003 Denniston - an historic coalmining town

March 16, 2021

January 29, 2021

Damn Denniston

Damn the track

Damn the way both there and back

Damn the wind and damn the weather

God damn Denniston altogether

Today we went to the old Denniston Mine, 600 metres (nearly 2000 feet) up on a high rocky hill and 30 minutes from Westport, which was once one of the richest and highest quality coal seams in New Zealand but is now a fascinating ghost town.

From their website (because it explains it much better than I could): Described as a place either loved or hated - but always with a passion, the people living and working on the hill back in those early days were extremely isolated, with the perilous incline and steep windy tracks forming the only modes of access and transportation.

They had reason to complain, for Denniston was a miserable hole, a gimcrack clutter of corrugated iron and weatherboard buildings clinging precariously to a bleak plateau. Thick fog could hang around for weeks on end, as could steady drizzle. In between times, it bucketed down, yet little grew here apart from rust, emphysema and the politics of dissent. The soil was so thin they had to send bodies down the incline for burial elsewhere.

Denniston was a working town through and through, existing purely for the benefit of extracting black gold from the earth`s depths. It was definitely not a place for the fainthearted. The work was dangerous and a number were injured or died as a result of accidents in the mine or riding the infamous incline. But amid the notorious climate and bleak living conditions on the barren windswept plateau, these people living on the edge forged a close-knit community to be proud of.

Widely referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World, the Denniston incline was recognised the world over as a remarkable feat of engineering. Linking Denniston with the Conns Creek railhead below, the incline fell 510 metres over 1.7 kilometres in two sections, incorporating dramatically steep gradients.

This type of self-acting rail system was essential to cart the coal down from the plateau while also returning empty wagons to the top. With fully loaded wagons weighing around 12 ton and accelerating up to speeds of 80 kilometres per hour, brakes were an important requirement. Water was used to slow the action of the pistons, which was drawn off and replaced by fresh water upon each stroke because the intense pressure applied would cause the water to boil. A strap brake around the side of the drum could also be utilised in an emergency.

On average, around 14 wagons each hour would arrive at the Denniston brake head. All hell would break loose if a shackle holding a wagon to the incline`s rope pulled loose, creating a runaway and leaving those working further down the incline at its middle brake in peril.

There were very few people at the site which of course is normally buzzing with tourists. We were so lucky to feel the peace and the energy surrounding the place - really atmospheric. If you're interested, Denniston Rose by Jenny Pattrick is a great novel about the workings and the people who lived there.

We moved on through Granity and along the ocean road for many kilometres through cattle country (smelled like the Waikato!), then wound up into the hills where we saw seagulls flocking behind a farmer as he tilled the soil, hawks flying, and weka and pukeko by the roadside. We both feel profoundly lucky to be seeing and experiencing all these things - without huge lots of traffic and busy people. We said to each other that we felt we had got OUR New Zealand back again. It was somewhat of a shock to realise how much we had missed it.