Waikawau Tram Bach Heritage Area
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Waikawau Tram Bach Heritage Area Location: 949-961 Thames Coast Road, Waikawau. Part Lot 3 DP 29424. Adjacent to the Waikawau Reserve and Boat Ramp. Introduction: Tapu farmer EJ (Ted) Russek acquired decommissioned trams from the Auckland Transport Board in the early 1950s and transported them to the Coromandel. Twenty-three were converted to baches at Waikawau and ten received the same treatment at Tapu. Others were located at Te Puru or singly on farms for accommodation and storage. The tram baches represent a highly distinctive approach to the provision of low-cost coastal accommodation at a time when the Coromandel was becoming increasingly popular as a holiday destination. Alterations and additions made to the trams over the years embody the DIY ethos typical of New Zealand’s bach culture. Fig. 1. Detail of DP 29424 [dated December 1939] showing Lot 3 on which the tram baches are located. 1 Distinctive Physical Characteristics: a) Twenty-three converted tram baches are arranged along the length of the property, which is sandwiched between the Thames Coast Road and the foreshore of the Firth of Thames. b) The baches are generally aligned parallel to one another on an east-west axis facing the Firth. c) Principal vehicle access is via the neighbouring Waikawau Reserve. d) The baches are single storey buildings, some having been raised to protect against flooding and all having been modified over time. e) One outbuilding beside Tram 23 is situated outside the property, on reserve land. f) A small section of sea wall has been constructed at the southern end of the property. g] The property is grassed with minimal vegetation on the seaward side of the baches. Surroundings & Contribution to Context The baches are located immediately to the south of the Waikawau Reserve and the mouth of the Waikawau River where it enters the Firth of Thames. Positioned below the level of the Thames Coast Road, the baches are set against a backdrop of trees and shrubs but are nevertheless visible from the roadway. In the absence of fencing and significant landscaping there is little sense of demarcation between the adjacent Waikawau Reserve and the bach property. Together with the nearby boat ramp, the baches contribute to the well-established recreational character of the locale. Fig. 2. Bach No. 7, Waikawau. 8 July 2009. Photograph: Anne Challinor. History of Area: In 1925 the major Auckland construction and contracting company Winstone Limited acquired a significant parcel of land at Waikawau, from which the company extracted shingle. On 25 2 October 1962 part of the Winstone property was transferred to Waikawau Properties Limited, which had been incorporated two months earlier to represent the owners of the tram baches, which were already positioned on the site. Waikawau Properties continues to own and manage the property today. The Wenzlick family who farmed at Kereta, north of Waikawau, was involved in loading the scows and barges that transported Waikawau shingle for Winstones. The Wenzlick and Russek families are connected by marriage and both had emigrated from Bohemia (modern- day Czech Republic) to New Zealand, the Russeks in 1863 and the Wenzlicks in 1866. They settled in Puhoi near Auckland on arrival but in the early 20th century members of both families bought land on the Thames Coast and commenced farming and contracting.1 The Wenzlicks and Russeks were active foundation members of the Thames Coast community and descendants of the original settlers still reside in the area today. Wenzl and Margaretta Russek’s son Edward (known as Ted, 1910-79) developed the tram bach clusters at Waikawau and Tapu. Paying an average price of £20 each, Ted Russek transported the redundant trams down from Auckland in 1953 and sold some for individual removal while others were positioned in groups at Tapu, Waikawau and Te Puru.2 As the land at Waikawau was owned by Winstone Ltd until 1962 it may be assumed that the Wenzlick/Russek family connection with the shingle quarry made an informal arrangement possible until such time as Waikawau Properties was established. Fig. 3. ‘Tram bodies awaiting buyers in a paddock at Kopu near Thames’. Reproduced in G Stewart’s The End of the Penny Section p. 219. 1 Gregor Johann [John] Wenzlick married Maria Scott in Thames in 1869 and the couple established their family in the Kauaeranga Valley before returned to Puhoi in about 1879/80. They returned to the Coromandel in c.1904 when they bought a farm at Kereta and took over the accommodation house at Waikawau. 2 K Male Good Old Kiwi Baches and a Few Cribs Too p. 78. 3 New Zealand tram historian Graham Stewart has established that among the Waikawau tramcars is No. 53, an ‘E class’ tram manufactured in England, which entered service in Auckland in 1905. The seven E class trams that were among the tram bodies relocated to the Coromandel by Ted Russek were withdrawn from the Auckland service in the period March through May 1953.3 Alterations and additions to the baches have occurred over the years, increasing the floor area of each dwelling and adding boat sheds in many cases. Major flooding in June 2002 prompted the owners of baches 9-16, excluding #11 which had been raised in 1997, to elevate their baches to guard against future flood damage. A boundary adjustment was undertaken in 1983 [see DPS 28291] so that Tramcars 1 and 23, which originally lay across the boundary with the adjacent reserve, could be located within the property. A Board of Directors manages the baches on behalf of the owners, working with a Management Plan developed in 2000. Fig. 4. Waikawau tram baches. 8 July 2009. Photograph: Anne Challinor. Historic Names Waikawau means ‘water of the black shag or cormorant’. The origin and meaning of the Thames Coast Road is self-evident. Fig. 5. Black Shag or Cormorant. Source: Wikipedia Creative Commons. 3 G Stewart Always a tram in sight p. 20. 4 The Significance of the Area: Archaeological values, if present, would necessarily relate to the site’s pre-1900 history of use and occupation, allowing for the changing coastline at Waikawau over the course of the 20th century. The tram bach heritage area has architectural value due to the typology of the converted tramcar bach. Its historic value derives from its initiation by Ted Russek as a mid- 20th century holiday destination. The baches’ cultural value is as a notable example of a coastal bach enclave. The technological value of the area is derived from the conversion of early 20th century electric tramcars into holiday homes. Fig. 6. Waikawau Tram Baches, Waikawau. 14 April 2009. Archaeological Significance: As the baches were sited at Waikawau in the mid-late1950s, any archaeological values pertaining to the heritage area would relate to the pre-1900 Maori and colonial use and ownership of the land. Title was first issued on this property to Takerei te Putu in 1889 [CT 53/283], the same year in which it was transferred to Lillian Steedman, wife of James Steedman, an engineer of Thames. Architectural Significance: The tram baches demonstrate the ‘true do-it-yourself Kiwi style’ that is popularly considered to be a fundamental ingredient in New Zealand’s architectural history.4 About 80-90 former Auckland tramcar bodies are believed to be still in existence, mostly in the Coromandel.5 The original trams were cheap, portable and sufficiently spacious to allow for conversion into a simple one-bedroom bach. Over the years alterations and additions have largely remained true to the baches’ humble origins while at the same time allowing bach owners the freedom to customise each tram. 4 K Male Good Old Kiwi Baches and a Few Cribs Too p. 78. 5 http://www.mikelee.co.nz/ 5 Cultural Significance: The Waikawau tram baches contribute to the Coromandel Peninsula’s identity as a place of relaxed, coastal holidaymaking. They are part of the post-World War II evolution of the district away from an economy based on extractive industries towards one with a strong reliance on tourism. * The cultural values of tangata whenua in relation to this area, which is included within Ngati Tamatera’s Wai 778 claim (lodged 1998), are outside the scope of this report. Fig. 7. View of Waikawau tram baches, 29 December 1961. Whites Aviation Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library, WA-56859-G. Historic Significance The tram baches of Waikawau embody the history of both post-war holidaymaking on the Thames Coast and Auckland’s electric tramcar system. The latter operated between 1902 and 1956 and was the largest electric tramcar system in New Zealand.6 By the early 1950s Auckland’s tramcar routes were being phased out, however, in preference for diesel buses. Tapu farmer Ted Russek seized the opportunity to purchase a large number of redundant trams thereby giving holidaymakers from Auckland, the Waikato and the Coromandel the opportunity to own their own coastal bach. Scientific Significance The area may offer opportunities to research the recreational history of the Coromandel Peninsula and gain a further understanding of how local families such as the Russeks contributed to the development of bach communities throughout the district. Technological Significance The building material of these baches, namely the body of an early 20th century electric tramcar, gives the area its technological significance. Despite the additions and alterations that have modified the appearance of most of the baches over time, they generally retain the fundamental structure and outline of an Auckland electric tramcar. 6 Graham Stewart Always a tram in sight pp. 7 & 177. 6 Fig. 8. Bach 6, Waikawau. 8 July 2009. Photograph: Anne Challinor.