December 2009 (pdf) - Port Nelson

Port Nelson Limited report. December 2009. Page 12
looking back
Rolling Stones on the Boulder Bank
From its place in Maori myth to the ongoing debate about how the bank was formed, local
writer Karen Warren has captured the many facets of the Boulder Bank in a new book with
the catchy title Rolling Stones - Nelson's Boulder Bank, Its Place in our History and Hearts.
Photo:
Nelson Provincial Museum,
Copy Collection, C182.
Karen reveals that our Boulder Bank is the largest of any such
naturally occurring landform in the world; it is longer than England’s
Chesil Beach and the Amanohashidate that spans Miyazu Bay in our
Japanese sister city.
Karen says the book, her first, grew out of her own fascination with
the Boulder Bank.
“For those of us who live in Nelson it is easy to take its embrace for
granted, content in the sheltering protection it gives as we enjoy
the marine playground of Nelson Haven,” she says. “In this book
I have set out to provide a broad picture of the physical nature
and characteristics of the Boulder Bank, the impact of Maori and
European settlers, and how the Boulder Bank itself has influenced
our history.”
Boulder Bank Bill
The story of Boulder Bank Bill is one of many tales documented in
Rolling Stones. Bill Clark was a retired Scottish seaman who became
known as Boulder Bank Bill. Karen quotes from a feature on Boulder
Bank Bill printed in the Nelson Evening Mail in 1994, when he was 83
years old and had lived on the Bank for 37 or 38 years. He bought his
bach for £35, but had never intended to stay on the Boulder Bank:
“It was to be a refuge … But as I got older I got lazier and everything
got easier. I would not go back to town now… When I first arrived
this place was a terrible shack. An open fire with water running down
walls made from all sorts of rubbish. I’ve got a world of my own here
The stories of the people who lived on the
Boulder Bank include the keepers of the
lighthouse, documented in Karen Warren’s new
book, Rolling Stones.
– sometimes too much so. But it’s a home. In a house all you want is
comfort, convenience, warmth, food, and a good bed.
“Some people are afraid of high seas covering us, but it doesn’t worry
me. The Bank goes down a long, long way. In any case, it’s warmer
here in winter with no frosts. That’s something I notice when I go over
to Nelson. It’s really cold sometimes. The sea makes things warmer.”
It was not a luxurious life by any means. There was no electricity and
the freshwater supply was from water off the roof. The Mail noted:
“His hardboard floors are bare, his bed built of strips of wood nailed
together and fixed to the wall in the corner of the bedroom.”
Bill recalled how, when he was younger, overseas ships used to throw
their dunnage overboard. This provided him with a ready supply of
wood for his fireplace but the practice later died out. He typically
had large stacks of chopped driftwood piled outside his home.
For many years he regularly rowed ashore to buy his supplies and
socialise. He kept an old bike at the port to use as transport and
he would cycle around to collect his groceries, source new library
books, visit the RSA and carry out any other errands. He later got an
outboard motor for his dinghy to make life a little easier.
Rolling Stones – Nelson’s Boulder Bank has full colour illustrations
throughout its 320 pages. There are many historic photos, and
contemporary shots by Karen’s husband, John Warren. The book is
published by Nikau Press and is available at Nelson bookstores for
$75. For more info contact the publisher nikau@ts.co.nz.