Living history in Shantytown

Press, 17 June 1980, Page 22

Living history in Shantytown

Shantytown must be familiar by now to many West Coast tourists. More than a million people have visited the town since its opening in January 1971 and indications are that its popularity is increasing.

Shantytown is not simply a goldmining village — its scope encompasses every facet of life on the West Coast in the early days of European settlement.

The whole town has been lovingly reconstructed, wherever possible from the original materials and the accent is on making things work.

Inside the general store are shelves of tins, bottles and packets which date back to the Goldrush. Original scales and cash registers are a focal point for children, while adults

can browse through the stocks remembering Grandma’s pantry. As well as the general store there are banks, a printing works, a boot shop, barber’s shop, hotel, tea rooms and post office. A jail, complete with stocks and gallows can be inspected and a hospital displays old-time equipment from hospitals throughout New Zealand. A good deal of emphasis Jias been placed on early forms of transport, with hansom cabs and vintage crafts plying the streets, livery stables displaying old gigs and buggies and a fire station with restored engines from the Ross and Runanga Brigades. The railway station and engine sheds are of particular interest. Two old locomotives have been restored and take tourists along the bush line past the gold-panning area. At present the Kaitangata is undergoing maintenance in the workshops, but the 1913 Climax engine takes several trips each day. Stagecoach rides are also available in fine weather giving visitors a thrilling trip through bush, across streams and up and down hills. For people who have already seen Shantytown there is always something new in a display which is constantly being extended and improved. Since the town is administered by a Trust any profit made is channelled back into making Shantytown a working piece of history.’