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LinkWest Coast FacebookCommentsBruce Tones And early Cobden
Heather Newby is that Cobden Bruce Tones
Bruce Tones It looks like it to me, heather. At the middle at the top of the pic, I think looks like the entrance to the blaketown lagoon. And the pic is looking towards the sea, so cobden is on the right of the river
Johannes Debreuk Should have left it like this.
Geoffrey Bell Doesn't look like Cobden or Greymouth to me. There aren't any buildings on the other side of the river. It's just not right. Looks more like the Taramakau or some other river to me.
Heather Newby i agree,, I changed the title, Intriguing,
Neil Martin Note the tree growth showing a strong prevailing wind from the left of the photo
Heather Newby thats Interesting Neil Martin
Don Hutton Is it Sawyers Creek parallel to Cowper St?
Helen Hadland Rununga?
Johannes Debreuk It's gotta be South. Not Nelson Creek!!!
Heather Newby I can see the sea ,, with land across the sea.. and a bay or maybe thats just cloud
Heather Newby Could it be down near Arahura with that creek that goes alongside the road? is it Awatuna?
Helen Hadland Yes I think you are right Heather. Love all the washing on everyone's lines and along the fence and the smoke from the copper chimney going in the small shed next to the small house in the middle of the picture. Gosh I'd love to step back there just for a day!
Heather Newby me too Helen Hadland it looks idyllic doesnt it? no cars,TV,electronics etc
Ritchie Mathieson just a theory, but could it be a very very early shot of Lord Street, taken from what is now around a bout where Electronet building is now ??with the creek being Tarry Creek which was bricked over
Heather Newby Yes,,it could very well be too.
Ritchie Mathieson it would pre date the gas works and foundry
Brian McIntyre I cant relate to the hills
Maye Dunn I'm with you Brian McIntyre the hills don't look right..
Johannes Debreuk Not greymouth
Laura Mills Detlaff Kaniere????
Brian McIntyre I doubt very much that it is Greymouth
Heather Newby i can see it now in the photo that body of water is the Blaketown lagoon
and that land over the other side is the Blaketown sand dunes.. the beach!!
its taken from up on the hill probably arnott heights which was all farm land
Bruce Tones Good one, heather, u've got it, except pic taken somewhere on a hill in cobden
Unlike · Reply · 2 · October 4 at 9:10pm
Heather Newby you could be right Bruce Tones
Heather Newby I can see it now in the photo that body of water is the Blaketown lagoon
and that land over the other side is the Blaketown sand dunes.. the beach!!
Bruce Tones Try and picture that over 100 yrs ago, don
Like · Reply · October 4 at 9:29pm
Heather Newby that would be about 1860ish?
Bruce Tones Yes along time ago, heather
Heather Newby thats the blaketown lagoon and sand dunes
Ritchie Mathieson im thinking if you looked at a right angle up towards the hills one might see where the above photo was taken
Bruce Tones There is a gravel bank on the left side of the river, which I have seen b4 on another pic or a painting, from a more front on view, b4 ever a wharf was built there
Don Hutton Too hard basket?
Like · Reply · 1 · October 4 at 9:39pm
Laura Mills Detlaff Look at this pic of Woodstock - you don't think???
Laura Mills Detlaff http://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/2267
Woodstock
Location (city or town): Woodstock | Contributor: Heather Newby | Read the full record details for…
WESTCOAST.RECOLLECT.CO.NZ
Laura Mills Detlaff Church or school next to the tree? (Far right)
Ritchie Mathieson Gold Trails of the west Coast a book by Tony Nolan has this exact photo with the caption VERY EARLY SETTLEMENT JUST TO THE SOUTH OF GREYMOUTH, i knew i had seen it somewhere before, just looked in the wrong books first
Laura Mills Detlaff Wow Ritchie Mathieson that's great. So ... where exactly???
Heather Newby so you think its Paroa Ritchie Mathieson?
Ritchie Mathieson yes maybe karoro south beach ?
Ritchie Mathieson or yes paroa
Heather Newby whats that body of water in the distance? and where is the creek in the front of the houses
Laura Mills Detlaff I thought Karoro was settled later? Paroa was earlier ... or could it even be out towards New River? What a fabulous, intriguing pic.
Ritchie Mathieson if it's karoro it could be mill creek, if it's taken from weenink road or there abouts looking northwest it would be the blaketown lagoon all right
Ritchie Mathieson karoro was quite a rich beach for blacksand mining
Laura Mills Detlaff The building front left (bottom) has a front on it, like it's a hotel - you can see it poking up on the side of the building that's obscured
Ritchie Mathieson the old timers always said the lagoon used to run right along to paroa, alot of it was filled in by the gold dredges that worked the area
Ritchie Mathieson ju8st have to look at the new river salt water creek outlet and the way the beach is there to get an idea of what things would've been like 160 odd years ago
Heather Newby I heard that too Ritchie Mathieson We used to walk from blaketown along the beach to that lagoon.. it extended much further in the early 1960`s
Heather Newby is this the building with the front... that you were talking about Laura Mills Detlaff
Heather Newby A lot of washing on the line.maybe hotel?
Heather Newby It might be a hotel.. has a lot of washing on the line.. maybe bed linen
Heather Newby this is my message to Ritchie Mathieson and his reply i can see it now in the photo that body of water is the Blaketown lagoon
and that land over the other side is the Blaketown sand dunes.. the beach!!
its taken from up on the hill probably arnott he...See More
Ritchie Mathieson this photo taken from i guess chuns hill? around 1905 looking south shows how the lagoon was
Heather Newby yes,, very good photo Ritchie Mathieson how intriguing!!
Heather Newby That looks like the road which is lined by the wooden fence by the bigger building
Ritchie Mathieson does anyone know when the hoki rail line was built, because if this is karoro southbeach area it pre dates that
Don Hutton Intriguing discussion.
Heather Newby I emailed Peter kerr with the link to this discussion/post
Zody Neil William Bright street Cobden, old river Chanel, hard against Nelson terrace. School with three windows down the side, top right. It can't be Paroa or saltwater lagoon with the faint sea line where it is in photograph.
Unlike · Reply · 2 · 21 hrs
Heather Newby I reckon its the Lagoon and sand dunes of Blaketown beach in the distance
Bruce Tones Yea still cobden, zody
Heather Newby I think you might be right Zody Neil William
Don Hutton Points to ponder: 1. The photo was taken up a slope but you can't tell if it's a hill. Could be a terrace. 2. The prominent tree appears to be close to the creek. The perspective suggests the creek is quite narrow. 3. The reflection in the creek from the far bank suggests it's either still or slow flowing. Tidal? 4. The vegetation on the far bank appears to be low & scrubby while on the near side beyond the settlement it's tall rain forest. Why the difference? 5. If it was Cobden, Greymouth or Blaketown, shouldn't there be visible settlement on the far side of the creek? 6. The low vegetation on the far side appears to be on slightly undulating land rather than flat. 7. The line across through the top of the tree appears to be the sea horizon 8. The grey patch below the horizon on the left might be beach but might also be a blemish on the old photo. 9. Where is the Grey River? The creek is too small to be it. Sorry to be so pedantic and boring folks!
Heather Newby Very Good Don Hutton very good points there.. I was sure it was Cobden... but now I`m not so sure.
Brian McIntyre Bugger. I think Cobden. Isnt there water inside Cobden Island so that would be the river beyond before the training wall went in
Peter Kerr I tend to favour Cobden. Have a look at Alexander Turnbull Library !/2-001318 and Museum of New Zealand C.014603. That side channel of the river and the big lagoon match, the street would be Bright Street and the date well before 1900.
Peter Kerr This is a great find, Heather,as evidenced by the number of comments from people interested in West Coast History.
Heather Newby Alexander Turnbull Library Peter Kerr
Don Hutton So the low scrub covered area over the creek in the top photo is Cobden Island and the photo was taken from the top end of Cardwell or Taylor St perhaps? Brian McIntyre, Heather Newby,
Malcolm Howell Without a good lens showing the surrounding hills clearly, its hard to put a location on this photo. If that is the Grey River is looks pretty narrow and slow flowing. The solid rock river bank reminds me of the Grey at the Golf Links and Wallsend. The house sections look quite large almost if it is in a rural setting somewhere. Great photo and well before the 1900's.
Bruce Tones Its the creek that runs at the back of nimmo park
l
Malcolm Howell I have rowed up that creek Bruce. Yes thats Cobden. But its the photo with the solid rock banks and the cottages with large sections I was referring to. That is a strange picture for Greymouth.
Brian McIntyre Surely those large buildings in the centre would be a school which would be where Cobden school is now
Bruce Tones I would suggest that the pic could have been taken from the hill just off the end of sturge st,
Zody Neil William The building with the three windows is the Cobden school. The school today is over and down a few blocks. In photos not long after this one, the school is on the same section, but at the northern end. It is on the old maps as school reserve.That is the Cobden Island, not the south bank of the river. Greymouth and Blaketown are not in this view, only the sand spit from the south side. Other photos looking at Cobden from Greymouth show a large portion of the Grey river flowed in hard against Cobden and even boats could sail right up to the small anchorage in front of Kell's Hotel. The piece of pine tree in this photo also appears as a larger pine tree in more recent photos. There are many photos taken from this hil
Bruce Tones I new it was cobden
Zody Neil William This veiw from many years later, shows there is still a large body of water on the Cobden side.
Zody Neil William's photo.
Geoffrey Bell Well done team. All this Super Sleuthing is what makes this site so great.
Bruce Tones I must agree with u, geoffrey
Tony Kokshoorn
Gets my vote for Cobden.
Murry McKendry
Not far from Nimmo park
Stephen Tvrdeic
Murry McKendry I would have to agree with you - the Cobden island, as the locals called it.
Rob Absalom
I agree. The house at the top would be about where the old post office was on the little hill and Cobden Takeaways just below it. The property in the foreground MSY have been where the original Cobden School was built corner of Fox and Taylor Street. The part of the "Island" visible may be an area known as the "holes".
Michael James Keating
Always thought the the grey river ran into the Tasman. Not pacific ocean
Rob Absalom
Michael James Keating The person was obviously employed for his drawings skills only.
Peter Armstrong
F W Martin Resident Engineer Public Works Office drew these plans.
Colin Angus Heinz
Several old photos of Cobden have been taken from the same spot - the top of the little hill behind Kelly’s HotelCeol Mhor NZ
When you look at this early map and the rail embankments, aint it little wonder Greymouth township ended up getting flooded. With the escape route being blocked off and water forced towards the town instead of being able to spread itself out across the lagoons. One wonders how much flooding occurred pre intervention of man.
Heather Newby is that Cobden Bruce Tones
Bruce Tones It looks like it to me, heather. At the middle at the top of the pic, I think looks like the entrance to the blaketown lagoon. And the pic is looking towards the sea, so cobden is on the right of the river
Johannes Debreuk Should have left it like this.
Geoffrey Bell Doesn't look like Cobden or Greymouth to me. There aren't any buildings on the other side of the river. It's just not right. Looks more like the Taramakau or some other river to me.
Heather Newby i agree,, I changed the title, Intriguing,
Neil Martin Note the tree growth showing a strong prevailing wind from the left of the photo
Heather Newby thats Interesting Neil Martin
Don Hutton Is it Sawyers Creek parallel to Cowper St?
Helen Hadland Rununga?
Johannes Debreuk It's gotta be South. Not Nelson Creek!!!
Heather Newby I can see the sea ,, with land across the sea.. and a bay or maybe thats just cloud
Heather Newby Could it be down near Arahura with that creek that goes alongside the road? is it Awatuna?
Helen Hadland Yes I think you are right Heather. Love all the washing on everyone's lines and along the fence and the smoke from the copper chimney going in the small shed next to the small house in the middle of the picture. Gosh I'd love to step back there just for a day!
Heather Newby me too Helen Hadland it looks idyllic doesnt it? no cars,TV,electronics etc
Ritchie Mathieson just a theory, but could it be a very very early shot of Lord Street, taken from what is now around a bout where Electronet building is now ??with the creek being Tarry Creek which was bricked over
Heather Newby Yes,,it could very well be too.
Ritchie Mathieson it would pre date the gas works and foundry
Brian McIntyre I cant relate to the hills
Maye Dunn I'm with you Brian McIntyre the hills don't look right..
Johannes Debreuk Not greymouth
Laura Mills Detlaff Kaniere????
Brian McIntyre I doubt very much that it is Greymouth
Heather Newby i can see it now in the photo that body of water is the Blaketown lagoon
and that land over the other side is the Blaketown sand dunes.. the beach!!
its taken from up on the hill probably arnott heights which was all farm land
Bruce Tones Good one, heather, u've got it, except pic taken somewhere on a hill in cobden
Unlike · Reply · 2 · October 4 at 9:10pm
Heather Newby you could be right Bruce Tones
Heather Newby I can see it now in the photo that body of water is the Blaketown lagoon
and that land over the other side is the Blaketown sand dunes.. the beach!!
Bruce Tones Try and picture that over 100 yrs ago, don
Like · Reply · October 4 at 9:29pm
Heather Newby that would be about 1860ish?
Bruce Tones Yes along time ago, heather
Heather Newby thats the blaketown lagoon and sand dunes
Ritchie Mathieson im thinking if you looked at a right angle up towards the hills one might see where the above photo was taken
Bruce Tones There is a gravel bank on the left side of the river, which I have seen b4 on another pic or a painting, from a more front on view, b4 ever a wharf was built there
Don Hutton Too hard basket?
Like · Reply · 1 · October 4 at 9:39pm
Laura Mills Detlaff Look at this pic of Woodstock - you don't think???
Laura Mills Detlaff http://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/2267
Woodstock
Location (city or town): Woodstock | Contributor: Heather Newby | Read the full record details for…
WESTCOAST.RECOLLECT.CO.NZ
Laura Mills Detlaff Church or school next to the tree? (Far right)
Ritchie Mathieson Gold Trails of the west Coast a book by Tony Nolan has this exact photo with the caption VERY EARLY SETTLEMENT JUST TO THE SOUTH OF GREYMOUTH, i knew i had seen it somewhere before, just looked in the wrong books first
Laura Mills Detlaff Wow Ritchie Mathieson that's great. So ... where exactly???
Heather Newby so you think its Paroa Ritchie Mathieson?
Ritchie Mathieson yes maybe karoro south beach ?
Ritchie Mathieson or yes paroa
Heather Newby whats that body of water in the distance? and where is the creek in the front of the houses
Laura Mills Detlaff I thought Karoro was settled later? Paroa was earlier ... or could it even be out towards New River? What a fabulous, intriguing pic.
Ritchie Mathieson if it's karoro it could be mill creek, if it's taken from weenink road or there abouts looking northwest it would be the blaketown lagoon all right
Ritchie Mathieson karoro was quite a rich beach for blacksand mining
Laura Mills Detlaff The building front left (bottom) has a front on it, like it's a hotel - you can see it poking up on the side of the building that's obscured
Ritchie Mathieson the old timers always said the lagoon used to run right along to paroa, alot of it was filled in by the gold dredges that worked the area
Ritchie Mathieson ju8st have to look at the new river salt water creek outlet and the way the beach is there to get an idea of what things would've been like 160 odd years ago
Heather Newby I heard that too Ritchie Mathieson We used to walk from blaketown along the beach to that lagoon.. it extended much further in the early 1960`s
Heather Newby is this the building with the front... that you were talking about Laura Mills Detlaff
Heather Newby A lot of washing on the line.maybe hotel?
Heather Newby It might be a hotel.. has a lot of washing on the line.. maybe bed linen
Heather Newby this is my message to Ritchie Mathieson and his reply i can see it now in the photo that body of water is the Blaketown lagoon
and that land over the other side is the Blaketown sand dunes.. the beach!!
its taken from up on the hill probably arnott he...See More
Ritchie Mathieson this photo taken from i guess chuns hill? around 1905 looking south shows how the lagoon was
Heather Newby yes,, very good photo Ritchie Mathieson how intriguing!!
Heather Newby That looks like the road which is lined by the wooden fence by the bigger building
Ritchie Mathieson does anyone know when the hoki rail line was built, because if this is karoro southbeach area it pre dates that
Don Hutton Intriguing discussion.
Heather Newby I emailed Peter kerr with the link to this discussion/post
Zody Neil William Bright street Cobden, old river Chanel, hard against Nelson terrace. School with three windows down the side, top right. It can't be Paroa or saltwater lagoon with the faint sea line where it is in photograph.
Unlike · Reply · 2 · 21 hrs
Heather Newby I reckon its the Lagoon and sand dunes of Blaketown beach in the distance
Bruce Tones Yea still cobden, zody
Heather Newby I think you might be right Zody Neil William
Don Hutton Points to ponder: 1. The photo was taken up a slope but you can't tell if it's a hill. Could be a terrace. 2. The prominent tree appears to be close to the creek. The perspective suggests the creek is quite narrow. 3. The reflection in the creek from the far bank suggests it's either still or slow flowing. Tidal? 4. The vegetation on the far bank appears to be low & scrubby while on the near side beyond the settlement it's tall rain forest. Why the difference? 5. If it was Cobden, Greymouth or Blaketown, shouldn't there be visible settlement on the far side of the creek? 6. The low vegetation on the far side appears to be on slightly undulating land rather than flat. 7. The line across through the top of the tree appears to be the sea horizon 8. The grey patch below the horizon on the left might be beach but might also be a blemish on the old photo. 9. Where is the Grey River? The creek is too small to be it. Sorry to be so pedantic and boring folks!
Heather Newby Very Good Don Hutton very good points there.. I was sure it was Cobden... but now I`m not so sure.
Brian McIntyre Bugger. I think Cobden. Isnt there water inside Cobden Island so that would be the river beyond before the training wall went in
Peter Kerr I tend to favour Cobden. Have a look at Alexander Turnbull Library !/2-001318 and Museum of New Zealand C.014603. That side channel of the river and the big lagoon match, the street would be Bright Street and the date well before 1900.
Peter Kerr This is a great find, Heather,as evidenced by the number of comments from people interested in West Coast History.
Heather Newby Alexander Turnbull Library Peter Kerr
Don Hutton So the low scrub covered area over the creek in the top photo is Cobden Island and the photo was taken from the top end of Cardwell or Taylor St perhaps? Brian McIntyre, Heather Newby,
Malcolm Howell Without a good lens showing the surrounding hills clearly, its hard to put a location on this photo. If that is the Grey River is looks pretty narrow and slow flowing. The solid rock river bank reminds me of the Grey at the Golf Links and Wallsend. The house sections look quite large almost if it is in a rural setting somewhere. Great photo and well before the 1900's.
Bruce Tones Its the creek that runs at the back of nimmo park
l
Malcolm Howell I have rowed up that creek Bruce. Yes thats Cobden. But its the photo with the solid rock banks and the cottages with large sections I was referring to. That is a strange picture for Greymouth.
Brian McIntyre Surely those large buildings in the centre would be a school which would be where Cobden school is now
Bruce Tones I would suggest that the pic could have been taken from the hill just off the end of sturge st,
Zody Neil William The building with the three windows is the Cobden school. The school today is over and down a few blocks. In photos not long after this one, the school is on the same section, but at the northern end. It is on the old maps as school reserve.That is the Cobden Island, not the south bank of the river. Greymouth and Blaketown are not in this view, only the sand spit from the south side. Other photos looking at Cobden from Greymouth show a large portion of the Grey river flowed in hard against Cobden and even boats could sail right up to the small anchorage in front of Kell's Hotel. The piece of pine tree in this photo also appears as a larger pine tree in more recent photos. There are many photos taken from this hil
Bruce Tones I new it was cobden
Zody Neil William This veiw from many years later, shows there is still a large body of water on the Cobden side.
Zody Neil William's photo.
Geoffrey Bell Well done team. All this Super Sleuthing is what makes this site so great.
Bruce Tones I must agree with u, geoffrey
Tony Kokshoorn
Gets my vote for Cobden.
Murry McKendry
Not far from Nimmo park
Stephen Tvrdeic
Murry McKendry I would have to agree with you - the Cobden island, as the locals called it.
Rob Absalom
I agree. The house at the top would be about where the old post office was on the little hill and Cobden Takeaways just below it. The property in the foreground MSY have been where the original Cobden School was built corner of Fox and Taylor Street. The part of the "Island" visible may be an area known as the "holes".
Michael James Keating
Always thought the the grey river ran into the Tasman. Not pacific ocean
Rob Absalom
Michael James Keating The person was obviously employed for his drawings skills only.
Peter Armstrong
F W Martin Resident Engineer Public Works Office drew these plans.
Colin Angus Heinz
Several old photos of Cobden have been taken from the same spot - the top of the little hill behind Kelly’s HotelCeol Mhor NZ
When you look at this early map and the rail embankments, aint it little wonder Greymouth township ended up getting flooded. With the escape route being blocked off and water forced towards the town instead of being able to spread itself out across the lagoons. One wonders how much flooding occurred pre intervention of man.
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West Coast New Zealand History (18th Sep 2024). Cobden.. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 6th Jun 2026 13:01, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/13291