MANY ATTRACTIONS

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 70, 15 December 1933, Page 27 (Supplement)

MANY ATTRACTIONS

Picturesque Masterton THRIVING TOWN Centrally situated in the expansive and fertile Wairarapa Valley lies Masterton, one of the Dominon’s most progressive inland towns. By reason of its key position to trade and commerce in the district the town has thrived and outgrown its confines, to an extent that not even the most sanguine of the pioneers could have hoped for. .To-day Masterton could well be termed “the garden of the Wairarapa.” For. its attractively laid-out streets, delightful residential sites, and beautiful gardens never fail to command the admiration of all.

Innumerable attractions are offered the pleasure bound tourist in the town itself and in surrounding districts. A visit to one of the parks or a drive into the surrounding undulating country could scarcely fail to fill tlie visitor w’ith enthusiasm for the district. Residential sites in the town rival tlibse to be found elsewhere in the Dominion, the gardens in all parts of the town during the spring and summer months being a profusion of colour. . The most popular quarter of the towm is -Masterton’s West End, a comparatively new residential area, which is rapidly becoming fairly thickly populated.

Mawley Park, the latest addition to Masterton’s many attractions and the scene of . the new motorists’ camp, should undoubtedly prove a popular spot with the increasingly large number of people who spend their, summer vacation on the road. During the summer months Queen's Park, or. as it is more commonly, but appropriately, termed, Beautiful Masterton Park, is always a favoured haunt with holiday makers. Though only two minutes’ walk .from the heart of the business area of the town, the park, w’ith its extensive lawns and well-kept flower beds, presents an atmosphere of peacefulness.

Much of the credit for the elegant appearance of the town may be attributed to the local Beautifying Society, which has planted long avenues of trees on the edges of footpaths in the residential areas of the town. Besides this work the Society has been responsible for beautifying other sections of the town and has given valuable assistance to the borough council in its beautification schemes. '

The town is particularly well provided for in the.way of playing areas, catering for practically every class of sport. Tennis is probably better catered for than in any other town of comparative size in the Dominion. There are the Masterton and Memorial Clubs’ courts with eleven and ten firstclass grass courts respectively. It is ‘on these twenty-one courts that the Wairarapa Lawn Tennis Association’s championship and handicap tournament is conducted each January. . Situated in the pleasing surroundings of Queen’s Park, the Park Club has five grass courts and one asphalt. Then there are also the St. Patrick’s, St. Matthew’s, Kuripuni and Lansdowne clubs, all with fairly large memberships. Bowlers have the Masterton and Park greens to fill their requirements and croquet players have lawns at the Park and at Lansdowne.

For. the sportsman, too, the Masterton .district is well to the fore. The various rivers and streams abound with good, well-conditioned trout, so that it is possible for-the visitor to obtain some great sport with rod and line. There is also unlimited sport for the man with the gun in various parts of the district Within fairly easy reach of the town.