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After the recent Northern Regional Day hosted by Avondale/Waterview Historical Society I drove down Rosebank Road and stopped at num- ber 502. I was confronted by a tall wire fence within which was a building signed posted “Measurement & Product Safety Service – Ministry of Consumer Affairs”. I closed my eyes and sent my mind back 55 or so years and in t hat very private realm I saw:- Fronting Rosebank Road a low block fence, painted a light yellow to match the Art Deco style house, set back a little from the road. The driveway passed to the right of the house and approached a garage/workshop with sewing room attached. The house was petite but welcoming. A large intensive garden backed by an equally large hen house completed the half acre property. The surrounds were more of a rural nature than the current industrial area. The property belonged to my Uncle John (Jack) and Aunty Ethel Astridge. Uncle Jack built the house himself right from scratch! This included making the concrete blocks at his rented premises and carting them, six at a time, to 502 Rosebank Road in a 1932 Wolseley Hornet car! The six concrete blocks were all that the Wolseley could handle at once. I believe that during the building process a local authority challenged the strength of Uncle Jack’s blocks. Trying to drive a nail into one of them proved impossible with the nail when struck bending or ricocheting into the distance! The 1932 Wolseley Hornet mentioned had previously been owned by the writer’s family. As I was the proud owner of a driver’s license I was The Avondale Historical Journal January-February 2012 Volume 11 Issue 63 Official Publication of the Avondale-Waterview Historical  Society Incorporated  Next meeting of the Avondale-Waterview Historical Society: Saturday, 4 February 2012, 2.30 pm St Ninian’s Church St Georges Road, Avondale (opp. Hollywood Cinema) 502 Rosebank Road  by Robin Astridge Top: 502 Rosebank Road, c.1957.  Above: 1932 Wolseley Hornet. Photographs kindly supplied by Robin Astridge. Continued next page

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After the recent Northern Regional Day hostedby Avondale/Waterview Historical Society Idrove down Rosebank Road and stopped at num-ber 502. I was confronted by a tall wire fencewithin which was a building signed posted“Measurement & Product Safety Service –Ministry of Consumer Affairs”. I closed my eyes

and sent my mind back 55 or so years and in that very private realm I saw:-

Fronting Rosebank Road a low block fence, painted a light yellow to match the Art Deco style house, set back a little from theroad. The driveway passed to the right of the house and approached a garage/workshop with sewing room attached. The housewas petite but welcoming. A large intensive garden backed by an equally large hen house completed the half acre property. Thesurrounds were more of a rural nature than the current industrial area.

The property belonged to my Uncle John (Jack) and Aunty Ethel Astridge. Uncle Jack built the house himself right from scratch!This included making the concrete blocks at his rented premises and carting them, six at a time, to 502 Rosebank Road in a 1932Wolseley Hornet car! The six concrete blocks were all that the Wolseley could handle at once. I believe that during the buildingprocess a local authority challenged the strength of Uncle Jack’s blocks. Trying to drive a nail into oneof them proved impossible with the nail when struck bending or ricocheting into the distance! 

The 1932 Wolseley Hornet mentioned had

previously been owned by the writer’s family. As Iwas the proud owner of a driver’s license I was

The Avondale

Historical Journal 

January-February 2012 Volume 11 Issue 63

Official Publication of the Avondale-Waterview Historical  Society Incorporated  

Next meeting of the

Avondale-Waterview

Historical Society:

Saturday, 4 February 2012,

2.30 pm

St Ninian’s ChurchSt Georges Road, Avondale

(opp. Hollywood Cinema) 

502 Rosebank

Road

 by Robin Astridge

Top: 502 Rosebank Road, c.1957. Above: 1932 Wolseley Hornet.Photographs kindly supplied by Robin Astridge.

Continued next page

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allowed to drive the car home from the Avondale shoppingcentre – but only after an embarrassing moment! The Wolse-ley required cranking to start, but after numerous attempts atAvondale my Aunty had to get out of the car and started theengine on her first crank! 

Uncle and Aunty raised their family of two daughters in thishome plus hosting many visitors. (Auckland was a largesprawling place compared with my home town of Mastertonwhen I made my visit to Rosebank Road at the age of 15). Thegarden was developed into a veritable market garden withwonderful floral backing and many a neighbour gratefully re-ceived the results of the gardening. 

Over the years Rosebank Road become an industrial area forthe City. 502 became surrounded by an ever increasing con-crete jungle of factories and paving but despite many an offer,sale of the property was denied. It was an oasis in the wilder-ness – a green spot among the grey concrete structures that hadgrown around it. Finally ill-health forced Uncle and Aunty to

move to a retirement home in Warkworth and the property wassold. With sadness on a few “drive bys” when visiting in thearea there was a decline in the appearance of the property, thegarden becoming a wilderness and unkempt. Finally on an-other drive by the house had gone and it was not until recentlyI stopped and found another industrial building standing at 502Rosebank Road. Memories came flooding back and in myminds eye I saw what I had witnessed at this spot. Sadly I leftbut those memories keep alive what had gone from 502Rosebank Road.

The Avondale Historical Journal  Volume 11 Issue 63

 Page 2

Himikera Memories 

  A response to Ron Oates’ article in last issue on Himikera

 Avenue. 

How lovely it was to open the Avondale Journal and see thearticle on Himikera Avenue. My Grandparents William andLucy Shaw lived at I am sure 21 Himikera, and I spent manyhours playing quietly on the back lawn. They were a dear oldVictorian couple so the word quiet was well used on a Sundayafternoon. We would go there every Sunday afternoon forabout four and a half hours. 

Their house was a small two bedroom, I presume would becalled a cottage, and there was no hot water and a scary gasstove. Down the back of the section was an overgrownorchard and a small waterway ran across the bottom of thesection. This came from the other side of the road through aculvert. 

Growing on the front lawn was a big Snowball tree and Iwould love to stand under it and my brother would shake itand it did snow in Avondale, much to the annoyance of granny. 

I would have been about 8 when I first remember goingthrough on the A.B.C. buses from Henderson and on a hot daywe would catch the tram up to the top of Rosebank Road, and

then walk to Himikera. At night we would leave about 8.30and rush down to catch the bus back home. 

What memories you brought back, thank you. 

Gillian Bryant, Rotorua

Harry Ronald (Ron) Waygood

(1922-2012)

 Ron and his wife Val (Val passed away late last year, cared 

 for to the very last by Ron) were among the first 50 readers of 

the Avondale Historical Journal when it started in 2001, and 

among those I interviewed for Heart of the Whau. Right from

the start of the Historical Society in 2002, both Ron and Val

supported us, and were both members. 

 Ron attended our meetings, at the Lions Hall and more lately

at St Ninians, despite increasing frailty. He was a man always

keen regarding our history, and Val was always kind and 

caring — I’m very glad I knew Ron and Val Waygood. 

 Ron Waygood died 2 January 2012, and his daughters Sandra

and Beryl provided wonderful eulogies. They gave permission

 for these to be published here. 

Dad was born on May 23, 1922 in the front room at 23 Rober-ton Road, Avondale. He was the youngest of three childrenborn to Harry and Elsie Waygood, who were the childrenthemselves of old Avondale families. The Binsted family werefarmers and had a butcher shop in Avondale, and old Mr Way-good was the Principal at New Lynn Primary. Dad had auntiesand uncles along with grandparents all around Avondale in hisgrowing up years. Dad’s life in Avondale revolved aroundAvondale Primary School, Mt Albert Grammar and St Jude’sAnglican Church. His mother was an accomplished musicianand had a degree in music from the University of New Zea-land. She was a music teacher and the organist in St Jude’sChurch for over 25 years. His father was the choir master andso between them they instilled in Dad a love of music thatlasted him his whole life. He was an accomplished violinist,organist and pianist and loved nothing more than to gatherfriends and family around to have a good sing song especiallyat Christmas time, singing Christmas carols.  

In Roberton Road he helped with the garden, looked after hisdog Rua, and learned music from his mother and how to sailfrom his father. His father built his own boats and would oftentake the boys out on Auckland Harbour. 

During the holidays all the extended family went to Piha. Hisgrandmother had given the family a section at 63 SeaviewRoad, with a spring that supplied fresh water throughout the

long Piha summers. Ben Cowan, a neighbour from RobertonRoad, and his father built a bach for the family. This was thesecond house ever built in Piha and with a few modificationsand additions is still there today. 

His father owned Waygood Motors in Wingate St, Avondale.He imported cars from North America - namely the originalModel T Fords. The car cases, which were made out of Balticpine, were all knocked down, and used at Piha to build thebach. Family that couldn't fit in the bach, camped on the lawnand the children all slept on the front porch with sacks hang-ing down the front.

These were halcyon days, spent land yachting on the black sands, fishing off the rocks, tramping in the hills and endlessdays swimming in the surf. Ron along with his cousins spentthe summers just being kids. 

Dad was still very young when the Depression years arrived

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The Avondale Historical Journal  Volume 11 Issue 63

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and his family fared no better than any others. The motor in-dustry collapsed and so the family depended on support fromgrandparents and the money that his mother brought in fromteaching music. But there were always vegetables in thegarden and chooks in the yard so no one went hungry. 

Dad went on to Mt Albert Grammar from primary school. Hedid not enjoy secondary school and remembers finding it adifficult time in his life. Both his siblings had gone on totertiary education but by the time it came to him, there was nomoney and he had to go to work.  

He started at Motor Specialties Ltd in Anzac Ave; with Jack Johnson who had not long started the business. He was thebicycle delivery boy and remembers giving his mother a shil-ling a week for his board and the remaining amount he wasallowed to keep for himself. Not long after he started, theSecond World War broke out and he was eventually calledup. He went into training in the air force and then the armyand was on final leave six times but much to his great disap-

pointment was never sent overseas. He never joined the RSAas he felt very strongly that he had not served overseas. How-ever he never missed an Anzac Day and went with Val eachyear as his father had served with the Australian Armed Ser-vices, in Europe. 

He used to tell a story about being in camp in Rotorua in themiddle of winter and the sergeant asking "Who can play theviolin?" A few boys stepped forward but Ron always beingfairly quiet wasn't quite quick enough. "Right" says thesergeant "You men go and dig the latrines." As he said, helearnt from that day never to volunteer for anything! 

If you ever looked closely at his face, you would notice he

had no eyebrows - not that it ever bothered him although aschildren, we thought it highly amusing. He had managed toblow up a weather balloon in his face and was probably luckythat he didn't do himself more damage. 

There were some great stories of escapades around NewZealand and those of you who will remember Hughie Francis,from Auckland Teachers College, will be able to have a clearimage of the two of them trying to get home one night to thecamp out of Waipapakauri, completely drunk, doubling eachother on a bike, but managing to fall off into the ditch morethan they actually rode the bike. Hughie was never small andDad was never big so he was pretty sore for a few days after,

but he always roared with laughter when he told the story. 

He had many girlfriends in those days, and there was alwaysa pile of photos of pretty girls at home in his photo albums,with “To my darling Ronnie, with love from....." signedacross the bottom of them all. 

When the war was over he went back to Motor Specs andpicked up with his life, where he stayed until he retired 42years later. In 1947 he met Mum, who took him home toWhawharua, Otorohanga to meet the family. Val's father wasnot very impressed with this young whipper snapper fromAuckland - he didn't know one end of a cow from another,couldn't shear a sheep and worst of all, didn't know how to

drink whiskey. The Rasmussen boys were good Danes - andif there is one thing a Dane can do, it’s drink. So on the an-nouncement of the engagement, the whiskey was brought out- there were a couple of uncles there from Halcombe thatnight, so the story goes, and of course they took great delight

in completely annihilating this Townie and drank him underthe table - a fact that Dad was never allowed to forget - andhe never drank whiskey again and in fact hardly drank morethan the occasional beer. From then on, he stuck to his gingerbeer. 

Mum used to tell the story about when they were driving upthe hill to the house for the first time, Dad asking her if theyhad electricity!!! She was highly offended ......Cockie meetsTownie took a bit of getting used to. 

Mum and Dad got married in Otorohanga in December 1949and celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary last year.Dad’s parents subdivided their land in Roberton Rd, andMum and Dad built their house on what had been theWaygood pond and bomb shelter. They went on to develop abeautiful garden which gave both of them great pleasure alltheir lives. It supplied all their fruit and vegetables but morethan that, it was the great love of gardening that they bothenjoyed together. Until Dad moved to Everil Orr 18 months

ago he lived on the land he was born on, all his life. 

In later years Dad would drive to Otorohanga each month tosee Val's parents as they could not travel. Mum pick him upfrom Anzac Ave at 5 'o'clock and he would then drivethrough the night, in a variety of uncomfortable old cars. 

Dad was a great "fixer". He would fix anything from thetoaster, to the cars, to the kids bikes, blocked drains, theclothes line that was forever falling down, to tiles blowingoff the roof, the water pump at Piha - which he had made upfrom an old washing machine pump. 

Every few years he would paint another side of the house - it

was always pale blue and each year he would buy a gallon tinof Dulux white paint and start adding blue until he thought hehad the colour right - eventually every side of the house wasa different colour, but unless you knew, you would neverhave noticed. He got it close enough! 

One year he decided that he would dig out the clay from un-der the house and get some more room so he could put bothcars away. He got going and then all of a sudden none of thedoors in the house would close; then the windows wouldn'tclose and finally Mum put her foot down and said, no moredigging. The house is going to fall over. 

The same year as he started the digging, he tried the new

paint that had just come out- acrylic. Unfortunately whoeverdeveloped the paint had not tested it on heart rimu which iswhat 1728 Great North Road was built out of. It failed andfailed badly. So he had to get it all off. The only way it wouldcome off was with a blow gun and so he set about burning itoff. Our neighbours were highly amused by this - ReneBrown over the back, commented to me one day, "He could-n't knock it down with the digging, so now he's trying to burnit down!" 

It was good old enamel high gloss every time from then on.

Painting the house went on forever and between painting

Avondale and painting Piha it probably seemed like it wenton forever to Dad too. 

The years in Avondale with Mum, and us -- Sandra, Beryland Howard -- were good, happy years for Dad. His mother

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The Avondale Historical Journal  Volume 11 Issue 63

 Page 4

Copies of Avondale Historical Journal and AWHSNewsletter produced for us by

Words Incorporated, 557 Blockhouse Bay Road,

Blockhouse Bay.

The Society and AHJ editorial staff thank 

Avondale Business Associationfor their continued support and sponsorship of this

publication. 

The Avondale Historical Journal

Published by:the Avondale-Waterview Historical Society Inc.Editor: Lisa J. TruttmanSociety contact:19 Methuen Road, Avondale, Auckland 0600Phone: (09) 828-8494, 027 4040 804email: [email protected] information:

Website: http://sites.google.com/site/avondalehistory/ Subscriptions: $10 individual$15 couple/family$30 corporate

died when she was quite young, and along with Betty andJim he inherited Piha and so the family holidays thenconsisted of Otorohanga and Piha. Eventually of course itbecame Avondale, Piha and MotoSpecs and the kids all usedto tease him about his Eternal Triangle! 

Dad was a devoted husband and father. He did everything hecould for his family and supported them in all their endeav-ours, as much as he could. He made sure that Mum waslooked after so that she could be the mother that she was andas the children got older, was always ready to babysit, dosome wallpapering, mow the lawn and anything else that hethought could help. He was a good provider for the familyand Mum was able to stay at home and look after the chil-dren, while he went to work. He was always there for hischildren and grandchildren doing whatever he thought best. 

In the past few months he visited Val every day, and lookedafter his beloved 'Sweety' right to her end, 7 weeks ago. Hestayed long enough to make sure that she was well cared forand with his life's work complete, he was ready to leave us. 

He will be missed by all of those who loved him as a realcharacter who stayed true to his beliefs and values all of hislife.

Sandra Greenslade

Ron was born in Avondale, and remained living on that originalland for 86 of his 89 years. He was the youngest, born after Jimand Betty. He always felt as though he was an integral part of Avondale, and belonged to the Historical Society whose meet-ings he attended regularly when he was able. It was not uncom-mon of him when we were a young family, to comment on

street names, and tell us who they were named after and someinteresting points about them. 

His schooling was local, and then he went onto Mt AlbertGrammar. Through these years, it seems that a lot of the familyrecreation time was spent at Piha. There was a story he told of their family getting ready to drive down the hill into Piha. Theroad barely existed, and was steep and dangerous. The chickens,in crates, were tied onto the back of the car, and the family allstood on the running board, so that if the brakes failed, theycould jump off. 

There is another story about Ron, his cousin Shirley, and a fewof their playmates, discovering a Maori burial ground. This wasup in the bush behind the Waygood house at North Piha. Beingof a different generation, and not realising it was tapu, it musthave been unbelievably exciting for 11 year olds. Some of thearticles they discovered, were given to the local school, but itwas many years later before one of the final pieces was returnedto where it rightfully should be …  

His first job, and one that he remained in for his entire workinglife, was at Motor Specialties. An achievement that in this dayand age, seems unimaginable. In his 25th year there, he wasgiven a huge party, which wives also attended, and a goldOmega watch. Following on in his 40th year of working there,he was given an engraved silver tray which he treasured. 

Ron loved Piha. He fished; he swam, he lay on the beach. Hemoaned about mowing the large lawn which was all kikuyu, butloved doing it. In the early years, there was no power, and thelong drop was a challenge for us all. And of course there wasthe seaweed to gather for the garden back in town. He alwaysworked hard on that garden, and there was an abundance of fruitand vegetables all year round. He could be heard early in themorning outside digging it over before he left to go to work. Atthe end of the day he would be moving the sprinkler around. 

One thing that started to gain notoriety was the ginger beer. Thetwo of them had quite a production line going on this, and theonly trouble was that it periodically exploded where it wasstored under the house. When shared with friends, it was withno less drama than if it had been the best of champagnes. 

Those last years living in Avondale, were a challenge for anelderly couple and it was the continuing support of theirneighbours Chris and Scott that enabled them to manage for solong. The move to Everil Orr Rest Home meant that Ron couldremain within an area that he had grown up in and could still,while able, attend things that he enjoyed. The view from hisroom was not so very different from the one that he had onGreat North Rd for so many years. He was a familiar sight, al-most every afternoon, going down to share afternoon tea withValerie. They were fortunate to spend such a large part of their

life together.

 Beryl Appleby(edited slightly for space.)