The original memorial crosses for James and David Russell, Old Ghost Road.ca.late 1930`s.

About this image

DescriptionHere is a photo of what was possibly the original memorial crosses, or close to, taken by my Great Great uncle Leonard Diamond in the late 1930s

At the time of the July 1929 Murchison earthquake a Mr Russell and his son of Canterbury,were returning up the river when they were caught in a landslide,past Welcome Bay and were covered by tons of hillside debris.Their horses were traced to this side of the slip,but no evidence of them emerging on the other side ,and their bodies were never found.Two crosses mark the spot where they were caught.

Pete Lusk
The road/track where the crosses are situated will have had a number of names over the 160 yrs of its life.
For a start, it was a track to the mines 10 km or so up the gorge.
Then it was connected to the settlers road from Karamea that came down Rough and Tumble Ck and crossed Mokihinui with the iron bridge. The remains of this bridge still lie in the river.
Then, somewhere along the line, the track up to the gorge mines was widened to a narrow gauge road so quartz crushing equipment could be carried up. Bill Bennet suggested a three wheeled cart may have been used to allow for the tight corners. Ie, two wheels on front axle and a trailing wheel behind.
If we read the histories, we can probably discover the names that were used in each period.
When I first went there in mid 1970s, the gorge track was called the Mokihinui Track or simply ‘up the gorge’.
By this time it had no bridges over the side creeks, so was very weather dependant. Then Tylers (?) put a bridge over Johnny Cake Ck, but it didn’t last long.
Finally the Ghost Rd people developed their cycleway/tramping track and bridged all the side creeks, plus the slips in the Suicide Section.PhotographerLeonard DiamondDate of Photolate 1930`sMap^[1]ContributorAndrew Barclay

Shown in this image

Location (city or town)LyellPersonDavid RussellDavid RussellEventThe original memorial crosses for James and David Russell, Old Ghost Road.ca.late 1930`s.

From Facebook

Date Created30th September 2024CommentsPete Lusk
These crosses are on the river side of the road.
For at least the last 25 years, the crosses have been on the other side. That is, the hill side.
I’m pretty sure the Defence Dept maintains the crosses these days.

Pete Lusk
The road/track where the crosses are situated will have had a number of names over the 160 yrs of its life.
For a start, it was a track to the mines 10 km or so up the gorge.
Then it was connected to the settlers road from Karamea that came down Rough and Tumble Ck and crossed Mokihinui with the iron bridge. The remains of this bridge still lie in the river.
Then, somewhere along the line, the track up to the gorge mines was widened to a narrow gauge road so quartz crushing equipment could be carried up. Bill Bennet suggested a three wheeled cart may have been used to allow for the tight corners. Ie, two wheels on front axle and a trailing wheel behind.
If we read the histories, we can probably discover the names that were used in each period.
When I first went there in mid 1970s, the gorge track was called the Mokihinui Track or simply ‘up the gorge’.
By this time it had no bridges over the side creeks, so was very weather dependant. Then Tylers (?) put a bridge over Johnny Cake Ck, but it didn’t last long.
Finally the Ghost Rd people developed their cycleway/tramping track and bridged all the side creeks, plus the slips in the Suicide Section.

OCR Text Transcription Edit Edit +-Close

Editing is temporarily disabled

Cancel Edit

Start typing here to find a location	Latitude	Longitude	Zoom	Actions

loading google map....

Save Cancel

Menu

The original memorial crosses for James and David Russell, Old Ghost Road.ca.late 1930`s.

Editing is temporarily disabled