While not in the Horowhenua District, the Transmission Gully motorway provides an important link between Horowhenua and Wellington City to the benefit of commuters from both regions.

The road opened to traffic on the 31st of March 2022, and Foxton photographer Jacob Brookie took this photograph in May of that year. Jacob used a c.1948 Mamiya Six folding camera to make this exposure from the rear seat of a Mazda SUV. The Mamiya was an advanced camera for its day and was a popular choice of Allied forces stationed in Japan at the time. Jacob's Mamiya has a worn, somewhat cloudy lens which reduces contrast so is used for 'special effects'.

The photograph was taken travelling southbound over Transmission Gully.

The Volkswagen Type 3 (1500) was introduced in 1961 and would have been a fancy vehicle to have in your New Zealand driveway- IF you had overseas funds! To protect the local car assembly industry, most car buyers could only purchase a locally made model (and would face a long waiting list). BUT- if you held money overseas and could afford the import tariffs you could import a fully assembled car through a dealer much more quickly. You often got an exotic model which was not common locally.

If you had lots of money overseas (such as a farmer who sold wool in the UK) then you could import a car, sell it for more than you paid for it and then buy another! Little wonder that when John Clarke's comic creation Fred Dagg did a spoof of 'God Save The Queen' he added 'long live our overseas funds'. By the time those words were sung the requirements for importing a car had loosened somewhat, but overseas funds were still an advantage.

Birds Garage was established by Mister H. Bird in 1940 and by the time this slide was made it was owned by N.H Bird. They were among the first Volkswagen dealers in the country. By 1981 the firm had sold Toyotas for some years. 

Kete records show that this company was owned by Lance Osborne and was trading in the mid 1960s. A big feature of the fleet was the fitting of 'radio telephone'- an early name for the CB 'Citizens Band' radios which kept travellers in touch before cell phones. They were all the rage for enthusiasts in the 1970s and 1980s, spurred along by movies about truck drivers!

Spurred on by the popularity of the Vespa and it's many imitators, motor scooter clubs were springing up all around New Zealand in the 1950s and 1960s. This one was based in Wellington, but there is no doubt that it would have passed through Horowhenua. A 1959 report on the Auckland Motor Scooter Club by the 'Press' revealed their plan for an epic journey to Bluff and back! So the Wellington scooters wouldn't have had a problem popping to Levin for some lunch.

In today's world of higher speed limits and big SUVs I think many Club members may think twice about it. 

Loading full honey boxes. Field's Apiaries 1967-68

(boxes) loaded onto rear of the truck by hand. Each weighs about 25kg. We had no mechanical lifters, all manual lifting.

1967-68 season, Foxton area.

(boxes) loaded onto rear of the truck by hand. Each weighs about 25kg. We had no mechanical lifters, all manual lifting. (boxes) loaded onto rear of the truck by hand. Each weighs about 25kg. We had no mechanical lifters, all manual lifting.

Stamped on back with black ink - N.J. Allan 7 East Road Shannon

Christian group (children on red truck), Shannon Christmas Parade, 1980’s 1 colour photo print

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Horowhenua Historical Society Inc.”

This photograph shows a decorated truck and 13 women, possibly from Shannon, dressed in the clothing from 1840 through to 1940.

Unfortunately we do not have names for the people - so if you think you know them, please let Kete Horowhenua know. Thank you!

Photo provided by Kathleen Roach.

Names identified so far:

Back Row: _____, [1900] poss. Mrs C. Young_, _____, _____

Middle Row: [1901]_____,[1940]_June Roberts_?_, [date obscured], poss. Mrs Murray_, [18??]_____

Front Row: [1913]_Sybil Roach____, [1840]_____, [1880]_Mrs Enoch Chester_, [1895_____

0032 HJP 0413 Art in the Park, 119 Bath Street, Levin Sunday 9-2-2014 Local artist work on display

HJP 0371 Large heavy truck passing through Oxford & Queen Street Intersection 1-3-2019