Opening of Rangitane Suspension Bridge, Jan. 1918
Written on back with blue ballpoint pen: “Opening Akers Toll Bridge 1918. Refer book – From Fibre to Food, Opiki.”
Penciled on back: “PNPL FX123 On the newly completed Opiki toll-bridge, Jan. 1918. 2nd from left, Joseph Dawson, bridge-builder holding Mavis Henderson (3 1/2 yrs). 4th man from left is A.W. Hogg, Masterton. Woman with baby, centre, is Mrs Elsie Henderson with son Lewis (4 months). Her husband, Ernest, is at far right, he was blacksmith at Tane Mill & there fashioned all steel rods for the bridge. Next Elsie is Mrs Whitewick, then her husband – cooks at Tane Mill cookhouse. Note tramlines for horse-drawn flax wagons.”
Book (From Fibre to Food, Opiki) gives caption for photo - A group of local residents and visitors on the newly completed swing bridge, January 1918. The book also identifies the people mention above, and the 3rd woman (at right) as Miss Taylor.
Cost between $4,600 – $5,200 – mentioned page 26, in book ‘From Fibre to Food, Opiki’.
The opening of Rangitane Suspension Bridge, at Opiki inJanuary 1918. The man second from the left is Joseph Dawson and the small girl he is holding is Mavis Henderson (aged 3 1/2 years). The man 4th from the left is A W Hogg from Masterton. The woman holding a baby is Mrs Elsie Henderson and the baby is her son Lewis. Her husband Ernest is at the far right of the photograph. He was a blcksmith at Tane flaxmill and fashioned all the steel rods for the bridge. The woman next to Elsie Henderson is Mrs Whitewick whose husband also worked at the Tane Mill.
The bridge was purhased in 1919 by Mr Hugh Akers and made a Toll Bridge in 1925. This bridge closed in November 1969 when new Opiki bridge opened.
1 B & W print
Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Horowhenua Historical Society Inc.”
