch in the 1850's. Mr Simon Wood, of Cashmere, whose family's associations with the milling industry in Canterbury span four generations, is the great-grand-son of Mr William Derisley Wood, who arrived from England in the Randolph in 1850.
The Wood family were millers in Suffolk; but when the earlier Mr Wood arrived in New Zealand he was for a time secretary to John Robert Godley, and then tried his hand at farming. He took up the Sandhills run which extended from Ferry Road to the Styx River, and upon which now stands several of the city's eastern suburbs. His partner in this venture was Mr Chisnall, both of whose names are expressed in Chinallwood School, Aranui.
The family calling to milling was strong, however, and during a brief return visit to England in 1854 Mr William Wood bought from the famous millwright firm of Whitmore and Binyon the components of an eight-storey, timbered windmill.Suffolk mills
"My great - grandfather came from a long line of millers," said Mr Simon Wood. "He had been working at a water-mill in Great Blakenham, in Suffolk. In that part of England, with the good breeze off the North Sea, there were then many windmills. If you stood on top of any hill you could probably see 10 or 12, and he grew up in these surroundings."
During his visit home Mr William Wood married, and with both wife and windmill, he set out once more for Canterbury.
Meanwhile, back in Christchurch, Mr Chisnall had bought a section in Antigua Street (that now occupied by New Zealand Breweries, Ltd). Mr Wood bought this from his former partner, sold half of it; and on the rest built his windmill, which first produced flour in 1856.
The mill was understandably a striking sight on the flat and sparsely settled plain. Not only was it a landmark for miles around, but it changed the name of a street for years. Antigua Street was long known as Windmill Road, and was even marked as such on some old maps, Mr Simon Wood said. Only after the mill had gone did the street revert to its planned name.
But impressive though it was, the mill was apparently only a partial success. Wind there often was in plenty - the sails were specially slatted to spill excessively strong gales and so lessen the fire danger from a buildup of friction heat - but it was not consistent.Calm nights
"To be economical, milling must be a 24-hour a day process; here in Christchurch we often get calm and windless nights," said Mr Wood. Though he has no written record, he feels that this was the reason his great-grand-father built a water-powered mill on the Avon River in 1861. In 1863 he sold the windmill to Mr John Leith, of Leithfield. The task of shifting the big mill the 23 miles north to its new site would have been formidable with all the engineering and mechanical resources of today: then, using horses and bullocks, with poor roads and an open ferry across the Waimakariri River, the immensity of the task can raise only admiration for those doughty pioneers.
In his possession, Mr Simon Wood has a vivid account of how it was done. It is contained in "A History of a Wind-Driven Flourmill in Canterbury," written in 1941 by Dr F. W. Hilgendorf, then director of the Wheat Research Institute. In it Dr Hilgendorf quotes from a newspaper cutting from the 1920s, in which the son of the teamster involved recalls the episode.
At the time of the shift (which according to this account took place in 1866), James Ashworth was a lad in his teens, and his father, also James, was a cartage contractor at Glenmark and other North Canterbury stations.Contract let
The contract to move the mill was let by Mr Leith to the firm of Anderson and Sharp, who built a special trolley, and employed James (senior) to provide the teams to pull it. The mill was laid bodily on the trolley, and Mr Ashworth provided "twelve high-class horses..." to draw it, Dr Hilgendorf writes.
These moved the mill easily on the good roads of Christchurch. Guy ropes from the mill were held by three men who marched beside the mill throughout the whole journey.
The top of the load was 8ft higher than the telegraph wires across the road, and these had to be moved whenever they were encountered.
The mill travelled along Oxford Terrace, and crossed the Avon at the Colombo Street bridge. Here two of the iron tyres on the trolley burst, but were repaired "within a day or two."
On Papanui Road the trolley sank through the road surface, but was packed up and released. It bogged down again badly at Chaney's; and to haul it out and keep it moving a further 14 horses - this time "mostly nondescripts" - were secured, and the 26 horses managed to get the mill to Felton's Ferry, on the bank of the Waimakariri River.
Here there were serious doubts whether the ferry could carry the load, and the whole entourage had to wait for four days for dead calm conditions. Finally the trolley and mill were loaded, and with only 3in of freeboard, the ferry crept across the river.
With the prospect of softer roads ahead, the place of the horse team was then taken by 36 bullocks; hauled by these, the trolley continued its journey, negotiating the Ashley River ford, and the then incomplete Saltwater Creek bridge without incident.
"There was great excitement on the arrival of the mill at Leithfield," Dr Hilgendorf writes. "Some settler paid out the case of champagne he had wagered against the success of the haulage contract.
"Within 50 yards of the new mill site however, the contractors retired to the shade of the bankruptcy court, and Ashworth lost ÂŁ250 that he had paid for the hire of horses and bullocks."
The site chosen for the mill at Leithfield was known as The Mound, a river-separated fragment of the terrace formation in the district. A ramp was built with spoil dug from a section of the top of The Mound, and from the road the mill was handwinched up to the excavated shelf some 6ft below the hill's original top.
But the saga was not yet done: to bring the mill erect again, beams were passed through the top windows, and from these, ropes travelled to a derrick: twice the ropes broke and the mill fell flat again, before, on the third attempt, it was brought upright at last.The Mound
There are still memories and reminders of the mill in Leithfield, though the structure itself has long since vanished. Members of the Ashworth family still live in the district, and know the story of the mill well. The present Mr James Ashworth is the great grandson of the teamster James, and recently he pointed out the remaining signs of the mill.
The Mound is still there, now crowned by tall bluegum trees, and the ramp still forms access to its summit. The two levels of The Mound's top are now thickly turfed, but faintly discernible on the lower shelf is a slightly raised, circular area and some almost obscured concrete which is doubtless the remnant of the mill's foundation identified by Dr Hilgendorf in 1941. Now only a dog kennel occupies the commanding site.
A small depression nearby is almost certainly the well, now filled, which was sunk in the mill's time to provide water for a steam engine. Wind power here, too, evidently proved erratic, and Dr Hilgendorf writes that an engine was finally installed to provide additional power.
Mr Ashworth also knew of one more relic of the mill which still exists in the district. One of his neighbours, he said, had a walking stick which was carved from one of the mill's sails ... And there, at the nearby home of Mr W. J. Russell, this treasured family heirloom was to be found, with its closegrained, polished wood and knobbed top, lacking only the silver mounting it had once had - made from a melted shilling.
"My father was most upset when he lost that," recalled Mr Russell, who can also remember his father telling him of trips he made to the mill with wheat as a boy during the 1870's.
"He said he'd been all the way down there in a dray with the wheat, sometimes, and then had to come home again with no flour because there was no wind to turn the mill," Mr Russell said.
It was evidently such episodes as these that lead to the installation of the steam engine.
The walking stick had been carved for his father by a Mr Alec Trail, Mr Russell said; and though he is not sure exactly when, he believes it would have been about the turn of the century.
Although neither Mr Ashworth or Mr Russell knows of any other objects made from parts of the mill, some could well exist: a skilled wood-turner who appreciated good timber would probably not have stopped at one walking stick when there was such a plentiful supply of raw material handy.
Certainly the mill went somewhere; no-one seems to know exactly when or how. Probably some portions are serving unrecognised in fences or local buildings, said Mr Ashworth.
The last definite record of any part of it is described by Dr Hilgendorf. His research shows that the stones were taken from the Leithfield mill for a new water-mill which worked at Amberley until 1903 and was dismantled about 1905.
[Long section about the Relocation of the mill to Leithfield].
Even if the new mill cannot be a working model its external details will be authentic in every way, right to the turning of its four great sails. For both financial and practical reasons it might be impossible to install the necessary machinery, said Mr Wood. He has met, and still corresponds with, one of the remaining windmill experts in the world, an Englishman, Mr Rex Whales.
Whatever the new mill's interior will contain — and the possibility of a restaurant in it has been put forward - Mr Wood hopes to see it under way within the next two years.
"Working plans are now being prepared by a Dutch engineer in the North Island, and as soon as we have sufficient money we will get under way," he said.
For four years Mr Wood was chairman of the Ferrymead Museum of Science and Industry, and still retains a keen interest in it. He believes that the new windmill will be as great a landmark on the plain at Ferrymead as its ancestor once was in the infant settlement of Christchurch.
Plans for the replica were reinvigorated around 1974. Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33531, 11 May 1974, Page 1
The same day's paper carried a public notice advertising for volunteers to work on the project: Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33531, 11 May 1974, Page 17PLANS FOR MILL IN THE WIND
Plans for a $20,000 replica of the eight-storey windmill that stood in Antigua Street from 1856 to 1861 are being made by the Ferrymead Trust.
The trust is calling for 50 volunteers to plan, finance, build, and run a full-size reproduction of the windmill at Ferrymead.
The chairman of the trust (Mr S. H. Wood) said yesterday that drawings were being made from the original design, and although the total cost was not yet known, it was likely to exceed $20,000.
Attempts would be made to get grinding machinery and the flour would be used in the bakery at Ferrymead, he said.
Mr Wood said there were many millstones buried in a Christchurch driveway, and some of these would be suitable.
"The original mill was a standard export model manufactured by Whitmore and Binyon, of England, and was of a very advanced design,” he said.
It stood in Antigua Street for five years from 1856, and was moved to Leithfield when it was found Christchurch winds were insufficient to drive the grinding machinery the necessary 24 hours a day. A water-powered mill was constructed in 1862 — Flemings mill in Riccarton, which still stands today.
This mill stands on the proposed site for the new Christchurch Girl's High School.
Mr Wood is a descendant of the miller who brought the original mill to Christchurch. His family's associations with the milling industry in Canterbury span four generations.
The original mill was sited in Antigua Street on a site now occupied by New Zealand Breweries, Ltd. In fact, Antigua Street was at one time known as Windmill* Road. The mill was sold to Mr John Leith, of Leithfield, in 1863.
The shift took place in 1866 — three years later — and, the contract to move the mill was let to the firm of Anderson and Sharp. The special trolley built for the job was pulled by 12 horses. Later, 14 more horses were added to help drag the trolley and its load over the bad roads and through fords.
The move posed such difficulties that the contractors were reported to have “retired to the shade of the Bankruptcy Court” when the mill was within 50 yards of its new site. The mill was erected on a site called "The Mound” after two abortive attempts to hoist it into position.
It was demolished about 1880, and at last report the site was marked only by gum trees and a dog kennel. The millstones were used in a water-mill at Amberlev until 1903.
1856 WINDMILL
THE FERRYMEAD TRUST wishes to form a special purpose group of 50 volunteers to plan, finance, build and operate at Ferrymead a full scale reproduction of the Eight Storey Christchurch Windmill, formerly in Antigua Street from 1856 to 1861. A meeting will be called next month for those returning this slip to—
WINDMILL PROJECT, PO. Box 651. CHRISTCHURCH.
I AM INTERESTED in the Ferrymead Windmill Project.
Name: ........
Address: ........
Telephone No ........
NOTE. —(If you wish) any special knowledge, interest or skill that might be useful: ........
The plans were later changed to centre on using the relocated Lyttleton signal tower as a base. There were very similar stories on this plan, over the course of 3 years - perhaps the signal tower was not taken out of use as quickly as expected.
Press, 26 November 1976, Page 17Press, 21 July 1977, Page 1New life for old tower
Lyttelton's signal tower may have been superseded by containerisation, but it will be a welcome addition for the Ferrymead Trust.
This old tower — which for many years has graced the eastern mole at the entrance to Lyttelton Harbour — was to have become redundant once it was replaced by a glass tower on top of the new container terminal administration building.
However, some bright soul in the Ferrymead Trust noticed that its dimensions were almost exactly those of the old Woods Brothers windmill, which stood in Antigua Street between 1852 and 1861.
As a result, the Lyttelton Harbour Board was approached and asked if it would consider handing over the building to the trust, so that it could be restored as a replica of the old Christchurch landmark.
The board's port development committee has approved the trust's request.
The trust's president (Mr Simon Wood) said the tower would be erected on what is now the Heathcote rubbish dump. The whole area would be developed as a forest park, he said, and the windmill would be a focal point.
The mill will be used to grind wheat into wholemeal flour, which will be used in the trust's already completed bakery.
Press, 14 January 1978, Page 2Cable car to 'Rubbish Hill'
By LES BLOXHAMCompromise can be a beautiful thing; it can also be a heap of rubbish. For months the Heathcote County Council and the Ferrymead Trust have been at odds over the dump that has been creeping towards the historic park. The trust has pressed for the dump to be closed; the council wants to keep it open for as long as possible. At the week-end, however, both parties reached a compromise. Half the site will be closed immediately. Over the other half, the trust hopes to see a mountain of rubbish grow — so that it can run a cable car to the summit. The County Engineer (Mr R. Anderson) confirmed yesterday that the area of the dump nearest to Bridle Path Road would be built up to a height of 10 to 12 metres. He estimated that the hill might take as Jong as a year to "mature". After the area had been covered with clay and soil, it would be landscaped and planted, and given time to consolidate, he said. Then the Tramway Historical Society will move in to lay tracks and cables for its old Dunedin cable car to trundle over from Bridle Path Road to the top of "Rubbish Hill." But more than the dump will have to be raised before all this becomes a reality Mr S. H. Wood, chairman of the trust, said that about $lO,OOO would be needed to get the car working. It is at present being restored to its former glory by Mr T. Craib, of Avoca Valley — a task which already has taken him the best part of five years. The car was originally one of seven on the Kaikourai Valley line from 1902 until 1951. The half of the 4.3 hectare dump which the council has agreed to immediately release to the trust will be fenced and planted with shrubs and trees as soon as possible. It will be on this area — on the northern side overlooking the Ferrymead railway — that an eight-storey windmill which stood in Antigua Street from 1856 to 1861 will be rebuilt. Mr Wood, who is a descendant of the miller who brought the mill to Christchurch, said that the Lyttelton Harbour Board's old control tower on Gladstone Pier would be used as framework. “We found it was just the right size,” he said. Piles have already been driven for the mill, but Mr Wood said the trust would be unable to dismantle the tower until the Harbour Board had commissioned its new one.
The Ferrymead Trust has discovered that the Lyttelton signal tower (photograph above) has almost exactly the same dimensions as the old Woods Brothers windmill which stood in Antigua Street in Christchurch between 1852 and 1861. The trust has the blessing of the Lyttelton Harbour Board to take the tower and transform it into a windmill. The signal tower, which for many years has been on Lyttelton Harbour's eastern mole, has played a vital part in the safe, efficient control of shipping. But its days on the waterfront are numbered because, within the next few months, all signalling will be transferred to a new control tower on top of the container terminal administration building. The tower will be sited on the present Heathcote rubbish dump where it will be used to grind wheat into wholemeal flour for use in the Trust's bakery.Press, 22 March 1978, Page 7
The Lyttelton Harbour Board has bequeathed an old single [sic] tower to Ferrymead which will be used as a windmill. It will stand about 20m high when the sails are attached. It was hoped that the windmill could be used to grind flour but first it would probably be used to generate electricity. The windmill would also be on the site of the rubbish dump.Press, 10 November 1979, Page 26
By the end of this month the operations of this signal tower on Gladstone Pier are expected to be fully moved to a new signal tower perched atop the Cashin Quay container terminal. New equipment will be “progressively installed.” according to the Lyttelton Harbour Board's chief engineer. Mr J. B. Bushell. The old tower will be given to the Ferry mead Trust to be restored in the form of the old Woods Brothers windmill which stood in Antigua Street between 1852 and 1861.Press, 29 November 1979, Page 10
The signal tower was eventually moved to the hill, but was never made into a replica windmill.New harbour signal tower
Signalmen at the Lyttelton Harbour Board's new signal tower have really come up in the world — 97 steps, in fact, to the top of the container terminal building.
This compares with 40 steps in the old black-and-white tower familiar for years on Gladstone Pier.
The senior signalman (Mr C. T. Gaunson) says he and the three other regular signalmen employed by the board like their new, more spacious quarters, although there is some nostalgia for the old tower which will eventually be removed and shifted to Ferrymead Historic Park, where it will be converted into a windmill for the grinding of flour.
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