More Info →Corrie Swanwick

Description

*Railway Station at Weraroa*

"Special race trains brought punters to the Levin Racing Club's meetings. I can remember seeing many hundreds of them hurrying along Oxford Street and down Mako Mako Road to the race course to put their bets on the first race."

"The railways carried practically all troops during both World Wars *[Eds note: and the Boer War in which Corrie's father Frank, who later moved from Lawrence in Otago to Levin, served]*. The station was the scene of many farewells by local dignitaries to men going to camp or especially if troops were going back to camp after leave.

"On February 23, 1921 part of the crew of a Japanese naval squadron at
Wellington came to Levin by train. They were given a civic welcome and
entertained. I remember being given a cigarette with a cardboard holder
which had never been seen in New Zealand before, by one of the sailors on the station. I kept it for years until it crumbled away."

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*Weraroa Post Office*

"The Premier Sir Joseph Ward opened the Weraroa Post Office on April 21, 1910, a few months before Corrie was born on December 23, 1910. "Miss Harriet Bowen … became the Postmistress on September 28, 1912, beginning a long reign [Ed : Probably until February 2, 1927; prior to Weraroa Miss Bowen was Levin Postmistress from 1903 to 1909]. She ran the office very efficiently and controlled her customers admirably. Though very petite she soon put anyone, be it child or adult, in their place, if they ever put a foot wrong. As children we were rather afraid of her.

"In private life she was a wonderful person, willing to help anyone in
trouble and a very efficient person in fundraising activities for any cause. She drove from her house in Queen Street to the office in a pony-drawn dogcart. This was a small vehicle with a basketware body. I can remember when going to school seeing the pony with its head over the front picket fence getting many a pat from passersby. The lawns were its grazing area."

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*Weraroa butchery*

Built for Levin Meat Company on the corner of Keepa St and Oxford St in
1896, taken over by Thomas Devine and William Watkins about 1910.

"I knew the butchery from about 1916 … The Watkins family were our
neighbours. Frequently over the years Neville Watkins and I, on our way home from school, would go into the shop. The sausage making process was our main interest. After the meat had been minced, it was mixed with stale bread and other ingredients, then mixed in the machine. This had a bowl 4 feet (1.2metres) wide and 1 foot ( 0.3 metres) high. Two arms rotated, mixing and scraping the mixture off the sides. It was then scooped into a cylinder, with a hand driven plunger, forcing it through a sausage-size hole, into the casings. As the very long
sausages emerged, the butcher deftly knotted it into clusters of three
sausages, hanging the large strings on rails.

"The cooler was worthy a visit to sample the coolness. The copper outside, with the bubbling fat being rendered down, was attractive if it was a cold day, for the heat of the fire.

"Then it was down to the stables … for fun in the newly-laid straw ready for the returning horses of the delivery carts." *(Eds note: Part of the carpark of the Weraroa Shopping Centre now occupies this site.)*

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*Weraroa lock-up*

On the corner of Hokio Beach Road and Oxford Street, first a post office from about 1900 then a police house. Constable Bill Gregan lived there until about 1925.

"As a child during Constable Gregan's occupancy, I played in the lockup, a shed at the back of the house. It was made of wood and a prisoner would have escaped very quickly. Probably only local drunks … were locked up overnight, as there was very little crime in Levin in those days."

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*Weraroa Recreation Ground*

"The Weraroa Recreation Ground was used for circuses in the 1920s and 1930s. Wirths Circus visited about every two years, arriving on a special train.
"The animals and equipment were unloaded at the goods shed side of the
railway station. The wild animals were enclosed in cages on wheels, the
horses ran loose and the elephants ate the long grass when they were not pulling wagons or cages to the locations.

"We were usually late for school that day. I once saw an elephant suck so much water out of a tap that it did not run for some seconds."


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*A Weraroa cycle shop*

One of the many buildings, including a grocer, along the block between Ward Street and Mako Mako Road, was one "occupied by a Ted Allman as a dairy engineer. A cycle shop operating in the 1920s and 1930s probably existed then too.

"I bought my first bike from Mr Allman in 1930. It was a silver-plated
Chaterlea racing bike which cost £3 ($6) or a fortnight's wages in those
days."

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*Guy Fawkes' Day*

*As remembered by Francis Corrison (Corrie) Swanwick 1910-2005*

In the era 1918 to probably the 1940s, in my memory Guy Fawkes' Day was
observed entirely privately. The first object was to raise some money. Most children would only get a few pennies from parents.

Taking a guy around is still done to a limited extent but it was much more common then. A pair of old pram wheels, with an axle made by a blacksmith for 1 shilling which lasted for years, sufficed when fastened to an old benzene box with two pieces of old timber for handles[Ed's note: Cans of benzene (or petrol) were stored in the boxes).

The guy was made much as it is now, except that Dad's old pants and coat would be so worn that the use of a sack needle was required to stop the straw gaping out. Men's hats, even if only of straw, were much more plentiful then though a few ties of string would be needed across the crown to stop the hat being a collar.

The large tubular bangers at 1 penny were 5 inches (12.cm) long and 1 inch (2.5cm) thick. These would be let off by the dozen and even on the footpath, especially after midnight when most shoppers had dispersed. I think the modern war fighting in open order evolved from the methods used by the late homegoers to avoid being blown off the footpath!

Horses were terrified and the wise driver or rider kept them to the back streets or in the liveries.

The halfpenny bangers were smaller and were usually used by the younger fry but they gave off quite an impressive bang.

The stringed crackers were seldom let off as a string as they were too
expensive except for the wealthy. "Fizzers" were always partly broken in half and lit so that they fizzed from our fingers.

After a bonfire at dawn next morning there was a hunt for unexploded
crackers but usually they were too damp.

The flare type of fireworks were not so common then as now, though roman candles were available with the powder packed in bamboo up to 12 inches (30cm) long and 1 inch (2.5cm) wide. Skyrockets were larger {than the later, now banned versions] with the propellant cracker about 4 inches (10cm) long and of course flew much higher but the air display was not as colourful as today. The emphasis was on the banger type of firework (now banned). Sparklers were not available in the 1920s.

Making cannons was a popular hobby in our youth. Someone's father had a
flask of powder, or at worst, some blasting powder. The cannon always made a gratifying jump backwards as the charge exploded.

I can remember at a neighbour's shed [in Hokio Beach Road] we fixed an old muzzleloader into a vice and aimed it out through the open door. It was loaded from a powder flask and a cap attached and fired in the direction of where Creighton's sawmill is now. Of course, no parents were home.

Once a friend nicked one of his father's packets of shotgun cartridges.
After the shot was taken out, the cartridge was put in a piece of pipe held in a vice. A rivet served as a firing pin. When the rivet was hit by a hammer, the bang was quite impressive. I am still in one piece
(surprisingly).

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*Levin gets shot up*

By the late Francis Corrison (Corrie) Swanwick 1910-2005

In the late autumn of 1942 I was in the Manawatu Mounted Rifles, later the 6 th AFV (Armoured Fighting Vehicles) camped in tents in the Palmerston North showgrounds. I was in the Vickers Machine Gun troop of 60 personnel, most of whom were from the Levin area. From very early territorials, the Levin area had supplied the machine gun troop for the regiment. The troop sergeants were Pat Miles and Ray Tantrum of Levin.

We had been on manoeuvres in the Wairarapa, camping in the looseboxes at the Tauherenikau Racecourse. These were much better than the sheep pens that we lived in in the following year at the Feilding Showgrounds (a man is longer than a sheep).

The return from the Wairarapa to Palmerston North was interrupted by a
night-long vigil on the Palmerston North hills in continuous rain, looking out for an imaginary enemy. Not one Jap was sighted so when we passed through (Levin) we were ready for action.

We had plenty of blank cartridges so Barry Webb suggested we shoot up Levin. So when we were passing Barry's father's barber's shop, he and I and several others loosed off several rounds each. *(Ed's note: This shop was on the west side of Oxford Street, south of Queen Street and the hotel.)*

As luck would have it, Jim Webb was standing outside his shop. By the way he scuttled into his shop, he must have the war had come to Levin, even if he found out later it was only a phony one. Then followed a frantic clearing of rifles in case the R.S.M. came sniffing around.

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*Night cart recollections*

*As recalled by, or told to, the late Francis Corrison (Corrie) Swanwick 1910-2005 and edited by his daughter, Janice Swanwick (Atkinson).*

The collection of nightsoil probably started in the early days of Levin
through until at least the 1920s and probably 1930s, until septic tanks
became popular.

The nightman collected full cans from the outside lavatories after dark and left empty cans in their place. At one time the nightsoil was buried at the northern end of what is now the Playford Park sports complex.

While the nightman was doing his usual task, some wags were said to have passed a rope through some or all of the cans and tied it to some solid object behind the nightcart. When the horse moved off with the cart, the cans were dragged off on to the road with messy results.

Some pranksters, while the nightman was in at a house, would unfasten the chains from the horse's harness, leaving the shafts in the collar. When the driver "gid-upped" the horse it would walk out of the shafts. Usually the horse would stop when the reins tightened, before the driver was pulled to the ground.

The horses used were usually old and it did not take much to stop them. The horses were like the old milkcart horses in that they knew every stop on the round.

Some pranksters made a dummy of a woman and sat it on the toilet seat, then waited nearby to watch the fun. It could easily be timed as the rattling of the cans on the nightcart could be heard streets away. The nightwatchman came in the early hours with only a kerosene lantern's feeble light. On opening the door, and seeing as he though, a woman on the seat, he said
"Pardon me, lady, I will come back later" and off he went.

It was said to be a common trick but probably only worked on a new nightman, and only once.

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*Services Vegetable Project*

Recollections of Francis Corrison (Corrie) Swanwick 1910-2005 as supplied by his daughter, Janice Swanwick

During World War II Levin was the site of an important vegetable growing to help feed the armed forces, particularly the thousands of US
servicemen in camp at Paekakariki. They were known as Services Vegetable Projects or S.V.P. units.

The unit was established in Levin about February-March 1942, with its
headquarters in Bruce Road. About 280 acres of land was leased compulsorily, from east of Bruce Road in the vicinity of Boulton Road, to the west of CD Farm Road. Another unit was on the Otaki racecourse and domain, and Birdwood Garden on the corner of Boulton and Bruce Roads and growers at Opiki were also contracted to grow vegetables.

Much of the land was part of the original Central Development Farm of
earlier years 1894-1928. The office and sheds were on the west of
Bruce Roadon Mr Ray Brown's farm, about where Boulton Road intersects with Bruce Road.

When the 3rd Division in the Pacific was returned to NZ in 1944 I was
directed by the Levin Manpower Committee to work as a ganger (overseer) at the Levin S.V.P. unit. The manpower regulations were part of the emergency regulations during WWII. People could be directed by the local manpower committee to work at any essential industry.

Non-compliance was a criminal offence punishable by fines, even jail, or if eligible military service. Offenders would be immediately called up for service.

Large quantities of cauliflowers and cabbages were grown at the Levin S.V.P. Other crops included carrots, parsnips, tomatoes and onions. I was told that when the American Marines were at Paekakariki top brass officers would arrive in jeeps with military police to inspect the vegetables. Often the Marine quartermaster would supply seed of American origin. One example was a large smooth tomato.

While I was at the garden, sweet corn was grown, but it never reached the market. The cobs with the husk on were placed on a fire at lunch time. The cobs tasted delicious, even if one side was scorched.

There was very little mechanical method of planting or weeding, except for inter-row cultivation. In a block sown with onions, I took a small gang with weedburners, with primus blow lamp heads, to scorch the seedling weeds before the onions emerged. This was a job I was familiar with, having had experience with bulbs using a six-burner trolley. The weeds in the onions were well-scorched, and so was my right boot.

During my stay at the unit, the American Marines had finally left New
Zealand and as there was too much produce grown for the New Zealand military camps, large quantities were marketed.

Mr John Hopkins, as head of the Department of Agriculture in Levin, was in charge of the unit. Mr Jack Heywood was the overseer. The field workers of about 60 in all were divided into three gangs. Mr Tom Gifford was the ganger for the harvesting gang, Mr John (Pop) Maynell was the ganger for the planting and weeding gang and Mr Mark Bettin was the ganger for the tomato gang.

I was allotted half of Mr Maynell's gang but much of the time I had the
whole gang of 22 as when there was urgency of land tilling, Mr Maynell would drive a tractor, a job he preferred to standing all day watching the workers.

Mr Charles Welby was in charge of the office. Mr Mel (Bugs) Boothby was the pest control expert, Mr Fred Hudson was storeman, and Mr (Kapiti) Wilkinson was the repairman. Miss Joyce Hudson was the typist in the office.

Mr Dick Timu was the Maori liaison officer, Mr Hoppy Heterika and Mr Trevor Elliot were the tractor drivers and Mr John Lewington and Mr Bert Larsen were the truck drivers.

The planting gang was young as the method of planting could be fairly
arduous. The lines could be 400 to 600 yards (metres) long. The girls would drop the plants spaced out on the lines. The boys followed, digging the holes with a trowel and dropping the plants in. As the planter stepped forward, his back leg heeled the plant in. As one leg was always lifted, this meant that the planter was on one leg all the time. Some of the boys were very fast, planting a row with 400 to 500 plants in 15 or 20 minutes.

As the slower planters were entitled to their rest, it would have been up to half an hour before another row was started. Lining up 11 pairs of workers was difficult for various reasons, including that of the toilets which always seemed to be half a mile away. The gang would not start until the whole lot were lined up.

One method the gangers used to enforce discipline on the very poor workers was to refuse to enter their time on the timesheet. The overseer would … give them some trivial job. One such was to gather … one sugar bag of cones a day.

I was called back into the Army in May 1945, and the S.V.P. was grassed down some time in late 1945 and leased for dairy farming.

Identification

Date

2006