REDCLIFFS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19140, 25 October 1927, Page 6

REDCLIFFS.

h:nl a capacity nl" -U/mO |! K . water being pumped a mile and a uiinrler. Sailing Club. Oil AllgU-l Uilll, ISIJI. ;lt n imvliu;i held in the ( Inrendon Hotel. Cliri-t----tlriivh, the Chri-xteliureli Sailin- Club was formed with at .MnnckVs Bay. The club'.-> jetty -unbuilt the same year by \Y. I.;nui>. nii<l on October Stlu ISH-J." the fhil, opened it..- lir.-t .-cusim. which was celebrated by n dinner at the .Marine Hotel. Boats that took part in the opening were the JMoana, Python, and Marania. There were three boats from Pieton—the Hawke. Stella, and I.orrio. About 1878, Danny Burn, an enterprising coal-denlor in Sunnier, erected a jetty at Pedelifl's, at which he landed coal from the small vessels trading to the estuary and the Heatlieotc. This jetty was pulled down in 1 Oil. Mr Monek erected a jetty which was replaced by one built by Messrs Newbery and Lamb, which in turn was replaced by the present jetty, which was erected' by the- Lyttelton Harbour Board in 1!)02. On October 7th, 1592, Mr Xcwlier? erected a flagpole; it was made from a gum tree brought from Kennaway's plantation, opposite the steam wharf, Woolston. On .February 20th. 1896, Messrs Warner (of Warner's Hotel), Stewart, and Murray 10.-t their lives in the. estuary mving to their boat capsizing.

A PROGRESSIVE SUBURB. REMARKABLE GROWTH. The Rcdcliffs portion of the borough of Sumner has made remarkable progress in recent years, more especially since the institution of the new sewerage scheme. Building is going ahead in that part of the borough to a remarkable extent. It is hoped to improve the estuary frontage in the near future and an energetic committee in Redcliffs has the matter in hand. The residents have this improvement very much at heart and it will be a great benefit. —Mr W. 11. Nicholson, Mayor of Sumner. Rcdcliffs is considered l>y many a lovely part of Sumner. The estuary, with its varying moods, its changes of scenery, including the lines of d;irk pines on the seaward skyline, exercise a great charm, especially upon those with the artistic sense well developed. At full tide the estuary presents the appearance of a big lake; at low tide, though the mud flats look unsightly, they possess some attraction. The Redaliffs of to-day includes localities that at different times have gone under the names of Fisherman's Flat, Watsonvillo, and Clifton. Monek's Bay is generally included in Rcdcliffs, but with Monde's Spur is retained to indicate a special part of the suburb. Originally Clifton. From the following note supplied by Mr J. R. Evans, of Christcliurch, to Canon Ncvill for his articles on "European Place Names" (see The Press of January 12th, 1924), it appears that Rcdcliffs originally was named Clifton: "I owned land at the cutting on the Christcliurch tram-line, about a mile from Sumner. Part was on the flat and part hilly, with cliffs. I cut up the land and sold it, and for the convenience of my ledger account, called the place Clifton, under which name it went for a few years until a post office was applied for, when the Government objected to the name, there being already a Clifton in the Dominion. The name was then changed to Redcliffs." Original Settlers. "Fisherman's Flat" for many years was the name of that portion of Redcliffs on the shore of the estuary, and the first settlers were fishermen who built rough huts along the foreshore. Close upon the heels of the fishermen came the settlers interested in yachting, and pleasure boating generally, and later in power boating. Before the present road connecting Christcliurch and Sumner was constructed, the coaches used to be driven along the foreshore at Rcdcliffs. "Watsonvillo" is an old name for that part of present-day Rcdcliffs on the right of the cutting. It got its name from Mr Watson, whose residence stood at the end of an avenue of pines. Chronicles of Kedcliffs. To Mr J. 0. 11. Newbery, J.V., who has been resident at Kedcliffs for nearly thirty years, a representative of The Press was indebted for the following notes which describe the rise and progress of the locality. Fisherman's Flat was presented to Mr Moorhouse by the Provincial Council for his services in connexion with the tunnel, and was held in trust for his family by Mr Bowron, of Ashley Bank. The plans [of the subdivision] were prepared by Mr Deacon. , One of' the earliest entries in Mr Newbery's diary is: "1864—Captain ('Dad') Hincs's house —it was one of the fishermen's houses. Mr C. L. AViggins conducted religious services in Captain Hincs's house many years later." Interesting Events. In 1563 the cutting was put through by Whittington. In the early 60's Dick Hapcr, a man-of-warsman, found a spring in the mud flats which became the source of the water supply. Haper was in partnership with a man named Walker, as fishermen. In 1864 the ferry (Ilcathcotc) bridge was opened. In 1870 Mr Monek bought Watson's. In February, 1572, there was a regatta at Mouck's Bay. The steam tram started running to Sumner in ISBS. The next year a start was made with the Sumner water supply, consisting of four wells ] SOft deep each, and one well 272 ft. The reservoir, on the hills above Shag Koek,

Brighton. The -ame year in connexion 'with Oie Parliamentary general i-lrc'iou- the lir-t polliim booth was ~,„,, R ,|. On Juno 20th. l'HHi, the lir.-t elect lie tramcar readied liedeliif-. New Ferry Bridge. 'die new bridge at the Heatluote ferrv was opened bv the Hon. .Mr Kowlds on .May Dili, 1007. Mr Jas. Crawford was the engineer. A part of the (dd bridge was removed to the City iiiid is. stiir<lo27) giving service as a. bridge over the Avon at Swann's and Retreat roads. Mr Newbery bought .Mime "f the piles, and timber from t.bein ha- been n-ed for the pnunelling of the siiting-room of his residence, and the beautiful natural strain of Hie vood is much admired. The timber for the original bridge was brought from Pigeon Bay. Other Notable Events. Jn ]()07 Tanner's ark, a barrel-like boat visited Kedcliffs and excited much attention. On March 2Pth the same year there was a big fall of rock, which 'blocked the road, and passengers were run from Kedcliffs to Sumner by the motor-boat. Kea. On December 27th, 11)08, Mr James Crawford died. The following year (he Rowing Club was started. The census taken on March 2nd, 101.1, showed that in Kedcliffs there were 227 males and 210 females, and 197 houses. A strong hurricane was experienced

School Matters. Those present at a meeting held, in 189 G. to discuss the establishment of a school at Bcdcliil's, were Messrs J. J. Collins, C. B. Massey, E. S. Drew, G. M. Bolt, M. J. Moss, A. Hcskett, P. O'Malley, W. Johnston, Howard Strong, 11. W. England, J. M. Glonnic, .T. Townond, J. MafTcy, Theodore do Thicv, and Mrs Huwley. As a result 11 deputation waited on the Education Board, which considered the proposal premature. Three sites were proposed—Gu.mtree site, a site near Monek's Spur, and tin; present site, which was selected as being most central. It was not till 1907 that a school was provided. Interesting Happenings. It was in 1898 that the name Clifton, as applied to Redeliffs, was changed to the last-mentioned name. The same year, on May 20th, there was a covering, one inch thick, of the crustcan known popularly as whale food on the beach which had the appearance of having been painted red. In appearance, whale food is something like shrimps. The same year saw the erection of the first shop in Kedcliffs. It was built by Mr Wilson, in 1901 an agitation for a sea wall in front of Eedcliffs reached the point of bringing the matter before the Government, but nothing came of it as the Government considered that they would be setting up a dangerous precedent by undertaking to protect private property. The residents of the waterfront, however, decided to give a strip of land G feet wide to the Borough Council to enable it to protect their property. Tn 1903 the Gleam, a motorboat owned by Mr C. J. Trelcaven, was lost when crossing the bar. In August, 1904, a petition was presented to the Borough Council asking that the Estuary road should bo formed, and this work was completed on Julv 24th, 1905. In 1904 Monck's Bay was subdivided, and the first street lamp 'kerosene) was erected. On November 22nd the same year a severe hurricane was experienced and Mr Harrison's shnn was blown down. On January 27th. 190-3 Blunt's general store was burned down and this led to the preliminary steps being taken for the formation of a branch of the Sumner Fire Brigade at Redeliffs. The same year church services and Sunday school were held in a shop and continued to bo held there till a Mission Hall was erected, and was formally opened bv Bishop Julius on June 24th. 1900. In 190") the motor-boat Tuariki began running in the estuary between Sumner bar, Heathcote, "and New

on October 201 li, 1912, and Tidgcon's and Senior's houses were blown down. A Shipping Note. In April, 1005, it was recorded: "Por the first time for many years past in the history of Rcdcliffs a vessel with a large cargo arrived there direct from another port. The vessel is the ketch Comet, 20 tons register,' Captain Dudley, and her cargo consists of 12,000 ft of timber (firewood and sundries) from Port Levy. The cost of freight, wc arc informed, is immeasurably lower than it would be via Lyttelton." Oyster Fisheries Tried. An attempt, which proved unsuccessful, to establish an oyster fishery in the estuary is referred to in the following extract from the minutes of the Sumner Borough Council, under date October 17th, 1593: "Mayor's statement: Relative to the granting by the Government of a right to Mr Linn, of Watsonvillo [now Kedcliffs], of a site for an oyster fishery within the estuary, 2 acres in extent: The clerk was- instructed to write to the Collector of Customs informing him that the Council has no objection to the site being granted to Mr Linn.

The fishery was duly started by Mr Linn, but as it was not possible to keep the public from, the beds, he gave up the project. This Mr Linn was Mr Richard Linn, who was well-known thirty or forty years ago as officer commanding the Queen's Cadets, and as secretary of the Royal Humane Society of Is T cw Zealand.