Thirty colliers recruited from England arrive, via the Incline, at Denniston.
1883 New school built.
1884 The Track — a bridle path up to the plateau — opens.
1884 December: First miners’ strike in New Zealand begins, led by John Lomas on Denniston.
1885 June: Company capitulates. Returning miners drive scab labour off the Hill.
1895 Denniston the largest coal producer in New Zealand: 215,770 tons annually from 257 men underground.
1900, 1901, 1905 Denniston Brass Band wins West Coast championships.
1992 Road to Denniston opens, allowing wheeled transport up. The opening coincides with the end of the Boer War.
1905 Surface rope-road from Burnett’s Face to the Bins completed.
1910 Hospital built at Denniston.
Peak coal production (348,335 tons, 446 men underground).
Population of Denniston: 900; Burnett’s Face: 600.
1928-48 Major shift off the Hill. Many houses relocate to Waimangaroa.
1948 Government nationalises the Westport Coal Company, paying £900,000 for the assets.
1950s Arial haulage-way built to take coal down to Waimangaroa.
1967 Denniston Incline closes. All coal transported by the aerial rope-way, truck and rail.
A small amount of coal is still mined privately on the Denniston Plateau. Millions of tonnes of coal remain underground.
The old school buildings are now a museum, open to the public, celebrating Denniston’s history.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to pay tribute to the late Geoff Kitchin, Denniston miner, son, grandson and great-grandson of Denniston miners, who walked me all over the now-deserted plateau where the settlements of Denniston, Burnett’s Face and the Camp once thrived. Geoff breathed life into every lone chimney and homeless doorstep; he demonstrated how the rope-road worked and showed me the entrances of long-abandoned mines. His knowledge of early mining methods and his wonderful collection of historical photographs and documents were invaluable.
To the team at Random House New Zealand, especially Harriet Allan, and to Rachel Scott, my thanks for their good advice and their professionalism.
Also my thanks to the many past residents of Denniston who have, since the publication of The Denniston Rose, shared with me their memories and photographs of early life on the Hill.
JENNY PATTRICK is a writer and former jeweller whose six published novels, including The Denniston Rose, its sequel Heart of Coal, the Whanganui novel Landings, and Inheritance, set in Samoa, have all been number one bestsellers in New Zealand. In 2009 she received the New Zealand Post Mansfield Fellowship. In 2011 she and husband, musician Laughton Pattrick, published the children’s book and CD of songs, The Very Important Godwit.
Copyright
A BLACK SWAN BOOK published by Random House New Zealand, 18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand
For more information about our titles go to www.randomhouse.co.nz
A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand
Random House New Zealand is part of the Random House Group
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First edition published 2004
This edition first published 2012
© 2012 Jenny Pattrick
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
ISBN 978 1 86979 843 7
eBook ISBN 978 1 86979 376 0
This book is copyright. Except for the purposes of fair reviewing no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Photographs: page 5, looking over Denniston settlement to the Brakehead from the New Track (road), 1910 (G67371/2); page 332, Looking into Burnett’s Face, 1910 (G-64411/2); page 336, Washing on line, Denniston (F12381/4) — all photos courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library.
Cover design: Kate Barraclough
Text design: Elin Termannsen
This publication is printed on paper pulp sourced from sustainably grown and managed forests, using Elemental Chlorine Free (EFC) bleaching, and printed with 100% vegetable based inks.
Printed in New Zealand by Printlink
Also available as an eBook
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