GRANT ROAD SPRING

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 30, 5 February 1935, Page 10

GRANT ROAD SPRING

POPULARITY GROWING

Other springs may .dry up,1 but that at Grant Road, at the foot of the Wadestown hill, continues to give a generous supply of clear, icy-cold crystal water. In the hot weather that Wellington has had for weeks past the Grant Road spring has ■ been extremely popular with people living nearby, and so refreshing is the water that it has a reputation which extends far beyond the immediate. locality of the spring. . People. come in their motor-cars from distant parts of Wellington, have a glass .or two of the sparkling water on the spot, and usually take away with them wgllfilled billies and jugs. Last night there was a ': regular stream of people to the spring. At 9 o'clock people were still coming, and it was a case of having, to form a queue, and of each individual waiting his or her turn to dip a billy, jug or glass under the swiftly-flowing clear water. - SPRINGS AT ONEHUNGA. To go further afield from Wellington, there are springs at Onehunga, Auckland; which also give an unfailing supply of water, and these are the subject of some reference in the "New Zealand Herald." One of the most severe droughts in AucKland within living memory occurred about 65 years ago, and farmers from Mangere Ellerslie, Epsom, and the Tamaki brought their more valuable stock to the Onehunga springs twice or three times a week, and so saved their lives. Old men tell that when they were boys the springs, that summer, were a rendezvous for the whole countryside; Residents flocked from far and near bringing empty barrels, casks, or iron tanks on bullock drays or carts, and returning home well supplied with water. Indeed, in any dry summer before the existing pumping systems were established in the late eighties, it was quite a common sight to see neighbouring farmers replenishing their supplies at the Onehunga springs. Since then four of the' springs have been harnessed and yield a bountiful supply of water to the residents of I the surrounding districts, as well as

to the City Council's abattoirs at Westfield. The source of the springs is a mystery, and so far. no satisfactory theory as to their origin may be propounded.