The Otaki Blog      Issue 3

  Kapiti Grey Power is an established group of senior citizens who are a watchdog on Government policies and local issues with Council. Membership can start at age 55 so when I got an invite to be Guest Speaker at the first general meeting for 2008   I released I would be about the youngest person there!!! ( I turn 55 in July). The talk related to growing up in Barrow and where the journey went from there.

 I began with a brief history of Furness, how it was established, the construction of Furness Abbey, the coming of the railway and heavy industries with mining the various minerals in the Furness district. It was with great pride one could mention the huge achievements and strides made during the latter part of the 19th century and through the 20th century. For many in the large audience could relate to Northern England, either having emigrated themselves or their parents had etc, when countries like New Zealand wanted skilled  people in the relevant trades of the time.

  The talk moved onto the work I produce now in paintings and its strong link to the industrial area that is in my blood. Of course there is much beauty to remember and not forgetting all the lovely places visited as children our family and friends took us to..   My wife and I attended an old shipmates bar be que in Wellington the other evening and met up with a lovely couple from Poulton Le Fyde who had witnessed the recent stranding of the Riverdance on Morecambe Bay before leaving for a holiday out here. There was indeed allot of catch up on what the various towns like Blackpool , Preston , Fleetwood and Bolton are like now, to mention just a few .

   I gave a good plug about this site so John you should have two new members from Poulton Le Fyde on their return?   This weeks paintings have a subtle link . Both represent the same time period-mid 1950's  but are in fact some 12,500 miles apart.   The painting of the double decker bus shows Barrow in Furness Corporation bus number 147 outside the Kings gate at Vickers Armstrong's at the end of the day shift with thousands of men and women clocking off . Bicycles, pedestrians motorcyclists and many going home on the buses. Like the Oriana painting shown in Issue one, my father features here riding his bike just behind the bus loading by the gate. Painted in 2000 the work sold that year (12x16" oil on canvas panel) but I will be offering laser prints to anyone who would like one and this is the pilot image of more to come on LRU of the old buses we remember.

Number 147 was rescued by the Barrow Transport group for preservation. In this scene it appears in its original format, later rebodied by Roe and an electric door added.  

    The trams in the foreground  are trundling down Crawford Road towards the outer suburbs of Wellington, again mid 1950's whilst the two in the background are returning with workers. Taken from a lovely black and white photo by writer/photographer Mr Graham Stewart of Wellington, his permission sought as this work and others to follow will be published later this year likely as a calendar. In the original photo only one motor car is visible which I have removed , the scenes would be about 6.30 on a summers morning. This work 15x30" oil on canvas panel is available for sale at the time of writing.

  To conclude this weeks blog I have enjoyed listening to .......  Judith Durham , The Seekers Silver Jubilee Album. That wonderful Australian group . All lovely songs and to pick one song out is difficult so I have two!. "Walk with me" and "Keep a dream in your pocket"   Until next time , take care.   regards Wallace.

THE OTAKI BLOG   Issue 2.

   "Kiwi Ingenuity" , We hear it mentioned quite abit out here. Its New Zealand's way of a pat on the back for thinking through and acting on something challenging. It stems back to the days of the early pioneers of the 19th and 20th century when everything was literally shipped out and it was a case of make do with what you have and fix up as best.

   Those days were still evident when I was working for companies in the 1980s, few then would throw out bolts, nuts, washers, everything was reused. So this leads me into one of my paintings shown here. F.B.Gray was one of the first established carriers in the farming district of Masterton  in the 1920's. The painting (16x12" oil on canvas panel)worked from an old black and white photo shows Mr Gray in the foreground and his younger brother besides the Commer Commercial lorry he ran along with several others  Commissioned by Mr Grays son ,Doug Gray who today at the age of 83 is still driving lorries to this day. The painting was produced in 2003 .

One wonders without the modern conveniences we now take for granted how these men and women lived from week to week, but they did and were they to return to our world would probably find it utterly confusing and very scary. My own impression on "Kiwi Ingenuity" however is a more universal approach, the same should be said on all early pioneers to every corner of the world who have ventured from their homeland into the unknown.  New Zealand may be proud of its forefathers but there are many other nations who are also.  

   The other painting shown this week is one of a Britannia Class loco (oil on canvas panel 24x12") shown heading south on a mixed goods traffic just past the Levens viaduct. The Ulverston monument of Hoad can be seen in the background but is little artist licence here as the scaling is out. Unfortunately I did not obtain a good reproduction of this as the work sold pretty fast so the image you see it a little fuzzy.

Painted in 2004 as a selection of work on trains in UK .   It has been an extraordinary week here in Kapiti. We had a huge waterspout develop over the coast during a thunderstorm and then it dropped its entire load over the whole district. Its the first one I have known in these parts. A few days later  a mid air tragedy claiming three pilots after a helicopter and light aircraft collided , sending debris into a housing estate and an industrial area. No lives lost on the ground as it was a Sunday and the streets were relatively quiet in this particular area, but it certainly brings it home , just as our roads get busier each year, so are the skies.

    To conclude on a happier note ,returning to the 1960's , trains and buses were always my fascination in Barrow and around Lancashire , Cumbria or wherever we could travel to. I have therefore deceided to re visit those years on canvas and produce more scenes of the buses and trains we remember over the coming months and place them on LRU. If you have a favourite let me know .    This week I lost myself in those great tunes by the Electric Light Orchestra, whilst painting a scene of a train. So my pick has to be "Last Train to London''from their Discovery Album of 1979.   Until next time , take care everyone.   regards    Wallace.

THE OTAKI BLOG"    Issue One .  

  Warm Greetings from Otaki

.   Introduction.

When John kindly suggested I consider writing a blog for LRU I must admit one of apprehension.  How is it possible I thought to write from the other side of the world and feel its connecting to events so far away , but then having enjoyed reading everyone's input over the past few weeks , not one to let a challenge slip by I said ,"okay , lets try it" .

During my working life in Barrow I was employed firstly as a labourer at Sovereign Chemicals, they made paints and industrial glues in Ainslie Street, the manager was Roger Fisher son of Fred Fisher a well known builder. A four year apprenticeship at Vickers Engineering followed  and came out of my time in the engine shop on submarine steering gears.

About this time I went through a very conscience period and decided to try something completely different , an outside job with the GPO. Working as  a postman from Abbey Road depot it was long hours for relatively low pay but boy, did I enjoy it. Up for 4am to take the bags off the first trains to arrive -usually a class 40  or 47 hauled, then the Huddersfield -Whitehaven T.P.O (Travelling Post Office)would arrive  followed by the overnight sleeper from London

. Two deliveries on foot or bike then knocked off around 1pm. Several of my friends from the yard had continued their Engineering into the Merchant Navy , but all left after just one trip. At 21 I was single and no ties , so signed up to give it a go. I will mention more on those days in future entries.   As some will know , today I work from my studio  and produce both commissioned work and spec ' , and this includes deadlines to meet for publishers of newspapers and magazines.

Also company presentations. Mearsk Shipping have prints of my work from commissions they requested in Europe on all deck levels of some of the worlds largest container ships afloat today. Its hoped to feature  a painting on the blog each week , whilst not wanting to make it seem a commercial venture I would like to mention more UK scenes are planned .

I publish calendars and postcards from my work and soon placemats , also a newsletter is sent out on the 21st of each month to clients with updates.. For anyone interested or would like more information please email on wallace.t@paradise.net.nz   This weeks is " The Pride of Launch Day"  -the launch of Oriana at Vickers Armstrong's yard in 1959.

Based on a lovely b/w shot by the late Lawrence Dunn ,painted in 2003 oil on canvas 15x30", the painting also features my father -waving r/h side, with two tugs in attendance. When the ship left Barrow for sea trials I recall seeing her heading out of Morecambe Bay , her bright ochre hull glistening in the morning light. The scene attempts to capture the unity of all shipyard men at that time .

The work won top prize on the Kapiti Coast -this region, and whilst on show in Wellington was almost bought by comedian Billy Connelly during his motor bike tour in 2004. He mentioned however  it was not Govan Yard , Glasgow where he had  worked ,-as a welder before becoming afull time entertainer nor a ship he felt connected to but really liked it.   Whilst working in the studio I always listen to music and radio talkback shows. This weeks favourite Brit song from me is Jimmy Nail ," Only Love can bring us Home", from his 'Growing up in public' album of 1992.  Until next time , kind regards and take care everyone.

  Wallace.   The Anchorage Studio. Otaki.

END OF FIRST MONTH

Last week I mentioned convenience, (which I suppose is self-evident) when discussing the pros and cons relating to running a car. After a month of using public transport and the occasional taxi I am convinced there are no cons. Would like to hear from anyone who disagrees providing they are not a car owner.

And what about independence ? I As far as we are concerned this will be most noticeable when deciding on a holiday. Apart from the odd few coach trips abroad we have always enjoyed free and easy motoring holidays. Self-catering cottages or B&Bs which give ample scope for getting out the cooking utensils by the lochside or river bank has long been our favourite way of catering.

OK -- yes it has rained so we find a restaurant. Over the years, and particularly in the West Highlands of Scotland we have found numerous pleasant spots to which we have nostalgically returned time and time again. I wonder if a coach driver would take kindly to a request to drop us off at one of these places and pick us up later ?

Now, while I must say I have been happy to comment on this new era I am sure that no one is going to be interested in a repetitive weekly recital of trivia, so until something worth commenting on in the future crops up, I will, as I have told John, say cheerio for the time being.

HAPPY MEMORIES

  Now into the third week of carlessness and on reading my previous closing comments I am reminded of the introductory  jingle of the old TV series, Dad`s Army" :" Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler" -- just substitute Owd Bert. 

Going up the car park ramps was no real problem and more often than not on reaching Level Five you would have the floor to yourself.   Was probably just trying to convince myself that bussing it was a good substitute for having a car. 

I kid you not -- it isn`t, and just for the record I reckon that everyone is aware of it.   Now this paragraph has resulted from a Lancashire County Council advertisement in today`s ( Friday 25th Jan ) local newspaper and headed  "Let`s Talk Transport" and it goes on to ask if you would like to get to work faster rather than sitting in your car in traffic jams. 

The inference of course is to get "US" ( I don`t know about "THEM" ) out of our cars and onto Pubic Transport. Tell us what you think they then ask. Allow me to make a suggestion. As the eventual decision will no doubt be nade by a committee, may I suggest that the members of that committeee leave their cars at home and use current public transport as a preliminary step in their investigations.

I would hope that an immediate effect would be to provide bus shelters that afford adequate protection from the elements.    I had it in mind to keep, for want of a better word, a balance sheet showing on one side the cost of Road Tax, Insurance, Breakdown Cover, Maintenance and Depreciation ( have I missed anything ? )  and on the other side list the cost for Taxis and any other means of transport requiring the handing over of Coins of the Realm.  However, surely there is another factor to take into cosideration and I find it very difficult to put a cost to it. Suggestions would be welcome -- the factor of course is Convenience.  

  To be continued.

  And so to January 2nd.  

Our first day without car and its doing a good old Lancashire pour down: and we need to go down town.  Normally we would walk into Accy centre as its all "downbonk" and would take just short of 10 miutes. 

However, there is a Bus Stop only about 100yards away and the service is every half hour so no great problem.  And we travel free.  So off we went to catch the 10 to 11.

  Rounding the corner we had to sidestep to avoid getting witchard ( now thats a good old Lancashire dialect word and rhymes with the name Richard -- or so my Grandfather told me when I was a schoolboy).

  I had passed the bus stop on numerous occasions, but without giving it a second glance. Now, as it was no doubt going to become a regular feature in the future the shear inadequacy of the protection it offered from the elements was all too obvious. 

Still, I suppose the designer has never had to use it. An old colleague of mine who was waiting greeted me with " Owdo Bert, wots up wi thi, av never sin thee geddin on t`bus afure."

  Just had time to tell him before the bus came and in a matter of minutes we were alighting in Infant St, just across from the Market.  Hey - Up -- not bad at all is this, no messing about going up the ramps in the multi-story car park to find a parking spot, even though parking was free. Have often wondered how many towns have free parking in a multi-story but have never had an answer.  And here it is.

  to be continued. 

  My daughter came up at Xmas by train. However, as the most convenient route on the West Coast Main Line from London Euston to Preston was part closed due to upgrading, she opted to travel from King`s Cross to Leeds.  Now I had planned to use my newly aquired Senior Citizen`s Railcard by going to meet her at Preston.   But Leeds !!!!  A true Lancastrian needs to think twice before venturing into Yorkist territory.  Anyway, off I went to Accy Station to catch the 12-19. This is a hourly service from Blackpool to York which doesn`t stop at some of the smaller stations such as Rishton, Church & Ossy, Huncoat, and Hapton just to name a few locally. With reference to my comment "smaller stations": Accrington station is only a shadow of its former self, not even providing toilet facilities.   And so to Leeds. The last time I was on Leeds station was coming on leave during wartime and even if I had a good enough memory it would have been to no avail. The station was was rebuilt in the 1960s and a further massive restructuring took place as recent as between 1999 and 2002. There are 17 platforms making the station the largest outside London.  I had time to have a stroll around, sort out the platform for the return journey and enjoy a snack before the train from London arrived.  Then there would be 20 minutes in which to get ourselves up one of the escalators and across to the departure platform.   There would be time to spare.  Then of course came the announcement that the train from King`s Cross was running 25 minutes late.  I saw the Accy train start off just before the London train arrived.  Ah well, only an hour to wait.    To be continued.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank BERT for taking the trouble to do this ...If any other member would like to share thoughts or memories please send them via e-mail to lancashirereunited@fsmail.net   

   OBSERVATIONS ON LIFE WITHOUT PERSONAL TRANSPORT AFTER 55 YEARS.

.   A cold blustery wind came down the street. It  had swept across Hameldon Hill, Moleside and the lower slopes of the Coppice in Accrington  which formed the backdrop to the view looking up the street in question. Pulling away from the kerb outside our house was a Nissan Almera just starting its 300 mile journey to the Isle of Sheppey, a small island on the Kent side of the Thames Estuary.  Driving the Almera was its new owner, my daughter, and as it rounded the corner and disappeared from view I like to think that the moisture I felt in my eyes was caused by the wind.   A couple of years previously I had been diagnosed with the Dry Type of Age Related Macular Degeneration and the time had arrived to say goodbye to the car.  As it happened, my daughter`s car was suffering from Age Related Mechanical Degeneration so the problem of disposal was solved. 

  To be continued.------OWD BERT

If you would like to do a blogg send it to lancashirereunited@fsmail.net (MEMBERS ONLY} More from OWD BERT on Saturday 12th January