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The devastation caused by Gold Dredging near Ngahere. ca.1964. - 2 PHOTOS -
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DescriptionThe devastation caused by Gold Dredging and clear felling the forest near Ngahere.None of the cleared areas are farmed,but much land has become intractible swamp.
Photo 2:See how it looks today.Date of Photoca.1964Map[1] ContributorGregor B Campbell
Photo 2:See how it looks today.Date of Photoca.1964Map[1] ContributorGregor B Campbell
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Location (city or town)NgahereOrganisation (eg business)Ngahere Gold DredgeEventThe devastation caused by Gold Dredging and clear felling the forest near Ngahere.
Category Information
Category TagGoldmining
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Date Created28th March 2020CommentsPaul Agnes Smith Redjacks Valley?
Ritchie Mathieson yeah my first thought was Red Jacks, or possibly the Try again on Nelson Creek
Robin Spillane we lived in redjacks road and had a claim for a gold mine which belonged to Ted Silk.
Paul Agnes Smith Landscape look at all familiar?
John Kerr Doesn't look like a lot of forest to clear fell? Great for planting pines radiata on.
Ally Caddie Good to see same photo today to see if you can notice the so called damage
Leslie McKendry Any idea of when this was taken?Les Neilson The Ngahere dredge was on goat terrace opposite Blackball was still going when i was a boy until about 1952
Johnny Kwin Going by the terraces and faces, I would say it looks more like the Kaniere Dredge tailings at Kumara.Graeme Peters Won't be like than now
Bruce Lightfoot Graeme Peters defiantly not in the current dredges tailings.they are a total credit to the operators.right down to the river protection work
Barbara Macilquham Show us a before and after so forest and bird don't grab a hold of the pic and run with it!!
Brian Gillooly Where did you get that photo please as I am chasing any similar shots for the Barrytown Dredge. Love these shots and the history that goes with them.
Gregor B Campbell Brian Gillooly 1964 volume on nz forestry
Brian Gillooly Thanks do you have a flight reference
Dennis Gibbs When reworked with modern methods and land restoration requirements, tailings like this become almost better farmland than what it was originally. Go the modern miners!
James Codyre Yes that is Redjacks with the Kangaroo heading away at the top.Graeme McLaughlin farms the left bank and his relations the Mathews the right.Birchfields planted the front area with pines and much of the rest Fosters have turned into pasture.
.
James Codyre Thats Wyndham Creek and Gully cutting the Pakihi halfway up the left.
James Codyre Several dredges worked the Redjack Creek and only finished in the 1950's.Father Bill Middleton cut it into scrap and sold it for church funds.
Lois Iacoppi We got some big blackberries from the tailings bottom of blackball hill
James Codyre The McLaughlin Family(My Mum was one) have owned land up Redjack's since about 1870.My inlaws (Gibsons) had a mill there for many years.
James Codyre I walked those tailings 5 days a week down to the main road to catch the school bus to Marist.
Cole Jones I can picture it now. It's looking up Red Jacks. The terrace to the left is our dairy farm now.
Arthur Dehn When as a boy on my way from Whataroa to Hokltlka , and passing Kaneri dredge I asked my Dad where has all the soil gone
Noeline McCaughan There are still people around who say that no harm was done and that dredging should still go on.
John Kerr Birchfields dredge turned unusable swamp into beautiful self drained, rolling farm land. Certainly a whole lot better than its original state. The old dredges didn't have to worry about regulations so much.
Cole Jones Noeline McCaughan have you seen what these tailings in this picture look like now? I could take a photo for you as we live on the neighbouring property. They can cut silage on it nowadays and there's some pine trees
Noeline McCaughan Cole Jones Wow! Pine trees, I have always wondered why so few Native trees have been planted.
Terry Harding Personally I'd love to see another photo; taken at the same elevation in exactly the same spot, to indicate what this area now looks like. A point that should be made is that back then there was very little thought of remediation of dredged ground. Tod…See More
Cole Jones Terry Harding I'll take a photo today. It'll.be from a different angle looking down Red Jack's though.
Noeline McCaughan Cole Jones I'll look forward to seeing it.
Steven Shrives Look at the shit government got away with
Terry Harding Along the same lines, I saw a photo recently posted on behalf of Forrest & Bird that showed a swathe of recently cleared ground for farming. Once again I'd like to see a photo taken from the same spot now showing what it looks like. I don't remember if…See More
James Codyre Our family picked many kilo's of blackberries from these tailings.Some was sold at Fensom's at Stillwater for the manufacture if icecream etc. Great pocket money.
Robert Miedema The area around Ngahere is looking good now.
Jeff Moore And the Grey river dredge turned river bed in too good farmland
Cole Jones This is what it looks like now, taken from the terrace beside Wyndham gully on our farm looking down at the tailings on Red Jacks.
Glenn Johnston What a transformation!
John Kerr Perfect!
Mike Stevens Had a look at the gold claim at waikawa ?. Recently, what a splendid job of land restoration. It was buzz marches job. So impressive.
John Kerr Fantastic returns gold wise from that claim which helps lol.
Elinor Tibbles Bullshit. The land Birchfields dredged along the Grey river at Ngahere in Blackball Bridge area north and south is now in beautiful grazing pasture.
Terry Harding That photo is from 1964 when nobody cared too much about such a sight. As you say, the last venture by Birchfields there resulted in a far, far better outcome.
Ritchie Mathieson yeah my first thought was Red Jacks, or possibly the Try again on Nelson Creek
Robin Spillane we lived in redjacks road and had a claim for a gold mine which belonged to Ted Silk.
Paul Agnes Smith Landscape look at all familiar?
John Kerr Doesn't look like a lot of forest to clear fell? Great for planting pines radiata on.
Ally Caddie Good to see same photo today to see if you can notice the so called damage
Leslie McKendry Any idea of when this was taken?Les Neilson The Ngahere dredge was on goat terrace opposite Blackball was still going when i was a boy until about 1952
Johnny Kwin Going by the terraces and faces, I would say it looks more like the Kaniere Dredge tailings at Kumara.Graeme Peters Won't be like than now
Bruce Lightfoot Graeme Peters defiantly not in the current dredges tailings.they are a total credit to the operators.right down to the river protection work
Barbara Macilquham Show us a before and after so forest and bird don't grab a hold of the pic and run with it!!
Brian Gillooly Where did you get that photo please as I am chasing any similar shots for the Barrytown Dredge. Love these shots and the history that goes with them.
Gregor B Campbell Brian Gillooly 1964 volume on nz forestry
Brian Gillooly Thanks do you have a flight reference
Dennis Gibbs When reworked with modern methods and land restoration requirements, tailings like this become almost better farmland than what it was originally. Go the modern miners!
James Codyre Yes that is Redjacks with the Kangaroo heading away at the top.Graeme McLaughlin farms the left bank and his relations the Mathews the right.Birchfields planted the front area with pines and much of the rest Fosters have turned into pasture.
.
James Codyre Thats Wyndham Creek and Gully cutting the Pakihi halfway up the left.
James Codyre Several dredges worked the Redjack Creek and only finished in the 1950's.Father Bill Middleton cut it into scrap and sold it for church funds.
Lois Iacoppi We got some big blackberries from the tailings bottom of blackball hill
James Codyre The McLaughlin Family(My Mum was one) have owned land up Redjack's since about 1870.My inlaws (Gibsons) had a mill there for many years.
James Codyre I walked those tailings 5 days a week down to the main road to catch the school bus to Marist.
Cole Jones I can picture it now. It's looking up Red Jacks. The terrace to the left is our dairy farm now.
Arthur Dehn When as a boy on my way from Whataroa to Hokltlka , and passing Kaneri dredge I asked my Dad where has all the soil gone
Noeline McCaughan There are still people around who say that no harm was done and that dredging should still go on.
John Kerr Birchfields dredge turned unusable swamp into beautiful self drained, rolling farm land. Certainly a whole lot better than its original state. The old dredges didn't have to worry about regulations so much.
Cole Jones Noeline McCaughan have you seen what these tailings in this picture look like now? I could take a photo for you as we live on the neighbouring property. They can cut silage on it nowadays and there's some pine trees
Noeline McCaughan Cole Jones Wow! Pine trees, I have always wondered why so few Native trees have been planted.
Terry Harding Personally I'd love to see another photo; taken at the same elevation in exactly the same spot, to indicate what this area now looks like. A point that should be made is that back then there was very little thought of remediation of dredged ground. Tod…See More
Cole Jones Terry Harding I'll take a photo today. It'll.be from a different angle looking down Red Jack's though.
Noeline McCaughan Cole Jones I'll look forward to seeing it.
Steven Shrives Look at the shit government got away with
Terry Harding Along the same lines, I saw a photo recently posted on behalf of Forrest & Bird that showed a swathe of recently cleared ground for farming. Once again I'd like to see a photo taken from the same spot now showing what it looks like. I don't remember if…See More
James Codyre Our family picked many kilo's of blackberries from these tailings.Some was sold at Fensom's at Stillwater for the manufacture if icecream etc. Great pocket money.
Robert Miedema The area around Ngahere is looking good now.
Jeff Moore And the Grey river dredge turned river bed in too good farmland
Cole Jones This is what it looks like now, taken from the terrace beside Wyndham gully on our farm looking down at the tailings on Red Jacks.
Glenn Johnston What a transformation!
John Kerr Perfect!
Mike Stevens Had a look at the gold claim at waikawa ?. Recently, what a splendid job of land restoration. It was buzz marches job. So impressive.
John Kerr Fantastic returns gold wise from that claim which helps lol.
Elinor Tibbles Bullshit. The land Birchfields dredged along the Grey river at Ngahere in Blackball Bridge area north and south is now in beautiful grazing pasture.
Terry Harding That photo is from 1964 when nobody cared too much about such a sight. As you say, the last venture by Birchfields there resulted in a far, far better outcome.
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West Coast New Zealand History (26th Nov 2020). The devastation caused by Gold Dredging near Ngahere. ca.1964. - 2 PHOTOS -. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 22nd Apr 2026 09:52, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/27464