Western News: January 30, 2018

WESTERN NEWS Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Tuesday January 30 2018 3
News
Chapel surprise for St Margaret’s
• By Julia Evans
AFTER 20 years without, St
Margaret’s College has a new
chapel.
And the building’s
connection to the school is
almost 90-years-old.
Waiau’s Satterthwaite family
moved a chapel from their farm
to the Merivale college grounds
in the early hours of Wednesday
morning, as a gift to departing
executive principal Gillian
Simpson.
“My mother-in-law, Diana
Satterthwaite, went to St
Margaret’s and she’s 90 now
. . . there’s a lot of history,”
chapel owner Gina
Satterthwaite (nee Gough) said.
Before the chapel was moved
to Waiau, it was the local
church in Rotherham, where
Diana Satterthwaite grew up,
she said.
Mrs Satterthwaite said there
had been a girl from her family,
or her husband’s family, at St
Margaret’s every decade since
her mother-in-law began.
“Literally, people in the
family from five-years-old to
90-years-old have been a part
of the school,” she said. That
included herself, her daughters,
her mother and aunts.
The Waiau chapel was also
where she and her husband
were married.
“But the main reason is that
it’s just nice to know that it’s
going to be enjoyed
. . . it’s so important to me
that St Margaret’s gave me the
opportunity to help like this,”
she said.
The college has been without
a chapel for more than 20 years.
One of Mrs Simpson’s goals was
to get a chapel back on school
grounds before she left at the
end of term two.
“I have been looking for a
small chapel for 10 years and
since the major rebuild we had
put the project on the backburner,”
she said.
But the school organised the
chapel to be moved without
Mrs Simpson’s knowledge; she
didn’t know until it arrived.
“This was a complete surprise
RELOCATION:
The chapel
spent more
than an hour
on the back
of two trucks
driving from
Waiau to St
Margaret’s
College on
Papanui Rd. ​
and presented to me as a fait
accompli,” Mrs Simpson said.
The building had to be split
in half and loaded onto two
separate trucks before being
reassembled on site.
She said it was an “immense
honour” to see her dream
become a reality right at the end
of her tenure.
It will be renamed Te Whare
Hauora (The House of Wellbeing).
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PICTON RESERVE
A new swing set and slide
will be installed in Picton
Reserve, Riccarton, next
week. The playground
equipment was approved by the
Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton
Community Board last year
after a deputation by the
Central Riccarton Residents
Association. City Care is due to
complete the work by February
28.
CEMETERY EXPANSION
The Fendalton-Waimairi-
Harewood Community Board
has had a response to its
request that the expansion of
Avonhead Park Cemetery be
investigated. City council staff
carried out the investigation,
but due to a number of factors,
including the land being
above unconfined aquifers,
the expansion would not be
feasible.
GARDENS JUDGED
Judging has started on the
Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood
garden awards. The judges
take into account effort,
overall tidiness and the impact
of the garden on the street.
Certificates and trophies to
the winning gardens will
be presented at an award
ceremony in March.
FREE
Summer Theatre
THE LITTLE PRINCE
1–18 February, 7pm Weds–Sun;
1.30pm Sat, Sun and Waitangi Day
Murray Aynsley Lawn, Botanic Gardens
Two productions bring life to the classic French tale of The Little Prince in this
exciting, quirky and magical outdoor theatre show for all ages. Masks,
puppets, and large scale tricks will transform the Gardens into the
intergalactic journey of wildness and whimsy.
ccc.govt.nz/summertimes