Pegasus Post: October 08, 2020
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
6 Thursday <strong>October</strong> 8 <strong>2020</strong><br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
News<br />
Up<br />
to<br />
16¢ off<br />
all supermarket discount dockets<br />
INStANt 6¢ off<br />
Super Gold Card Discount<br />
LpG RefILL 9kG foR $28<br />
tRAILeR HIRe<br />
6 hours $30 12 hours $50<br />
Terms and conditions apply on all promotions<br />
The New Brighton<br />
Museum has a rich<br />
history spanning for<br />
than 100 years. Peggy<br />
Butterfield writes<br />
monthly about the<br />
historical display at<br />
the heritage museum<br />
PEGASUS POST<br />
Remembering New Brighton’s trams<br />
175 Wainoni Road, Avondale<br />
Phone: 03 388 4373<br />
oN sAle Now!<br />
Now only<br />
$35.80<br />
Plus $5 P&H per copy<br />
AvAilAble from stAr mediA:<br />
Level One, 359 Lincoln Road<br />
Addington, Christchurch<br />
Phone 379 7100<br />
NEW BRIGHTON was always<br />
the best destination for children<br />
and their parents from<br />
the city and other suburbs to<br />
come for a picnic in the summer.<br />
These seaside trips would be<br />
remembered all year. The first<br />
trams were horse-drawn, and<br />
quite open to the air.<br />
On cold days there were curtains<br />
that were pulled down to<br />
keep the cold out, but in a cold<br />
New Brighton easterly, these<br />
would flap and would disturb<br />
the horses who would take off<br />
at their own pace, with the<br />
driver praying that they would<br />
not derail.<br />
On one New Brighton trip,<br />
the car began to roll about,<br />
and a commotion broke out<br />
amongst the horses and the<br />
passengers. There was a hideous<br />
screaming going on. With<br />
the tram safely stopped, an<br />
enormous pig was discovered<br />
trapped under the car, squealing<br />
loudly. It was all hands on<br />
EXCURSIONS: Double-decker trailers full of passengers on the tram line to New<br />
Brighton.<br />
deck, as the passengers helped<br />
to lift the tram off the pig,<br />
which appeared to be unhurt<br />
and ran off.<br />
The horse-drawn trams<br />
were eventually replaced by<br />
the steam trams. Their speed<br />
was faster than the horses, at a<br />
racy 10mph. Passengers would<br />
love to sit on the top deck, but<br />
this presented problems with<br />
the coke dust showering over<br />
them, so good black umbrellas<br />
were used.<br />
Weekend excursions to New<br />
Brighton would have six or<br />
eight double-decker trailers<br />
laden with picnic parties.<br />
There would even be a band<br />
playing on the top deck. Pipis<br />
would be collected and the<br />
drivers would cook them in<br />
the galley of the steam engine.<br />
The return fare was 6 pence.<br />
The trams made their way<br />
through bush and shrubs at<br />
Aranui, and drivers on the<br />
night trips could earn some<br />
pocket money by shooting the<br />
rabbits and selling these to the<br />
people who were short of meat.<br />
This was only done when there<br />
were no passengers left on the<br />
tram.<br />
One great New Brighton<br />
legend was Jimmy Hayes,<br />
who drove the horse-drawn<br />
trams in 1885, and continued<br />
up until he was in his 90s in<br />
the 1950s. When the trams<br />
changed to electric he felt<br />
redundant as a driver, so they<br />
made him the conductor until<br />
he finally retired. He lived in<br />
Seaview Rd all his life.<br />
•The New Brighton<br />
Museum has plenty<br />
of information on the<br />
trams, and it is open<br />
every day from 1pm to<br />
3pm. It is on the corner<br />
of Hardy and Beresford<br />
Sts.
Change language