"But there wasn't a branch to Martinborough" you say and you're right. The date of these scenes -- 20 July 1914 --gives the clue to its fate. Just 15 days later the Empires of Europe declared war on each other and a huge number of NZ's able-bodied men were sent to fight and die for the glory of "King and Country".
After the war, enthusiasm for the branch waned and it never proceeded.
It would have connected Featherston on the Wairarapa line to Martinborough, both small towns, a distance of 18.5 km, although an extension of the Greytown branch was also proposed which would have shortened the new route to 14 km, but had different natural obstacles.
The first pic shows a scene outside what is now the Martinborough Hotel at the corner of Memorial Square and Kitchener Street (a good Imperial name!) and the second shows a silver spade being used by a local dignitary. The wheelbarrow was destroyed in a school fire in 1919, but the spade still exists somewhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment