| Bucklands Beach | |
|---|---|
| Basic information | |
| Local authority | Auckland City |
| Electoral ward | Howick |
| Population | 2,370 (2001) |
| Facilities | |
| Surrounds | |
| North | Musick Point |
| Northeast | Hauraki Gulf |
| East | Eastern Beach |
| Southeast | Eastern Beach |
| South | Highland Park, Howick West |
| Southwest | Half Moon Bay |
| West | Tamaki River |
| Northwest | Tamaki River |
Bucklands Beach is a suburb 13 kilometres east of Auckland's CBD in New Zealand. The suburb is in the Howick ward, one of the thirteen administrative divisions of Auckland City, and under authority of the Auckland Council.
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This area of Auckland was populated by Māori until the start of the Musket Wars (sometimes called the Potato Wars) which started in 1807. The Auckland area came under regular attack by Taua or war parties from the Ngāpuhi iwi in Northland. By the 1830s many of the local Maori had been killed or enslaved by their deadly enemies to the north. The main isthmus of Auckland was also depopulated by Maori migrating south to avoid the regular carnage. The Tamaki River, to the west of Bucklands Beach, became a main highway for attacking Taua or those seeking revenge from previous attacks. In 1835 minor conflict had occurred in the area and threatened to erupt into full scale war. William Thomas Fairburn, the missionary, attempted to solve the issues for nearly a year. With the agreement of local Maori he purchased the entire Bucklands Beach, Howick and Pakuranga area of 40,000 acres (160 km2) on Sept 1 1841. The price paid to 3 local chiefs was 10 blankets, 24 axes, 26 hoes, 14 spades, $80, 1,900 lb (860 kg) of tobacco, 24 cobs and 12 plane irons. The 3 hapu who sold the land were Ngatitawaki, Urikaraka and Matekiwaho. The principal chiefs who signed the sale were Herua, Te Waru, Hauauru and Te Tara. The Treaty of Waitangi was signed at Karaka Bay on the Tamaki River opposite Big Bucklands Beach in 1840 by Capt Hobson and Ngati Paoa.
The first European to farm this area was Fairburn, New Zealand's first architect. He sold 350 acres (1.4 km2) to William Mason in 1851. Originally Eastern Beach was named Masons Beach. Alfred Buckland who had 22 children bought the farm in 1861 for 2,500 pounds plus 150 pounds per annum to go to Mason and his wife Sarah, who lived another 35 years. Buckland was a successful businessman. The beach was named after him. At one stage he owned land in the area, and also owned land situated at what is now the commercial district of Newmarket. In the late 19th century and around the turn of the 20th century Buckland farmed ostriches at Bucklands Beach. The feathers were sold for hat decoration. The Bucklands also had a brickmaking plant at the north end of Little Bucklands Beach near the old Bucklands Beach Yacht Club house. The brickworks was owned by a Mr Spencer and managed by John Granger, who had arrived in New Zealand in 1865 to try his luck at the Thames goldfields (LaRoche 1991). He was a brickmaker by trade.
Granger has a street in Howick named after him. In 1878 the brickworks was sold and Granger bought the equipment and set up a large brickworks at the head of the Whitford Creek in Whitford. They also ran a lime factory based on crushing and burning shells at Eastern Beach. The factory was built on a concrete base about 20 metres by 15 metres by 1.4 metres thick on the seaward side on the waterfront, 30m south of the intersection by the restaurant. Alongside the factory, a long wooden jetty went 50 metres out to deeper water. On Friday March 31, 1916, Alfred Buckland and Son held an auction to sell some 126 sections on the western side of the peninsula stretching from big Bucklands Beach in the North To the cliffs at the southern end of little Bucklands Beach. The poster for the auction shows the peninsula was mainly grassland but with 3 areas of planted trees-along the length of Eastern Beach, on the steep slopes east of the Bucklands Beach centreboard yacht clubhouse and on the steep clffs east of Wharf Road. The white shell road is visible down the centre of the peninsula and the wooden wharf is clearly visible extending about 15m into the river. Phoenix palms were planted along Eastern Beach at this time to give the peninsula an exotic atmosphere. After World War I two boats owned by the Waiheke ferry company used to bring daytrippers in summer to Bucklands Beach to unload at the wharf at Wharf Road. The main boat used was the launch Olive Jean built in 1919 No 136876. Another boat was the Olivene which was a sailing boat. Bucklands Beach was served by a single bus in the 1920s and 30s known as "the Sheik" which ran into the city and returned with city workers. The Bucklands and Eastern Bus company grew from this with its headquarter next to the bowling green at the foot of Devon Rd. For much of the 50s and 60s this was run by the Wells family who lived opposite the headquarters.
In the 1930s the central peninsula including the area of the present primary school was farmed by Pop (Herbert) and Edith Leach and family, who ran a dairy herd of 30-40 cows. The Leaches lived in the old Buckland homestead which was located on the rise in what is now Waller Rd, at about number 59. An old concrete structure referred to as the dairy was still on the site up to the 1963 development. This was a solid concrete structure about 4m by 5m by 3m high, with a wooden floor that had rotted away. The concrete used the shelly sand off a local beach. In the 1960s there was no roof left. The cowshed was located on the flat area near the present tennis club. Attached to the cowshed was accommodation for a farm worker or people on holiday at Eastern Beach. As the Leaches were a large family this was not needed so the bach was let out to extended family or friends such as the Pattens over the holidays. The north tip of the peninsula, which was originally called East Head by the early settlers, was a dairy farm called Westend. The milking shed for Westend was at the lower or south end of Musick Pt Road on an area of flat land adjacent to a small creek about 50 metres from the beach. The cottage on this property (near the water tower) had fallen into decay by the 1930s and was uninhabitable -it was known to the locals as the "rats nest". At the south end of the peninsula were 2 farms the one on the eastern side, roughly on the same land as Macleans College, was run by the Trusdale family. This was the farm originally owned by the Maclean brothers in the 19th century. In the centre of the peninsula, in the vicinity of Sea Spray Drive was a farm run by the Redgrave family and later in the 1950s, the Benton family. The milking shed was down a 100 metre drive off Bucklands Beach Road. Along with a few retired people such as Mr Morrow and Geoff Fairfield (a relative of the original Bucklands who lived alongside each other at the old Bucklands Beach Yacht club), these were the only permanent families at the beach although in summer many people came to stay in their baches. Mr Morrow was famous for making wind driven models of people engaged in various activities such as fishing and sawing wood which he put on his front fence. He had a donations box with the money going to charity. These models were still working in the late 1950s. The Leaches' cows were taken to the milking shed which was located at Eastern Beach near the present Tennis club. In the very early days there was no road to Bucklands Beach but by the 1930s roads on the beach were made of shells. After World War II the farmland at Bucklands Beach was mainly used for drystock up until 1963 when the land was subdivided for sections. The Bentons were the last farmers to actually farm the land. Bucklands Beach has always been an attractive place for holiday makers.
Before World War I a steamer ran from the city to the old 20 metre long wooden jetty at the end of Wharf Road (the old piles are still visible after a storm). The Bucklands established a private oval horse race track in the flat area near Hattaway Avenue. The front straight was on Morrow Avenue and lower Devon Road was the south end of the oval. It had a permanent start/finish box elevated on piles 10 metres above the track at the lower end of Lynton Road. This was a location of the Auckland Racing Club. The first recorded meeting was in 1864 when his horse owning neighbours in Howick were invited to compete. In 1889 a totalizator meeting was organized with the help of the Pakuranga Hunt to help celebrate the end of a severe recession. In the summers of the 1920s, car owning Aucklanders would make the long trip from the city dressed in their finery to watch the racing. In the 1920s and 1930s well-off Aucklanders such as the Pattens bought sections and constructed baches near the beaches where they lived over summer. Cliff Patten was a farrier who had strong connections with the racing fraternity.
During World War II when it was feared the city may be bombed some families moved to Bucklands Beach on a semi permanent basis. Other families at the beach then were the Burgesses, the Inders, the Hancocks and the Eliots. In the 1950s the baby boom saw a growth in the number of children and a bach owned by the Trusdale family was converted into a one room barbers shop complete with pole, on Wharf Road next to the Community Centre hall. This was known as Bert the Barbers. The barbers was demolished in the early 1960s. It was located where the present plunket rooms are now.
The first large-scale sale of sections took place in 1947 to take advantage of returned servicemen and the baby boom. A regular bus service took passengers to the city. The Bucklands estate lawyers sold sections for 175-200 pounds. The second large sale of sections took place in 1963. Sections then cost 2000-2500 pounds. Walking tracks were made so that pedestrians could walk more directly to the various beaches. These 3m wide tracks still exist today. After WW2 a group of enthusiastic locals started a centreboard yacht club which was run from a portable shack stored at the community centre and carried across the road to the beach each Sunday in summer. The early classes were Z and Idle alongs on the 50s which were gradually replaced by lighter, faster yachts such a P ,Cherubs,Flying Ants and Moths in the 70s and 80s. By the 90s many of these classes were in turn replaced by various boardsailing classes and Optimist dinghies.
Bucklands Beach sits at the northern end of a peninsula between the Tamaki River to the west and the Hauraki Gulf to the east. At the peninsula's northernmost point, Musick Point juts into the gulf. This was named after Captain Musick, an American who pioneered long range flying boat travel. At the tip of this peninsula is an old Maori Pā formerly occupied by a branch of the Tainui iwi.The Pa is sometimes referred to as Te Naupata. Some of the ancient ditches are still just visible. They should not be confused with the World War II trenches built in the vicinity of a concrete bunker. These were built after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941. An anti aircraft gun was located at the site to protect Musick Point long range (short wave) radio station (built in 1940). The radio communications station, one of a NZ coastal network serving aircraft and shipping, was established at the point to escape the interference experienced in the Auckland chief Post Office created by the nearby electric tram system's overhead wires. A golf course now occupies the end of the peninsula. The tip of the peninsula is a reserve open to the public. It has extensive views over the inner gulf and is a favourite location for wedding photos.
Locals divide the beaches into:
Five hundred metres north off the tip of the peninsula is Browns Island (Motukorea). It has a central volcanic crater which spewed lava to the SW forming a flatter area. This area was made into a stone garden by Maori in pre European times. The dark volcanic rocks were piled up to clear the ground and make walls. This created a micro climate suitable for Kumara and gourds. There are many mussel beds around the SW shore so landing is difficult. The walls are still clearly visible. The best landing site is on the Northern side by the short cliff but it is protected by a number of submerged rocks. The whole island is open to the public. No commercial ferries go to the island.
At the northern end of Big Bucklands Beach is one of the oldest industrial sites in New Zealand. At the point just south of where the beach turns to the north east, about 300 metres north of the boat ramp, is a beach area littered with stone debris from a Maori adze making "factory". Local historian Geoff Fairfield found fully formed or partly formed rock adzes of Ardulite (a heavy and dense volcanic rock) here in the 1960s. These were given to Auckland museum.
The 15 kilometres long Tamaki River to the west is a semi sheltered estuary much used by boaties especially since World War II. At its mouth the estuary is 500 metres wide but the 20 metre deep (chart) channel is only 50 metres wide. The channel is clearly marked by large buoys as it winds its way 15 kilometres in a general southwards direction. At the large Point England sand spit, opposite the old yacht club, boats should keep to the 50 metre channel, as water over the spit is very shallow even at high tide. Three kilometres up the river is the large Half Moon Bay Marina, the Bucklands Beach Yacht club rooms and small shopping centre. At low water the current in the channel is very strong travelling up to 8 km/h by the sand spit. Hundreds of small craft are moored in the river but the channel is clear. During summer the river traffic is very heavy, even at night. Ferries leave on a regular basis during the day for the city, Waiheke and Great Barrier Island from Half Moon Bay Marina. The speed limit in the river is 10 km/h. Large vessels should watch out for small centre board yachts and windsurfers which frequent the mouth of the estuary in summer.
In the early days before World War II the beach had a very small permanent population centred around 5 farms and a few retired people, though in summer the population would be much bigger as there were many baches. After World War II the population grew steadily as the Bucklands sold off parcels of land for subdivision. When the primary school started in 1955 with a roll of about 180, the population was about 1000. The biggest growth came with widespread subdivision between 1963 and 1970. Bucklands Beach is a northern suburb of Manukau City which is a part of the Auckland urban area. According to the 2001 census, Bucklands Beach has a population of 2370.
Bucklands Beach has a number of dispersed shops and facilities. There is a restaurant/dairy and a pizza shop at Eastern Beach. A real estate office, dairy, and two restaurants are located at Big Bucklands Beach. At Mobil Corner are a wine shop, a bakery, a take-aways and a dairy. Also there is an old scout hall at the base of Devon Road. Opposite this is an outdoor bowling club. On Wharf Road is a community centre hall and Plunket rooms. This was built in 1965 on the site of the old hall/dairy Chez Paris which burnt down after a fire in the cinema projection box.
At Eastern Beach there is a sports ground (Rogers Park)named after Vic Rogers, a long serving local member of the former Manakau County Council in the 1950s and 60s, is used for junior soccer and a tennis club and courts. On the rocky area between Big and Little Bucklands Beach is a yacht club rooms for centre board boats, boat ramp and hauling out hard stand which was built in 1962. In 2007 a huge holding tank was constructed under the hard stand to hold the surplus sewage from beach side houses. Eastern Beach has a large Christian Youth camp which hires out its facilities to schools. At one stage the beach had three garages but all have closed now. Until the 1980s Bucklands Beach had its own post office, next to the community centre hall but this was shut down and removed by barge to Waiheke Island. In the 1950s Miss Tonks ran a library from a small building, that had previously been a garage, on the steep frontage of her property at the North end of Bucklands Beach Road near the Community hall. This little building about 4m x 3m, was so frequently crowded with customers they could barely walk around. Midway between the two restaurants at big Bucklands Beach was a dairy and hall complex called Westend (named after the farm at the tip of the peninsula). The hall was used for local dances in the 1930s and 1940s during the summer holidays.
The hall had a dairy at the front and bach style accommodation for the shop keeper. In the 1950s the hall was turned into a full size house attached to the shop. The shop had a tiny post office that was the main PO before the stand alone post office was built just south of Chez Paris. At the Xmas dance Pop Leach, who was the normal MC, would get dressed in a santa's costume and hide in the hall ceiling -descending by ladder to give the children presents. The old Westend building was pulled down in the 1970s. Between the 1950s and the 1970s there was a butcher's shop and a small doctor's rooms about 100 metres north of the intersection of Wharf Rd and Hattaways Ave. Both have been pulled down.
It was here that ballet dancer Brian Ashbridge used to come with his girl friend Molly Dixon to dance. Ashbridge had been identified as an outstanding talent by 15 and had already been to Australia to train in 1938. He had been due to travel to Britain but World War II intervened. He went to the Uk after World War II and joined Sadler's Wells which became The Royal Ballet in 1956 He returned to NZ for several tours. There are boat ramps Eastern Beach (high tide only). This is to serve the dedicated water ski area. A double ramp at Bucklands Beach Yacht Club (all tide), a single ramp at Bucklands Beach north by the restaurant (all tide) and four ramps at Half Moon Bay Marina (all tide).
In 2010 a new 230 metre long boardwalk has been built between the southern end of Little Bucklands Beach and the eastern end of the Half Moon Bay marina hardstand, along the base of the Takutai Ave cliff. The boardwalk is located on the wavecut platform that is uncovered at half tide. This allows easy pedestrian and cycle access to the new Half Moon Bay shopping centre and joins the walkways that follow the southern bank of the Tamaki River. Weeds have been removed from the steep cliff and new native plants established.
The nearest shopping centre and garage, with petrol, is at [[Highland Park, New Zealand|Highland Park]).
Bucklands Beach has had a wide range of churches. The oldest was St Brides, an Anglican church, constructed in the 1930s. A hall was added in 1952, built by voluntary labour headed by carpenter Mick (RR) Leach (the youngest son of Herbert (Pop) Leach). The church was moved in the 1970s. A Presbyterian Church ran in a hall between the 1950s and the 1970s when it was pulled down. Nearby at 125 Bucklands Beach Road a brick Catholic church was built by a local builder Mr Keryns in 1954. This fell into disuse in the 1970s and was purchased by Barbara Kendal (Bright) the New Zealand, World and Olympic champion board sailor, who intended to turn it into a dance studio. Because of her board sailing success it became her New Zealand home base in the 1980s. At Mobil corner, on Bucklands Beach Road, a breakaway conservative group built the Reformed Presbyterian Church which had an American pastor in the 1960s. This is still in operation. In the 1980s St Johns co-operating church was built 200 metres further south on Bucklands Beach Road. This is largely an Anglican church and is very active.
Until Macleans College opened in the 1980s secondary students attended Pakuranga College adjacent to Highland Park.
Bucklands Beach contains many schools ranging from Primary to Secondary:
The primary school opened in Feb 1955 with pupils transferring from the old Howick District High school (now Howick Intermediate). The first headmaster was Mr Hill. There were 6 classrooms, with a concrete strip in front of the rooms. Mrs Maxwell taught in primer 1 ( 5-year-olds).Othe early teachers were Miss Dunn and Mr Thompson. Films were shown in the west end of the long corridor. During August 1955 a large storm saw the school flood due to inadequate drains. Clay water 150 mm deep spread through the central part of the school so the school was closed for 2 days extra at the end of the August holidays.
( Geoff Fairfield. Local production History booklet; History of Bucklands Beach) (Oral History recorded by LC Leach) (Treaty of Waitangi document translation, Victoria University) (Crosby R. Musket Wars) (Allan LaRoche. The History of Howick and Pakuranga. The Howick and District Historical Society, 1991