THE ROCK Anglican Parish of Caversham Saint Peter, February 2018—Lent Dunedin, New Zealand Wetlands of South Dunedin By The Vicar andscapes of early 19th century South Dunedin reveal it for the saltmarsh and wetlands it L essentially is. As population poured in to “the Flat” it was drained and rapidly built on. Early industrialisation and the presence of the immigration barracks encouraged considerable population growth. By the mid-20th century it had become one of the most densely populated suburbs of New Zealand. Early Warning Signals Our colonial forebears were not noted for thinking through the long term implications of where they had decided to locate themselves. The houses and factories of South Dunedin were essentially built on silt in an area with a 19th Century South Dunedin. high water table and few natural defences CITATION: UNKNOWN, “SWAMPY FLAT LAND, SOUTH DUNEDIN. 1869 SOUTH DUNEDIN.,” OURHERITAGE.AC.NZ | OUR HERITAGE, ACCESSED FEBRUARY 22, against the nearby ocean. There were some 2018, HTTP://OTAGO.OURHERITAGE.AC.NZ/ITEMS/SHOW/4644. early warning signals. In 1892 heavy rain flooded many areas of Dunedin and isolated its dilatory response in coming to the aid of system coped with the constant rain the city. In 1923 the famous flood occurred those whose homes had been flooded and for throughout the night and the morning until the which was particularly devastating for South the failure of the storm water system. It rain intensified in the early afternoon. In the Dunedin. The Service register for Saint responded by saying that from now on the immediate vicinity of the Church the Baker St Peter’s laconically noted that the Sunday mud tanks would be regularly cleaned, that drain stopped functioning and water poured evening Service was cancelled “due to the storm water drains would be regularly cleared, on to the front lawn in that vicinity surrounding flood.” particularly when heavy rain was anticipated, the Sanctuary and running down into the While some preventative measures were and that a new mechanism would be installed defile on the side lawn of the Vicarage, taken the attitude seems to have been that in the storm water outfall station to prevent threatening to flood the neighbouring Baker St these were abnormal events which would be rubbish blocking up the outflow. It also properties. Eastbourne street then began to rare and infrequent. Life could go on as usual replaced many waste water pipes in Kaikorai flood, forcing the evacuation of the Radius in “South D”. Valley stating that this would have a beneficial rest home, and then pouring on to the flow on effect for South Dunedin. An informal property to the rear of the Vicarage across the 2015 Flood cautionary note was sounded about this when back lawn of the Vicarage and then adding to a fringe parishioner whose job it is to inspect the water build up in the defile. A water build The flood of 2015 disturbed that complacent storm water drains told me that the pipes had up surrounded the Cottage and the Hillside assumption. Warnings from the scientific been installed on top of one another in such a Road side of the hall and the west wall of the community that climate change was here to way as to make future maintenance and Church. stay, that abnormal weather events would inspection difficult. become the new normal and that ocean levels What contributes to Eastbourne Street and were rising with the real possibility of ocean Radius’s woes is the fact that when the storm Storm water System Fails inundation in some coastal parts of New water system is overwhelmed an inspection Zealand now had to be taken on board. This Year hatch in Hillside Road outside the Danish The DCC came in for sharp criticism both for The events of Thursday 1 February 2018 (Continued on page 5) showed that this was not enough. The www.stpeterscaversham.org.nz Page 2 February 2018—Lent The Rock Historic Photograph Discoveries Letters he appeal in the December Rock for further information about some historic The Rock welcomes letters to the Editor. Letters are subject to photographs has produced some results. selection and, if selected, to editing for length and house style. Letters may be : The Junior Choir photograph was in taken in 1952, not 1946 as it stated on Posted to : The Editor of The Rock, T the back of the photo. The members of the c/- The Vicarage, 57 Baker Street, choir have been identified as front row, the Caversham, boys, left to right: Selwyn Tompkins, Alfred Dunedin, N.Z. 9012 Wilson, Colin Tourelle, Master Hogg Emailed to: [email protected] (Christian name not known), David Morrell, Barry Steele; Middle row, girls, left to right: Shirley Butler, Maria Peterson, Nola Tourelle, Janice Butler; back row, girls, left Ask The Vicar to right, left to right: Sandra Moore, <still a For answers to questions doctrinal, spiritual and liturgical. mystery enquiries continuing>, Beverley Write to: Ask The Vicar, c/- The Vicarage as above Junior choir at Saint Peter’s in 1952. Hitchcox, Valerie Hogg. Or email: [email protected] The 1913 photograph of the clergy in the entry area of the Vicarage entitled “Vicarage Ask The Vestry Characters” [reproduced at left] had a major error in Questions about the secular life and fabric of the parish may its description. Further research has shown the tall be: bespectacled Clergyman on the right hand side to be Posted to : Ask The Vestry,c/- The Vicarage as above the Curate, Father Robert Coates. Since his mother Emailed to: [email protected] and sister remained in the parish long after he had gone perhaps it is them we see in the photo. In 1916 Coates became the Vicar of St Michael’s Andersons Bay and then tragedy struck. His older brother was killed at the Great War in 1917 and Coates had a serious breakdown as a result. He recovered and spent the rest of a long ministry in the diocese of Auckland. Thus the priest at left in the photo is in fact the then Vicar, Father Dering Evans. Larger, clearer photographs and copies of the handwritten notes for each are still available on Saint Peter’s website at www.StPetersCaversham.org.nz/The Rock supplements/1712/solvehistory.html. New tables safe and easy ables in the Parish Centre have been replaced by new, light- approximately 25 years old, had come to the end of their productive T weight units which will be very much easier and safer for life, were heavy and presented a range of health and safety issues for parishioners and other hall users to deal with says Parish Centre our user groups, he said. In addition they were very difficult to store Manager David Hoskins. (upright, in metal stalls) and retrieve for use. The old tables, a variety of heavy wood and metal constructions The replacement tables decided upon already had a satisfactory track record, being in use in busy venues such as St Matthew’s and the Maryhill Presbyterian Centre, so could be acquired with confidence. Once the decision to purchase was made, an anonymous donor offered to make the purchase for us, which David says is wonderful and very much appreciated. The Articles of Religion ISSUED BY THE CONVOCATION OF CLERGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN 1571 XVIII. Of obtaining eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ. They also are to be had accursed that presume to say, That every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law, and the light of Parish Centre Manager David Hoskins shows just how easy it is to move Nature. For Holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be the new tables around. saved. PHOTO.: INFORMATION SERVICES OTAGO LTD. Saint Peter’s Caversham The Rock February 2018—Lent Page 3 THE MERCHANT NAVY (M. N.) The Frolicsome (6) THE WILD BLUE YONDER Friar By Ian Condie Part six of life in alf a day after leaving the Canal, the British the world has shrunk to a circle merchant navy. twenty-five kilometres in diameter H with the ss Caversham at the centre and at night the diameter shrinks to alone, separated from any other human by five kilometres. However, after sunset the two or three hundred metres, in the dark visibility overhead is infinite, peopled by with the barely visible sea rushing past millions of stars, planets and the odd beneath one's feet and nothing to look at astronautical intruder. save the dark ocean, the dim horizon, perhaps the moon—and The mental the above-mentioned horizon of the infinity peopled by crew behaves in millions of stars, planets very much the and the odd same way. The astronautical intruder. only things that seem real other The passage across the SOURCE: WWW.HOWTOGEEK.COM. than the everyday Pacific is the happy time “… the world has shrunk to a circle watch periods to work on their tanning and work of the ship for the Chief Officer and the twenty-five kilometres in diameter the Chief Steward, greatly daring, decides to are the tales of Bosun, for they can with the ss Caversham at the try putting salad on the menu once or twice. the exploits of centre …” concentrate on getting their one's shipmates ship into a state as near to Very occasionally there is a seabird to be in various parts of the world—and even they perfection as humanly possible.