Residents Recall 1907 Show

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31321, 17 March 1967, Page 15

Residents Recall 1907 Show

There are a number of residents in Hawarden and the surrounding districts who attended the first Hawarden show in 1907.

They include Mrs W. Guthrie, of Hawarden, Mrs A. G. Black, of Culverden, and Mr L. R. C. Macfarlane, also of Culverden. Mr Macfarlane recalled this week that as a lad of 16 he rode from Kaiwara to Hawarden on a young hunter, leading a 12-year-old pony, and carrying a loaf of bread, which was also entered in the show.

It was a big day for a youngster. Roads were not what they are today. Getting to Hawarden meant cutting across country, opening numerous gates, and riding up the Hurunui riverbed.

Mr Macfarlane remembers leaving at daylight, and reaching the show with an old pony which had proved very tardy at keeping up a steady pace.

Once at the show, however, the pony won a second prize, the bread was awarded a third, but young Leslie Macfarlane, on his hunter, “got nowhere.” To make matters worse, someone lifted the bread, so he duly arrived back home that night hungry as well as tired. The return trip was probably the best part of 40 miles, because the journey home had to be made by way of the main road, the riverbed being riddled with rabbit holes. Mr Macfarlane said that in those early days it was not easy for country exhibitors to get to shows where any distance was involved. Exhibitors from Christchurch could simply travel by train, so were at an advantage. Throughout his life Mr Macfarlane has been a great admirer of the thoroughbred horse, and a strong supporter

of the turf. One of his best horses was Quite Able, which won the 1961 New Zealand Cup, and later ran second in the Wellington Cup in a photo finish. Another Competitor Mrs Black was also a competitor at the 1907 show, gaining a second with a pony. She was then a Forrester. Mrs Black still rides a horse, and for Saturday’s show has an entry in the harness pony classes. She will drive it herself. Mrs Guthrie, who lives in Hawarden township, was a daughter of Richard Wright, one of the founders of the Hawarden Agricultural and Pastoral Association, and a regular exhibitor in draught horse classes. Mrs Guthrie said she had entries in the domestic classes at the first show. This section included an ironing competition, for which men’s shirts were used. “Those were the days when men wore stifffronted shirts,” Mrs Guthrie said. “Not just a stiff collar attached to the neck of the shirt.”