Nesbitts and Budinskis

Kerrians Edinburgh Years

Hornes, Stollerys and Chisolms

The First Bobby Olly Grandchild

Kyle Griffin

Taran Griffin

Owen Griffin

Owen was born 21 September 1999. He was due on 09/09/99, and in then end after a long day of labour, cesarian section was the way to go.

Owen loved Jason right from the moment he first saw him. Is it a sign he'll be a great dad himself.

Jason Griffin

Elizabeth Griffin

Kerrian

Our Babies

David Griffin

Bruce & Ratna

Steve & Catherine

Pat & Kath

Martin & Trish

Lily Sarah Griffin

Lily Sarah Griffin (2 July 1901 - 1 March 1994)

In her lifetime, she witnessed the two World Wars and progress from the Wright Brothers to Man On The Moon and The Space Shuttle.

Jason

Owen

Owen loved Jason right from the moment he first saw him. Is it a sign he'll be a great dad himself.

Wedding Photos

Bob & Olive  17 March 1951




Patrick & Katherine



Bruce & Ratna



Stephen & Catherine 5 October 1997



Martin & Trish

Family Pets

Peggy I

Peggy II

Sally

Biggles I





Skitty




Aussie or Stanley

Rita Jean & Irene

Uncle Len

Sheila & Ron

Bob's sister Sheila

Uncle Peter

Bob's brother Peter, number 2 in the family.

Bernard & Liz

Bob's brother Bernard, born 1938, so 10 yrs younger than Bob.

Famous Ancestors

Olive
- Spanish Great-Grandmother, ran away from the family (possibly aristocracy) to marry a McBane, known to have a very bad temper
- Horace Blackman, RAF Pilot, served under Douglas Bader

Bob
- Col Baker, Indian Mutiny
- Bob's Grandad Robert Henry Baker, carpenter on the Cutty Sark, on Marriage Cert. classed as Mariner.

Our Wives

When Bobby Met Olly


When Martin Met Trish


When Patrick Met Katherine


When Steve Met Catherine
Steve was away in Adelaide at a Geophysics Conference. Arriving back in Armidale early in the morning, noting the unusual site of bras hanging on the washing line, thinking "well it looks like she is here now". At that particular moment, the 'she' was the friend of my housemate's girlfriend, coming to Armidale to start Nursing at Uni, and me agreeing 'she' could move in with us.


When

Aboard Pacific Dawn Around NZ

Our Jobs

Bob
Banbury Borough Council, Junior Clerk, Sep 43 - 1946, started at 15 shillings pw
Volunteered for Navy, but classified as Grade 3 (unfit for Military Service)
Called up for Army but also classified Grade 3, age 18
Islington Shire Council, Junior Clerk, interviewed by a committee, Feb 1947 - , could already do shorthand (needed to record meetings), 80 words per minute meant promotion to General Clerk (worked with Chief Clerk of Office), needed Certificate, next came Senior General Clerk (at time of marriage - few people from office came to wedding), and also at time of leaving to NZ, earning  GBP 12 pw
In NZ,
Looking in local paper, nothing.
Nelson Transport, handyman at workshop in affiliate company
then Shorthand Typist (Olive's job)
Interested in Photography - bought camera for trip to NZ
Local business sold to B & O
Frank Keehner died and left money to Daisy, who lent it to B&O to buy this business
Called 'The Childrens Studio', no shop front, mostly got clients from word of mouth
then started doing weddings, group photos such as football teams, contact printing,
Then a depression, had to retrench girl doing contact printing
then discovered Govt. wanting to recruit Teachers (Pressure Cooker Course), 2 years compressed into 1 and open to mature aged students
School opposite Waimea Rd House - had to go and have arithmetic test (was a client).
Soon realised would have to leave Nelson to get a job - Nelson full with highly qualified people.

real mix of people doing course
- Pat Tuxford
- builder
- married women
- mechanic
etc.

Olive
Chris and Olive (14-16 years old) went to Islington Continuation School to learn English, Maths, Short-Hand ,Typing, Initiative. Mr Parkinson Headmaster. War years - had to sit on corridor when siren went.
First job was with Berry and Son, Importers and Exporters, just over London Bridge. Ida took Cath and Olive under her wing. Katherine has table cloth from then. There for about 6 months.
Price Waterhouse and Co - 4 years
Then another short job with other Importer/Exporter, then back to Price Waterhouse. After Francis died, went to help  Len for about a year in family business. Len carried on that business for a while until liquidation. Had been founded by Olive's Great Grandfather, Then back to Price Waterhouse - always welcomed back.

Sir William Waterhouse
12 Partners. A sec went on holiday so undersec stepped in. Olive given strict instructions on everything, told to address him a sSir William - but said Mr Waterhouse - (16) what did you say I called you mister - you can call me bill if you like - soon after that went to NZ.
Another partner wanted Olive as permanent when she stood in but left soon after that offer.

In NZ got a job with Nelson Transport -
Nelson Transport, Company Secretary, then Book Keeping Machine Operator
Then Dasiy money came (about 800 lbs) so bought Photography Business - lot of taking photos of children.

Lily
In NZ, served behind counter in Woolworths

Patrick



Katherine


Bruce
- Local supermarket in Crows Nest
- Barman, Mosman Rowing Club with Slavo
- Plastic light factory
- Canon yacht fittings
- Royal Australian Navy
- Australian Submarine Corporation

Ratna


Stephen
- Okitu paper boy
- mowing lawns
- boat builder (Hugh Hordern)
- Local supermarket in Crows Nest
- At Canon with Bruce
- At factory with Bruce

Nelson Lakes National Park
Dept. of Resource Engineering UNE
Dept. of Zoology UNE
Dept. of Housing and Construction
Australian Antarctic Division
Dept. Foreign Affairs and Trade
TerraLogic
Geophysical Research Institute
Geophysical Technology Ltd
University Partnerships
G-Tek
Gap Geophysics

Catherine
- Enrolled Nurse
- Registerd Nurse (Perioperative)

Kerrian


Martin
Royal Australian Navy


Trish


David
Toshiba
Amazon

Elizabeth


William


Owen
- selling Solar Panels
- NBN technician

Jason
- Coles 'check-out chick'

Kyle
McDonalds
Australian Taxation Office

Taran

Secret Govt. Business

My choice of Geophysics has lead me in some very unusual directions. I explain this on my CV as 'non-traditional applications of Geophysics'.

In the first instance, it proved to be my ticket to Antarctica, then to lots of world travel, usually business class, occasionally first class.

In The Navy

[Steve]
Martin was the first, signing up as a 15 year old, going off the HMAS Nirimba which was the Apprentice Training Establishment in Quakers Hill.
Bruce went to HMAS Cerberus, on Western Port Bay

Our Houses

England

Nelson
- Waimea Rd

Hangaroa
next door to the School

Gisborne
- Awapuni Rd
- Harris St

Wainui
14 Douglas St

Sydney
- 62 Roseville Ave
- Burlington St
- West St
- Artarmon
- St Leonards
- Northbridge Sailors Bay Road

North Arm Cove
113 Eastslope Way

Pat
- flat
- Toukley
- Rose St
- Turramurra

Bruce
- flat in Lane Cove
- flat with Dave Nichols
- Elizabeth
-

Steve
- Wright College
- North St

Kerrian


Martin

Our Family Holiday in NZ 1978/79

[Steve]
This holiday marked our first return to NZ after the big emigration in 1971.
We flew in to Auckland and rented a flash Holden Sedan (automatic)
- walking down Douglas St I was struck by the size of everything, all the houses seemed smaller and distances seemed shorter

Olly The Acupuncturist

- the College
- Russell Jewel
- Dr Tai
- the trip to Hong Kong

The Family Doctor
- started off with the Swedish Therapeutic Massage
- also dabbled in related therapies
- Steve coming home from Athletics with cramps
- David Blyde hamstring before State Championships

The North Arm Cove Years

[Steve]

Talk about striking it lucky! There is no way that any of us could have guessed how great it was to decide to 'settle' in North Arm Cove.

The single thing that has marked Bob & Olive's life there is the community of people living there, the many friendships they have formed and the many and varied activities they became involved in.

Life in Post-War London

The Griffin Family moved back to London in 1945, renting a house in Mile End Road until they got Elm Park house back
Bob

The Blacksmiths

- First under the arches until Bob was 3 or 4 (1932)
- then moved to Douglas St (quite a big premises)
- Island dock area bombed 7/9/40 marking the start of the Blitz - first German raid
- Bob already in Banbury when Blitz started

Alfred "If you want anything, I will make it for you"
Lily "well how about a new shovel for the stove?"
And he did. It was very practical - perfect and efficient. You couldn't buy what he made!
Lost in the move from East Ham to Elm Park.

The Blacksmiths in our past were James William Griffin & Sons (there were 8 sons). James was Bob's Grandad, father of Alfred Ernest Griffin who of course married Lily Sarah Baker to start our present day dynasty. He would have been operating as a Smithy before the Twenties. Alfred was born in 1898. In 1914, Alfred was 16, and conscripted into the Army at 18. He was too young to be sent to the Western Front.

The first premises were located under these Arches in the twenties, Manchester Rd Poplar, just on the Thames River. They moved from here when Bob was 3 or 4 to Douglas St. in about 1932. He remembers this because he has a scar on the end of his finger from a cut he got helping Uncle Walter push a cart with stuff in the new premises. He remembers this happening before school years. That spoilt the moving day as he was taken off to hospital. Luckily the tip of his finger grew back. The building in the background is across the Thames, Greenwich Naval Facility

Here are the Arches today next to the Island Garden Station. Steve visited this spot in 1988 with sister-in-law Kylie.

Bob got these photos off a local historian in Poplar he tracked down. She had been given them all those years ago by Walter Griffin. Amazing!!

Our Health Woes

Bob - 8 years old lung removal
Olive 2000
Bob Diabetes
Bruce Diabetes
Steve Diabetes
Martin face playing hockey

Steve's Daily Medication. Spot the Vitamin C - supposed to lower blood pressure and sugar.

Bob the Worker 1943 - 1952

Actually he started working pre-war helping the Milkman and later a Baker

Family Gatherings

All the Weddings and Christenings
Bob and Olive's 25th Wedding Anniversary
Bob and Olive's 90th
Patricks 21st at his flat
Catherine's 40th Birthday at Hastings Point
Taran christened on HMAS Hobart
Kerryan's 21st on Tafua
Bruce and Ratna's Aussie Wedding on Tafua

Bob and Olly's Joint 80th Birthday Weekend

Martin's 40th (Mordiallic)

All of the Hardys and Griffins Nov 1995

Steve's Antarctic Adventure

October 1985 to February 1986 - Summer at Mawson, with visits to Heard Island and Casey Station.

It all started with a conversation I had with a client (Lochie Crowther) while surveying the area that  became Tindal Air Force Base in about June 1985. Four months later I was on board the 'MV Icebird' heading south.

Kerrian's Bathurst Years

Miss Waddington

- next door neighbour in Douglas St
- used to throw walnuts to us
- keen gardner

The Barnes

The Barnes lived at 19 Douglas St, opposite us at 14 Douglas St.

Bob's Temporary Return to Nelson

Bob went back to Nelson in about 1968 (on  his scooter)

Steve - clear memory of Bob heading off on scooter, laden with possessions on the back, spending first night in Wairoa
Talking to Bernard one day (at N E M)
He worked at the Nelson Evening Mail
While he was away, Olive nearly drowned while we were all swimming in the creek
We didn't go because we couldn't sell the house and Olive near drowning prompted return.
Luckily he got job back at Gisborne Herald - it suited the Editor - Bob became the new Farming Reporter - needed car so Herald bought car (Daimler) and deducted money from wages
Rob Bailey went along to look at car. Was owned by farmer who lived next door to Hangaroa School
Car arrived on Kerrian's 8th Birthday (Fact Check)

Details for Bob to fill in . . .

- exact date
- The trip down
- where you stayed (with Nana ??)
- some of the stories you wrote for the paper
- what it was like meeting all the old friends

Bob & Olive's Return to England in 1994

Bob and Olive spent about 3 months in England in 1994, having been away for 42 years.

FA Cup Final - Manchester United v Chelsea, Bob in Geoff's corporate box

Early Life in Nelson

first nelson house was a ground floor flat
went to corner shop and bought butter - first enjoyment of unrationed butter
accom. arranged by bob in london
real estate agent mcpherson very good - helped to find waimea rd double story house

Forbes E Robinson

- headmaster at Wainui Beach School
- also a teacher at Nelson school
- machines for learning

The Forbes Robinson Memorial Trust was set up to administer the funds bequeathed by educationalist Forbes Robinson for the improvement of the learning of reading. His method of teaching reading involved the use of an opaque projector to project pages of books onto big screens and is known as Large Screen Listening (LSL) method. The Trust Fund is used for the promulgation and implementation of the LSL method as described in his book "Reading Revolution -- at home and in schools worldwide".

I was taught by the wonderful Forbes Robinson at Nelson Central Primary School in the later 1950s. He was a truly inspirational teacher, very different to his stiff regimented peers of the time. Now 64, I still remember his teaching "machines" and I thank him to this day for instilling in me the love of reading and writing I have always enjoyed. He was fascinated by photography and I still have a framed B & W photograph he took of me, aged 7, at Tahunanui Beach where he used to transport selected groups of students in his car on weekends to play, swim and discuss life, the universe and everything else. He drove an old Humber with a large inner tube strapped to the roof for the kids to swim with in the sea. Teachers would not be permitted to do that in this day and age, more's the pity. The age of innocence is, sadly, now lost. Forbes Ernest Robinson, I thank you.

Life on the Brisbane River

- dead body on boat next door
- couple snogging in cockpit
- lady needing help with shower eventually murdered
- young boy secret tree hut in botanical gardens

Our Cars

This post is a challenge to Bob (and others) to dig out old photos of the various cars we have had over the years.
- Olive's Dad's Austin 8
- the Old Bomb (Plymouth??)
- the Holden station wagon
- Olive's Yellow Peril Cortina
- Pat's Mini Moke
- Pat's Subaru
- Bruce's Cortina and any others since
- Steve's Mazda 929
- Catherine's Datsun 120Y, Ford Laser  Hatchback , Mazda 121 and Camry
- Katherine's brown Ford Escort that she kindly lent me to drive to Armidale once
- the first Hyundai

and many others . . .

The Keehner's First Car, an Austin 16

Our 1958 Daimler Conquest

The Belmont all packed ready to go off to Kiata Christmas 1974

Patrick and Kath's First Station Wagon

The Wainui Years

This era lasted from about 1963 to February 1971, and is one that has had a significant impact on my whole life with respect to the idea of  a perfect childhood, couldn't have wished for more'.
Everyone will hopefully have many stories to enter into this post.

I put on notice that all the Grandkids are duty bound to visit Wainui at some stage, and walk along the Beach from the creek in Okitu to 'the Point', and to have a swim in the cold ocean where we all learnt to swim.

The Hangaroa Years

Hangaroa is located in 'The Ranges' south-west of Gisborne, and we all went to live there when Bob was posted to the one-room school, in 1960. I only know that because I was born in Nelson in 1959 and Kerrian was born in Gisborne in 1960. (Fact Check please Bob for exact date). Martin was also born in Gisborne while we were living at Hangaroa, and I even remember the day he w as brought home. (side note - one of my  current Scout friends Gillian Hall was born in Gisborne Hospital in 1956)

Steve as 9 month baby on Olive's lap flying Wellington to Gisborne on DC-3
Bob and boys went earlier, Bob rented house Awapuni Rd converted from Church

- living in shearers quarters - apple of eye phrase coined
- Olive Bull in paddock
- big block of butter

First accom. was a cabin, then added a caravan (purchased an old one) Winter lot of condensation.
Hawkes Bay Ed Board approved house so cabin removed and stayed in Shearers Quarters while house being built.

Martin birth day, Bob walked into Gisborne Herald talked to Editor Geoff Muir and asked for a job.

Olive taken into Gisborne so Bob took advantage to go to Herald
Bob witnessed Martin's birth (first) due to Dutch Nurse with modern ideas

When Bob first went to Hangaroa he boarded with the Barnes-Graham family (Jim, Joan, Virginia, Susan, Peter)

I remember Olly talking about learning to drive on the unsealed back roads, having to give way to the sheep trucks. She reckons it was exciting, having to drive close to the ditch to give them room, especially for a city girl from London.

AH Reid visited us during his famous walk around NZ and we got a mention in his book
"From East Cape to Cape Egmont On Foot at Eighty-Six (1962)"

Building The House At North Arm Cove

Bruce's Obsession With Submarines

Bruce works for the Australian Submarine Corporation, where he has been for the last xx years.
Towards the end of his navy career, I think he had started to think about joining the Submarine Service until struck down with diabetes (Fact Check).

My personal theory is that it all started with event from our childhood . . .
(Gisborne Photo News 14/08/68)

Scouts

As it has transpired, Scouts has played an important part in the lives of quite a few of us, starting with Bobby when he was a Cub in 1936,

Bobby
Patrick
Bruce
Katherine (well Brownies at least)
David
Elizabeth
Stephen
Catherine
Owen
Jason

Here are some photos to start this off . . .

Once Were Nudists

Can you see where I get the inspiration for the title of this post?
I think this era of our lives lasted from about 1970 to about 1975.  Good years in retrospect - many great times - an interesting aspect of our childhood education
- Gisborne Sun Club
- AOHC
- Hesperides
- Kiata - Bruce was recognized by class mates on TV playing mini-tennis, denied off course.
- Cyclone Tracy on Boxing Day while at Kiata
- caught by Intemans skinny dipping near Whakatane or before Opotiki I


We referred to these places as Sun Clubs. Other names are Nudist Clubs (and even 'Colony'). Naturism or Nudism are the  nouns.

HMAS Adelaide Runs Aground In Puget Sound

A brief internet search has revealed that this event is relegated almost to footnote status
"The frigate ran aground off Seattle in early 1981, during post-commissioning trials, but was freed with only minor damage"
but for Bruce it was a lot more than that. I remember two things Bruce told us (Fact Check please Bruce) "he was in his bunk and was jolted out of it" and "some of us were standing up on the bow picking branches off trees"
My memory is telling me the minor damage including a  very expensive broken Variable Pitch Propellor, and two ship's officers being given the proverbial 'desk jobs in Canberra'.

Captain Bob Long, NAC resident was an  expert witness at the Inquiry about aspects of navigation

The variable pitch prop being fitted during construction.

Ian & Cindy Phillips

We met some wonderful people during our boat building years, and this couple from Rhodesia (as it was then called) are one such example.

The Hardys

Thinking about topics for this blog, it occurred to me that our friendship with the Hardy's has been the most enduring in terms of actual contact. This has been helped with Ana living in Brisbane, and therefore lots of visits from Roger and Judy.

We all have our own Hardy stories, starting back in about 1962??? (Bob) when he first met Roger,
(Qu. did Olly meet Judy in the hospital??)

Bob first met Roger who visited Hangaroa School as an Arts and Crafts specialist

The Andersons

There have been times in our life when certain people have become very important to us, and one example are Godfrey and jean Anderson, and Brian Phillips. Godfrey was a teacher at the Boys High and was a big influence on Patrick. Olive was Headmasters Sectretary so got to know Godfrey then as well. Brian Phillips was a teacher at Ilminster Intermediate so it was coincidental that Steve also knew him.

To us kids, one of the great attractions was their Long-Wheel Base Landrover.

I will always remember the time they came around to help us pack the car as we set off on our Nelson holiday in 1970, with no Bob (who was in Sydney).\We met up with them years later in Dec 1978
as we passed through Hamilton - stayed with them for the night - on our way to Nelson.

The Gisborne Earthquake 05/03/1966

Here is an account of this event off the internet. As we all know we have our own story about this as well. There have been bigger quakes before and since, one notable quake on 20/12/07 caused three buildings to collapse, and many more damaged.

- Bruce, Steve, Martin were in the car
- Kerrian was in a Chemist Shop with Olly, and a man picked her up and stood in the doorway with her.
- Olly looked on in shock as the car appeared to lift up, but in reality just started to roll into the kerb, with Burce at the wheel. Elecgtricity transformer was seen swaying above our car
- Olive regards this as one of her worst experiences of her life, seeing us all in danger like that
- Patrick was riding his bike without holding the handle bars, and the quake caused him to fall off and his thought was "mum was always telling me not to ride like that or else I would fall off"
- we were on the way to buy fruit and Olly saw the road rippling, which turned out to be an aftershock.
- it was Gala Day at WBS - the Merry Go Round collapsed while being erected

The Gisborne Earthquake of 1966. Part 1: The Experience

Saturday the 5th of March 1966 started like any other late summer Saturday morning. Dairies were open for their weekend trade, but in Gisborne the town shops and offices remained closed as they always did in the days before the liberalisation of weekend trading.

At people’s homes, the weekend’s housework had begun. With the weather being fine, agitator washing machines were grunting away, churning through the week’s clothes and linen. Some were moving through their houses with buzzing vacuum cleaners like our old Goblin Ace – a black tubular thing on plastic wheels which had a mind of its own and more wheeze than suck.

Crashes and bangs came from the town’s kitchens as ovens were wiped out, the big old fridges of the time were de-iced, and benchtops were wiped down.

Out in the sunshine, there was the “swiiiish” of push mowers as they were pushed in short sweeps across lawns, and the steady buzz of motormowers being paraded about. There was the clank of gardening tools, thump of handymen’s hammers, and the sound of cars passing by.

The was the odd “Oooh-oooh” of neighbour announcing their visit to a neighbour, and the patter of quiet conversation punctuated by shouted instructions and admonishments to children playing outside.

As the morning wore on, preparations were made for lunch, and sash windows were thrown up with a clank of window weights to welcome in the gentle breeze.

At 1 minute to noon, I was standing on a stool adjusting some ornaments on a shelf in my room. Abruptly, the ornaments were thrown over and I was catapulted to the floor. Suddenly, the roofing iron began a terrific rumbling as if someone was shaking it like a huge mat and the window weights began battering against the inside of the walls as they emitted bell-like clangs.

The house had been built toward the end of the 19th century by local solicitor and later judge of the Native Land Court, Robert Noble Jones. It had four main bedrooms, a servant’s bedroom, a formal dining room and linen pantry, a sitting room, and a vast kitchen. Over time, verandahs had been built in to add a dressing room and another bedroom, but the old coach-house and stables still remained along with an additional outside water closet at the back.

Most of the rest of the family were in the kitchen at the far end of the house when the earthquake hit with a great thump. Then the swaying began, to the sound of rumbles from under the house and from the roof above. My mother was standing at the stove at the time, and my brother recalls her holding onto the handle of the oven door to try and steady herself. He remembers her swaying back and forth on her heels as the oven door opened and closed with the swaying of the house.

Suddenly the fridge burst open and food began falling out as the door waved to and fro. It seems that some of the kitchen cupboards lost their contents, but the sight of the fridge ejecting its contents is one that stands out.

The next few minutes were confused as the swaying ceased and people regained their senses. The various members of the family were rounded up and assessed. There were no injuries to any of us, except our frayed nerves.

In my case, I can remember my mother calling me anxiously from the far end of the house. My first thought was that we were in the midst of a hurricane because of the great rumbling of the roofing iron. As I sped off down the hall, I wondered why the weather forecasters hadn’t warned us!

It was a huge house with 14-foot high ceilings and grand arches in the main hall where we could play cricket on wet winter days. I tore down the main hall and round the corner to the hall which contained the kitchen and bathrooms. I was grabbed and held under the kitchen door as the house slowly ceased shaking and silence descended.

In the melee, the formal dining room had settled as its massive totara piles sank into the softened ground – no more playing marbles in there on a wet day; for the next few years any marble pitched would roll over toward the wall of the adjoining kitchen. The house had three fireplaces, and all had sustained damage. The chimney above the formal dining room (known as the rumpus room in our day) had snapped and collapsed onto the roof. In the master bedroom, the fireplace appeared to have moved out from the wall by about half an inch, but in reality the wall had moved – not that we noticed it at the time. Both the master bedroom and sitting room chimneys had cracked at the top, and bricks had come loose.

All sorts of things had tumbled from shelves and cupboards, and water could be heard slopping back and forth in the huge water tanks far above our heads. Outside, long cracks had opened in the front lawn, but none of us thought of measuring them. Our rainwater tank outside the wash-house had survived, but its large wooden stand had settled and twisted. Presumably the large pipes feeding the wash-house tubs had held it largely in place.

Elsewhere in the suburb of Whataupoko, water mains had burst, windows had cracked, power lines had been torn from the front of houses, chimneys had cracked or collapsed, toilet pans had shattered, houses had slipped off foundations and numerous water tanks had slid on their supports and tank stands had partially collapsed.

Some people had the heart-stopping experience of their chimney crashing through their roof and into the house. Despite this, there were no serious injuries and only one heart attack was reported.

In the town centre, the few people at work had some hair-raising experiences. Filing cabinets, furniture and shelving were thrown over and a 10 ton printing press had moved backwards and forwards across the floor, several feet in each direction.

Practically every shop window on the south-east side of Peel Street had broken, cracked or slid in its frame. Gypsum tiles had fallen from business premises ceilings, and walls had cracked. Gaps had opened between floors and masonry walls and some buildings had suffered damage as neighbouring structures had hammered against them. Fortunately, no serious damage to modern buildings had occurred during the earthquake. However, some of the older buildings had suffered and those that had been poorly repaired during the bigger earthquakes of the 1930s showed the most damage.

The elegant opera house on the corner of Peel Street and Childers Road had large cracks in its outer walls. One wall of the Chief Post Office had moved outward, and both buildings were quickly roped-off to keep people out of harm’s way if they collapsed. Some of the older classrooms at Gisborne Boys’ High and Mangapapa schools sustained major damage, whereas the old Central School which had been strengthened by the attachment of external “corsetting” following the damage it sustained during the Wairoa quake of 1932 had come through largely unscathed.

The sewer line crossing the Peel Street bridge had broken, but the bridge itself survived the quake. The statue of a soldier atop the town’s war memorial had rotated but not toppled.

Back home, a quick appraisal of the damage was conducted, and a headcount was completed. There was just enough time to commence the cleanup of broken items before the first of the many aftershocks commenced. There had been 25 minutes of relative peace, and then the quivering began. For the next 11 hours there were earthquakes every few minutes as 225 aftershocks rattled the town.

Members of the family climbed up and across the steeply gabled rooves to demolish the tops of the three damaged chimneys. With the rumpus room chimney lying across the roof, my mother was worried that it would fall through into the house, so it had to be broken up and the bricks thrown over onto the lawn. While they were working up there, my sister and brother reported that the house was shivering and rattling underneath them as the many aftershocks occurred. Later in the afternoon, others were sent out to check on my grandmother and our neighbours.

My father had been away on surf rescue business and, on being alerted to news of a damaging earthquake in Gisborne late in the afternoon, had commenced the long trip back by road from New Plymouth. He had been unable to get through by phone, so it was an anxious night-time trip.

Later that night most of us crammed into our parents’ bedroom, not realising that the fireplace beside the bed now stood out from the wall. It was a restless night punctuated by the clanking of window weights; with almost constant quivers and shudders as the house creaked and rattled under the onslaught of the aftershocks. We were all woken by the noisy quake just after 1 a.m. but the bigger one just before 4 a.m. had us all on edge.

We were relieved when my father got home just before dawn, and the lightening sky meant we could drop any pretense of trying to sleep.

The Gisborne Earthquake of 1966. Part 2: Facts & Figures

The magnitude 6.2 earthquake which caused considerable damage in Gisborne on the 5th of March 1966 was centred within 20 km of the city at a depth of 25 km. It struck at 11h 58m 57s on a Saturday morning.

The earthquake provided an unique opportunity for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) to collaborate widely in studying the seismological aspects of the earthquake, the geology of the area, damage to services as well as damage to both public and private buildings. The department published a detailed bulletin covering these aspects of the quake, which provides the basis for this article. [see New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Bulletin 194, Gisborne Earthquake New Zealand March 1966, published 1969.] Contributors came from the DSIR itself, the Ministry of Works, local council, and the Earthquake and War Damage Commission.

Unlike previous strong earthquakes, the DSIR’s network of seismometers was more developed in 1966, and the existence of seismometers at Tuai power station inland from Gisborne, East Cape and Gisborne greatly aided in analysis of the many earthquakes recorded in the period February to June 1966 even though their galvanometers stuck after many of the large events. In addition, the presence of an acceleration recorder at the Gisborne Telephone Exchange provided extra information on the direction and strength of ground pulses during the earthquake.

There were 50 recognisable foreshocks that commenced at 9:30 pm on February 2nd with the last occurring 43 minutes before the main earthquake on March 5th. Most would not have been felt, but the pair of magnitude 4 events 28 minutes apart on the evening of February 5th would have been noticed by many residents.

Following the magnitude 6.2 quake, there was 25 minutes of peace before the aftershocks commenced. During the remainder of March 5th, there were 225 aftershocks; the largest that day were two magnitude 4.5 shakes, the first occurring 30 minutes after the main quake, the second at 11:40 that night. The following day, there were 83 aftershocks, including a magnitude 5 and two magnitude 4 events. Daily aftershock rates then eased back, with 466 occurring during March and a total of 513 events being recorded until the end of May.

The Ministry of Works report noted: “Generally damage was confined to an area ½ mile [800 m] wide on both sides of Turanganui and Taruheru Rivers and extending about 2 ½ miles [4 km] up from the mouths. This included the main city area on the west and the Whataupoko area on the east of the rivers.” It added that many of the older buildings had been damaged in the 1931 Hawke’s Bay and 1932 Wairoa earthquakes.

At the time of the earthquake, electric power was lost for about 10 minutes in the city, as power lines clashed and mercury tubes in transformers broke. There were 151 service-line faults to houses due to clashing of wires and pulling-off of barge boards.

There were about a dozen watermain leaks and 40 service leaks. The sewer crossing the Peel Street bridge broke, and sewerage was diverted into the Taruheru River until Sunday morning.

During the main earthquake, the acceleration recorder on the ground floor of the telephone exchange recorded a maximum acceleration of 0.28 g towards the north-north-east. The device recorded 7 acceleration pulses between 0.1 g and 0.3 g, and a further 5 or 6 pulses of about 0.1 g. Writing about the largest pulse, R.I. Skinner of the DSIR’s Physics & Engineering Laboratory stated, “This acceleration is surprisingly high in relation to the moderate damage to city buildings. The damage was limited by the short duration of severe shaking and probably also by shaking at periods long compared with the resonance period of most of the structures.” Gisborne had been lucky.

Even so, the earthquake had managed to rack up a large amount of damage in a short period of time. Approximately 3,000 chimneys required repair or replacement, and the Earthquake and War Damage Commission received insurance claims for 700 of them. The commission noted, “Most of the chimneys were cracked at roof line; many others were cracked at ceiling level or required renewal from about 18 in. [460 mm] below the roof. Damage was greater on chimneys that had been fitted with TV aerials.” Both the commission and the Ministry of Works noted that 20 newer pre-cast chimneys also sustained damage just above foundation level. Similar damage to pre-cast chimneys was noted as a result of the Seddon earthquake the following month.

The Ministry of Works report included the following amongst its conclusions: “In an age when man is close to landing on the moon we still have not designed, in New Zealand, a low-cost earthquake-resistant domestic chimney, nor a satisfactory W.C. soil-pipe connection. The bulk of the claims at Gisborne were for replacement of domestic chimneys. It seems wasteful to replace them with identical ones, which will fail in the next earthquake and possibly also cause loss of life.” About 150 toilet pans had to be replaced after the Gisborne earthquake.

The reports noted that houses had moved off their foundations, water tanks and stands had been damaged, as had rooves and wall linings. Claims made on the Earthquake and War Damage Commission (now known as EQC) totalled 1,890 costing $265,732.

Several public buildings sustained severe damage, the worst being the Chief Post Office on the corner of Customhouse Street and Gladstone Road. The first stage had been built in 1901, with additions added in 1925. Following the 1931 earthquake, the clock tower had been removed, and brick gables had been reduced in height. Cracks that had appeared in 1931 had been repaired, but they re-opened in 1966, and the wall facing Customhouse Street moved out by 2 inches (50 mm) at the roof level. Several arches were badly cracked and fresh cracks opened up on two other walls. The building was not considered economical to repair and it was demolished.

The infant block at the Mangapapa School had also been strengthened after the 1931 earthquake. A post-quake inspection detected movement of a tie-beam and additional cracks over door openings. It was recommended that the building was not used until several strengthening measures were taken. Fortunately, the education board decided that its money would be better spent on demolition and replacement with a timber structure, as part 3 of this series of articles will show.

The northern wing of Gisborne Boys’ High School suffered damage, and two classrooms were temporarily closed. However, on re-inspection it was determined that some of the damage was due to weathering, and the classrooms were able to be re-used but it was recommended that they be replaced as soon as practicable.

At the city’s Cook Hospital, plaster fell in the wards and some concrete lintels over doorways and in corridors cracked at mid-span. The elderly building had also been strengthened after the Hawke’s Bay quake of 1931, but subsequent building work had weakened some of these measures – one of the tie rods had been cut through and a concrete beam over the corridor had been seriously weakened by partial removal.

Commercial buildings suffered too. One building displayed cracks up to ¾ inch [19 mm] wide while another had cracked window arches and a gable which had moved out by 3½ inches [89 mm] to a precarious position. Another building’s roof was near collapse.

Even the monument to Captain Cook didn’t escape, with one of its massive stones moving outward.

Our Big Brother

Patrick is 4 years older than Bruce, 6 years older than Steve etc. and that age difference always seemed to amount to a lot. Growing up in Wainui we never really got to do things with him, because we were only little kids., That all changed once we moved to Sydney.

We were very lucky to have a big brother who was always doing neat things, and willing to let us tag along.

One of the big challenges of our life in Wainui and the Surf Club was being able to swim out around the buoy. I will always remember the first time I did it, and yes, big brother was there looking out for me!

Every school kid needs a big brother to help them with their maths, once it becomes to hard for the Mum or Dad (Dad got to help me understand music and Johnny Crotchet, but that's another story).

- the Mini Moke
- scouts
- abseiling
- sailing on the Northbridge Senior
- being allowed to drive the Subaru
- being my athletics coach
- bringing Katherine into our lives


- Years later helping me to write documents for the Defence Dept.


Kerrian has childhood memories of Pat taking her to birthday parties, sitting on the handle-bars of his bike, in her pretty dresses.

Steve remembers the day Bob came riding along Douglas St and up our driveway on Patrick's new 3-Speed bike. great for Steve, he scored Pat's old bike.

The Griffins of Banbury Cross

Bob, Peter and Sheila were evacuated to Banbury in Oxfordshire, and lived there from 1939 til 19xx

When Steve Bob and Olive visited there in 1994, we met a lady who remembers Sheila from school days.

I remember one story of Bob's about how cold he was at night in winter, when living in a flat, having left school and starting his working life.

Bob et al evacuated June 1940 just after Dunkirk
First lot of kids evacuated before declaration, and soon after that
School window Hornchurch looked out over airfield - saw planes crashing

June 1943 left school started work (turned 15) junior clerk in town clerks dept. Banbury Borough Council - boss Ernest Owen Reid, son Anthony Bob's age
Bob was in a Boy's Club

1994 trip Bob met friend Joffs

When evacuated Lily said she would send pocket money every week as postal order
One week PN didn't arrive, then the next did't arrive. Reason - Lily had fall running to shelter with Bernard.and Alfred decided they (Lily and Bernard) needed to go to Banbury as well.

Alfred's firm was building wartime runways so he was away a lot.

Lily found house at Clifton 88 mi from Banbury

Olly's Life in Pitsea During The War

All of the kids were evacuated from London during the Blitz in 1939. Olive went to live with her Aunt Kate in Pitsea near South End On Sea.

- watching doodlebugs flying overhead being chased by spitfires
- having a V2 land nearby and break all the windows

- years later discovering that was where the Nichols lived. Olly and John even went to the same school.

- 1994 Steve visits Pitsea with Bob and Olive, and Great Chalvedon Hall in Basildon near Pitsea

Insert photo of Olly on tree near lake.

- Dornier shot down crashed in field near people including uncle frank, two Germans injured, climbing out, plane blew up, village policeman all buttons blown off, trousers fallen down etc. uncle frank got schrapnel from explosion
- pet jackdaw (used to sleep in bedroom) warned about doodlebugs coming before they were heard or seen  bird spoke "come on get up"  and called Olive (14 years old, 1942) by name
- school still had iron railings - nothing else did
- peggy airdale
- barrage balloon nearby - Italian prisoners of war - helped to man this - local girls used to hang over railings chatting to them - anchored in school playground
- incendiary bombs (12942) Frank was warden,

WARTIME MEMORIES OF AN EVACUEE - 1940

Great Chalvedon Hall stood in all its three-storied dilapidated Elizabethan grandeur, ten minutes across King's Field which was separated by King's Field from where I had been evacuated to live with my Great Aunt Kate, her dog, cat, goat, and rabbits, the latter sadly taken to the butcher in war time exchange for feed for the rest of her animals.

My aunt's friend Nan was the caretaker of the Hall, being a heritage building at that time little had been to change it in any way, apart from necessary repairs. It was a wonderment of adventure for me. Both Nan and my Aunt took sick and deprived children under their wing, and when restored to health returned to the families, but Mabel was Nan's ward a couple of years older than me, and we became great mates.

Nan and my Aunt Kate kept goats for their milk to nourish their sick children, and it was to the amusement of the Cowman with his six heifers grazing in King's Field to see these goats on their long chains being led from the Hall to an acre of Dolce Domum for a feed of fresh grass.

My Aunt also kept a spiteful gander in the paddock at Dolce Domum with his four female geese. He would chase everyone and the only way out to Kings Field was through his paddock - a pity we didn't have a movie camera in those days! We eventually had a good Christmas dinner to celebrate the end of the war with that gander much to my father's distress - for some odd reason he admired that gander, and of course he was a great watchdog.

At the back of the house from Nan's kitchen (now a tea shop) the back door led out and further along to our delight to the old Elizabethan kitchen with its original stone floor; a huge fireplace with a spit large enough to roast an ox, and large hooks handing from the ceiling.

From the kitchen halfway down the narrow corridor it widened - on the right a narrow door led down a few concrete steps leading downward and then filled in and much to our disgust had been blocked. It was the beginning of a secret tunnel leading to Basildon Castle a few miles away. I knew where it led, for when coming over to the Hall as soon as I entered its grounds I would feel the ground soft, and would give a yodel to let Mabel know I was coming.

Further down that corridor was the drawing room, French windows leading to an outside terrace, and beware anyone over 5.1/2 ft tall for running down the middle of the room a thick oaken beam led to the very large fireplace. Those days the fireplace had been filled in to take a modern small fireplace and still room for an armchair each side (as long as you ducked under mantel beam'. 
At the end of the corridor was a room the width of the house being the 'armoury' with the remnants of hooks etc., upon the walls.

On the second floor towards the east the corner bedroom had blocks to stop the beds ending up in the corner in the morning - the floors being built from oak of old, or sunken, Royal Navy ships from the Armada - as was the rest of the Hall. 

Halfway along the corridor were three steps downwards, a small room on the left, which we called the blue room and further down on the right another bedroom. At the end of the long corridor there was a room running above the armoury below and on the outside wall was embedded in plaster a thick oaken beam shaped like the entry to a chapel, long gone, and probably demolished during the religious wars!

I spent many happy hours in the magnificent lavender garden obviously planted where once the chapel had stood, and now a restaurant - and I wonder if the patrons in the restaurant still smell lavender in their soup and hear the hymns of praise of  those long dead Elizabethans!

Of course Great Chalvedon Hall is haunted!!! Ghosts! My Aunt's dog Bruno followed me everywhere, yet I could not coax him past halfway in the upstairs hail no matter how hard I tried. We relished in the idea of Ghosts??? My Uncle who later became the caretaker of Gt. Chalvedon Hall later found a "Priests Hole" above that blue room and step area in one of the two attics behind the giant Elizabethan chimney block which came up through the centre of the building.

I think we explored every inch of that house, the barns, the pig styes and the wonderful thatched horse stables. Sadly one winter after hundreds of years the beams of the stables collapsed inwards, and the thatch fell over intact.

I went to a great school, being picked up by a school bus. There were air-raid shelters and we would have practice runs. Fortunately the school was only bombed once on a weekend! Pitsea is in Essex and we could see each nigh the red in the distance of the red sky over London as it burned during the blitz. We spent most nights in the concrete shelter during that bad time and would hear the Dornier's as they flew over our part of the country on their way to London to drop their bombs and on their return drop in random any left over - we copped a few of those.

We would watch in awe as the spitfires and messerschmidts fought so high in the sky we would see their white trails weaving high in the sky, during the day - the 'Battle of Britain', little realising at the time how important that day was. I would wonder if my cousin was one of them. He later was shot down over France, near a village and the villagers hid him, but he later died. When his two brothers went over after the war to bring his body back to England, the villagers begged them to leave him as they had raised a memorial to him. "Spitfire Pilot Lt. Harold Blackman" awondered.

We were very lucky - only once machined gunned as we sat down to Sunday dinner and we all ducked under the table.

My father had a petrol allowance due to his job, and would come down for the weekend bringing friends for an R. And R. The ARP wardens in Laindon - the area before Pitsea - would try and catch him for an exercise. One day when my family were on their way to Pitsea they sheltered under a tree during a raid. A Dornier was brought down nearby and a Spitfire followed it down. That day they had with them my Uncle who was on leave and he began to run over towards the plane to get their papers.

Two Germans were dragging two of their other crew from the wreck and stopped him - "Nein Nein -
bombs" and he held up four fingers. The next minute they went off and my Uncle, being closer, was lucky only to get wounded with shrapnel in his thigh. My mother had ducked behind a haystook, but the policeman who had just arrived on the scene and running ahead had his buttons blown off
trousers causing them to fall down. "I can see your mother uses Persil", my mother quipped. Anyway that is the story they told us when they reached the safety of "Dolce Domum" translated it means 'Home sweet Home'. 1942 was the yea

 I returned home from evacuation with my Great Aunt Kate in Pitsea, to Upton Park, Forest Gate, which is east of London, We lived opposite a three story Victorian school, our house overlooking the playground, and there sat the same balloon as when I had been hustled off on
'evacuation' , whose long dangling ropes of light chain had knocked off our chimney pot several times. The only difference being it was now worked by Italian prisoners of war. I was very naive and wondered why girls used to hang around the school railings! I hated that balloon.

It had been one of the reasons our dear old Airedale Peggy had had to be put to sleep. She had been terrified of that balloon, and went crazy when the mobile ack-ack- guns went down our road. My mother swore she heard her bark as she left the vet, and we wondered if someone, a professional dog
trainer, had found it possible to calm her and train her as a war dog - anyway - that is what we hoped for she was very intelligent.I had brought home with me a black Jackdaw, a clever mimic of words (pure black the size of a pigeon) whose first words were "Olive, will you get up"! He was very tame and slept in my bedroom. He graduated from there to a large cage in the back garden, but spent most of the time indoors after school with me.

The doodlebugs began to harass London. Our windows were blown out and covered with brown paper one day, only to have them blown out again and ceilings down. They were a joke in a way - we'd watch the noisy things coming and dive for cover when the engine stopped. Jackie would hear them coming long before us, and call out for my mother "Bean, Bean, Bean," in a very shrill voice - that being her nickname. Even the neighbours listened out for Jackie's shrill call of warning.

However, when the doodlebugs ceased followed by the silence of the V.2 explosions which happened anywhere without warning and for the first time people lost their sense of humour and courage. They were terrifying. Fortunately the Normandy landings were able to quickly overcome where they were being launched.

1945 - the end of the war our family stood outside Buckingham Palace, by the Victoria Fountain, cheering as the royal family came out of the balcony several times to wave a the crowds - AND NORMAL LIFE BEGAN AGAIN (except there was no end to rationing.)