Long-held properties for sale next year

Press, 1 December 1978, Page 8

Long-held properties for sale next year

When the Whalesback and The Doone properties of the estate of F. S. (Frank) and J. A. (James) Northcote, on the Inland road between Waiau and Kaikoura, are put up for sale by auction in Christchurch in February they will have been in the hands of the Northcote family for only a little short of 100 years.

The estate is that of the original Northcote brothers who cam e to New Zealand from Devon in southern England in 1882 as young men. They immediately came to North Canterbury and joined Henry Wharton in the joint ownership of Highfield station, which included the Whalesback and The Doone country. The partnership dates from about 1884. Mr P. S. (Peter) Northcote, a grandson of James who lives on the modem much reduced Highfield on the outskirts of Waiau, believes that Wharton was a relative of the brothers, having possibly married a Northcote. Wharton came from Australia and with a farming partner there, Francis Hayter, took over the run in 1877 when it comprised 73,322 acres, including 22,794 acres freehold, and was carrying 40,000 sheep. It was during their regime on Highfield that rabbits first appeared in appreciable numbers. In 1903 Wharton put the property in the hands of Pyne and Company, who negotiated with the Land Purchase Commissioner acting on behalf of the Government, and the upshot was that the Northcotes acquired about 6400 ha or 16,000 acres, including the Whalesback and The Doone, and also 240 ha or 600 acres at the site of the Highfield homestead near Waiau, while a total of nearly 13,200 ha or 33,000 acres went to the Crown for subdivision. Wharton also retained 3600 ha or 9000 acres. At this time about 48,000 sheep were put up for sale. The cattle then included only a few Shorthorns but there was a large number of horses. The Whalesback and The Doone today total about 7545 ha or 18,637 acres of country ranging from easy hill country to steep tussock country on Mount Peter, which is the highest point, and including only a limited amount of flats. It ranges in altitude from 492 m (1600 ft at the homestead to 985 m (3200 ft Mrs Jack Pettigrew, who lives in Waiau. went there as a two-year-old in 1912 when her father, Johnny Clark, took over the managership of the Whalesback. named after a big ridge resembling a whale's back, which is one of the geographical features of the place. When she went to primary’ school she boarded in Waiau and rode home on a pony some 27 km or 17 miles on a Friday afternoon returning again on Sunday afternoon. This included’ fording the Mason river and in those days the homestead was frequently cut off in both directions when there were floods in the Mason and die Conway as both rivers were unbridged. Sometimes up to 14 people were stranded on the property’ as a result The homestead on the Whalesback was built at about the time that Mr Clark went there. The plans for the additions to the musterer’s cottage, which stood on the site, dating back to 1911 are

still retained. The specifications make interesting reading in the light of modern day costs. For a range £7 5s ($14.50) was allowed, £2 ($4) for a bath and taps, 9d (7.5 c was the value of hat and coat hooks and £1 5s ($2.50) the price of a sink and tap. The homestead has been added to progressively since, with the most recent addition being a modern kitchen, and it was only last year that the original cottage section was pulled down. Mrs Pettigrew enjoyed the life. She says that she loved it — riding and going out to places like the Gelt at the back of The Doone block where there is now a hut, a bunkroom, a small shed and stock yards. In those days the horse was the dominant form of transport and Mrs Pettigrew remembers that her parents drove a fine animal called Corona .of Bridegroom blood. In the early days many sheep were driven through from Blenheim heading for ewes fairs at Waiau and Culverden and sales elsewhere in Canterbury, and Mr Clark had tales of drovers leaving early in the hope of avoiding paying the fees for overnight accommodation of the stock. A little distance further along the road from the Whalesback towards Kaikoura there is The Doone house, which was built in 1924 out of Highfield timber to the design of Mr H. Helmore for Peter Northcote’s parents, Mr and Mrs Tom Northcote. Mr Northcote then took over the managership of the The Doone until 19.35, when after the death of the original Frank Northcote he and his wife moved down to Highfield. Since then the two properties have been rim as one under the same manager, Mr Clark had a long tenure at Whalesback remaining there until 1935 when he went farming on his own account. He worked for the Northcotes for more than 40 years. Mr P. W. (Pat) Jennings, who is now living in retirement at Oxford, followed and was there for 19 years. He is remembered for developing the well regarded Hereford herd, which is still an integral part of the property. Mr G. W. Brice, who subsequently balloted a property on Otahuna, managed for two years and a half after working as the married shepherd on The Doone, and following Mr Angus Patterson, who was manager for a year. Mr Alistair Campbell has been manager. He was shepherd at The Doone for three years and has been manager of the property for the last 18 years. Long-serving shepherds have included men like Mr R. O. Hill, also now living at Oxford, who was at The Doone for 18 years, and Mr Bob Armstrong, now living in Waiau, who was at the Whalesback shepherding for 20 years. Earlier shepherds who did long service were Alf Rawson, Snowy King and Frank Clark. Among the characters on the property was one who was an old miner. He was reputed to know where gold could be located in the Nelson district, but his attempts to make the

journey north in search of a fortune seemed to end in Kaikoura at the first hotel on tlie way. Like other properties in the more remote parts of the country, the Whalesback and The Doone have over the years had their storms. In 1923 the homestead at the Whalesback narrowly escaped damage when a slip came down across the road during flood rains. Afterwards the area was planted out and there has been no trouble since. Fences and tracks also suffered in this visitation. In more recent times there was a freak electrical storm at tailing time in October one year. It left a trail of damage over a narrow strip of country. It brought down a tree over the stables, damaged the workers’ garage and also two cars inside. It cut the centre out of trees behind the cookhouse and the branch of a tree more than a metre long, or about 4ft, came through the roof of the men’s quarters and landed up on a bunk but fortunately no-one was in the building at the time. Over the road from The Doone house is a lonely little grave among the scrub with an iron railing and now with a white railing and fence to protect it. It is the last resting place of Alice Cecelia Sercombe George, who died on April 2, 1887, at the age of 22 months. It is said that Alice was the daughter of one of the men who were working on the construction of the road. The Whalesback and The Doone today are bounded by the Conway and Mason rivers and also join Mendip Hills station, Cloudy Range and Mason Hills. Cloudy Range also came into the property for a short time during the period of the joint ownership of Wharton and the Northcote brothers. Over the last 20 years there has been a modest programme of development involving the erection of about 22 km of fencing to subdivide some of the bigger blocks and construction of about 24 km of tracks. In that period cattle numbers have about doubled but sheep numbers have remained about static. Today there are about 820 cattle on the place, including about 560 cows' Surplus weaner calves are sold on the place to regular buyers. The flock is about 11,300 strong and includes about 7000 ewes. First cross English Leicester-Merino rams are brought in to mate with the ewes and these produce lambs that seem to suit the conditions well with a good proportion of those available for sale being drafted off the mothers. Cast-for-age stock have been amongst the highest price takers at the Culverden fair, which is known for its good shifting sheep, and wool from the flock has been among that gaining mention in wool sale reports in “The Press” over the years. The woolshed at the Whalesback was like The Doone house built out of timber from Highfield, but before 1935 the flock was driven down to Highfield for shearing in tha great

old shed, which is a landmark in the district. It originally had 24 stands but these have not all been used since 1903. The shed is now 101 years old. Up until a few years ago the property on the Inland Road included 1120 ha (2800 acres) of Nelson College reserve land but when the college was absorbed into the State educational system this land reverted to the Crown and has since been freeholded by the estate under a. deferred payment licence. The properties still in the names of their original

Northcote owners are being sold to wind up their estates. But the Northcote name will continue to be associated with the district. Peter is going on farming on Highfield near Waiau on 360 ha (900 acres). Names are always a matter of interest but he is not certain how The Doone block got its name. He was inclined to the view that it might be associated with a valley of the name on the border of Somerset and Devon in the Northcote home country, where members of the family are still

living, but Mrs Pettigrew 1 believes that the country was known as Doom because it always seemed to rain when people went there and has, in course of time, become known as The Doone. There is another i Whalesback in the Mac- | kenzie Country which has i become part of the > Grampians station and I there are links between the : two properties for Mr Peter | Northcote says that Mr I Owen Hope, who was once , on the southern Whales- I back, was a relative on his I mother’s side of the family, i