Stokes Valley History Part Nine

Tribulations and Tragedies

The First Store

Stokes Valley's first store was built for and owned by Mrs K Graham in 1929. Though small, it was stocked with an amazing variety of goods. As such it was quite an asset to the then small community. Business was rarely heavy, so the store was usually shut, and customers were required to signal their intent to purchase by pulling a rope at the side of the building which was connected to the house (via props and wires) nearly 60 metres away! At the other end of the rope hung an old bucket full of stones that would crash against the front door when given a mighty heave. Mrs Graham could hear the racket from just about anywhere on her farm, but so could neighbours. Unfortunately, this novelty became the target for a certain amount of abuse from larrikens, and the bucket and rope system was later replaced by an electric bell. Business increased in line with the population, and in 1948 Mrs Graham, who had grown the business considerably, sold out and retired to Raumati.

Tragedies

For some there were indeed tragedies in the early days of settlement in Stokes Valley. The worst of these perhaps came to a family named Hope who, in around 1898, lived in a two-storey house on the eastern side of Mains Road, just south of the Glen Road Corner.

Mr Hope, who worked in Wellington, left instructions in the morning for his daughter to meet an evening train at the Silverstream Station with the horse and trap. Miss Hope did not care to take the horse and trap out alone because the horse was inclined to be frisky. Therefore, when evening came, Mrs Hope and her infant child accompanied her. When the train pulled in, however, Mr Hope did not appear to be onboard, and the family, concluding he had missed it, decided to return to the valley. Half way through the gorge they saw another train by Haywards and evidentially decided to return to Silverstream. The road was much narrower in those days and the side was unfenced. On turning, Mrs Hope lost control of the horse and the horse, trap and all of its occupants slid over the bank and into the river. All three were drowned.

About 1855, on the property now known as Speldhurst, lived an elderly couple, Mr and Mrs Hamblin, their daughter Mrs Mundle, and their teenage grandson. One morning a young man named Sinnox, who at the time was living in a mud hut in the Taita Gorge, was out rabbiting and called in to see the Mundles. While Sinnox was showing his recently purchased shotgun to young Mundle, the gun accidentally discharged and Mrs Hamblin, who was standing nearby, was shot in the shoulder. A doctor was needed as soon as possible and the nearest was Dr Wilford in Lower Hutt. Someone was immediately dispatched on horseback to fetch him, but by the time he arrived the old lady was weak with pain and loss of blood. Dr Wilford ordered her to the hospital in Wellington. Mr Drummond's dray was borrowed and Mrs Hamblin began the nightmarish journey. Long before they reached Wellington she was blessedly unconscious, and on reaching the hospital, her condition was so low that no hope was given. Late that night she died.

Storms

Early residents seemed greatly impressed with the frequency and violence of thunderstorms, some of which seemed to have their very centre in the valley itself. On one occasion a giant rimu on the Delaney property was struck by lightning and a newspaper account of the storm described the tree as having been split to matchwood.

In 1901 a large pine 200 metres or so from the Russell homestead suffered a similar fate and three young heifers sheltering beneath it were killed, two of them bearing deep scorch marks across their bodies.

A sudden south-easterly thunderstorm descended on Stokes Valley one summer Sunday afternoon in 1926 and a gale, narrow in its path but cyclonic in its force, swept across the valley, uprooting a belt of 80ft pines growing along Main Road. After the storm the mighty trees were hidden by a great unbroken wall of clay that clung to the great spread of intertwining roots. Pines unfortunately present a serious danger owing to their shallow rooting system and because of this, hundreds of pines were felled and milled.

The great southerly storm of 1945 wrought more destruction than any other storm in the memory of living residents. On the morning of 7 February, after heavy rains, a heavy gale descended on the valley with unusual viciousness, uprooting rain-sodden trees and destroying buildings. A belt of 80 macrocarpas, some 35 years old or more, were uprooted on the property of Mr C H Young along with three substantial fowlhouses built in their shelter. Another large building was also damaged. He also lost 100 large pines in a plantation on the hill. Damage from that storm occurred in all parts of the valley.

Scrub Fires

For a great many years not one dry season passed without the valley hillsides being blackened somewhere by scrub fires. Lives have also been endangered in an endeavour to check the spread of the flames.

In the early days when standing bush still grew on the ridges, some of these fires burnt for a week or more at a time, smouldering in the fallen trees and logs and breaking out afresh with the slightest breeze. At times the air was heavy with smoke and falling ash and often fronds of burning pigfern alighted near houses on the flats.

Regardless of whose property needed protection, men worked side by side, sometimes battling the flames all night and often suffering burns and hurts.

Haywards Toll Bridge

The Haywards Toll Bridge was erected across the Hutt River opposite Stokes Valley by Mr W H George, of Haywards, in 1927. In April of that year Mr George offered the bridge to the Hutt County Council for £2000. As this entailed taking a poll of ratepaters, which the Council was not prepared to do, the offer was declined. The bridge was later destroyed by flood and was replaced in 1932 by a foot bridge which was under the control of the Hutt County Council. These bridges gave Stokes Valley residents improved access to Haywards Railway Station. Before that the closest railway station had been in Silverstream.

With the advent of a regular bus service, the foot bridge came to be in little demand. Because of the heavy expense of upkeep and the continual damage by floods, the Council did not consider it economic to allow the bridge to remain, and in spite of protests it was dismantled.

Haywards Railway Disaster

The serious railway accident of 8 November 1943, south of the Haywards Railway Station, involved several Stokes Valley people who were regular passengers on the Upper Hutt - Wellington train. Most of these were in the front carriage which was stripped of everything but the decking. Two passengers from Upper Hutt were killed instantly and Mr G Neale of Stokes Valley was among those seriously injured. Others who suffered injuries were Miss D Cobby, Miss Eileen West-Walker, Miss Marie Montgomery and Mr M A Watts.

Stokes Valley History Part Ten...