1946: Kararoa Dairy

November 8, 2021

By AHNZ

Believe it or not this West Coast beach was once a cow paddock. Where once cows chewed grass there is now sand and some old tracks (bulldozer?) rusting away being constantly waved at by the Tasman.

I discovered the concrete milking shed at Karoroa Creek along State Highway 6. It was pretty well equipped with over-head winch and a form work concrete tub. Must have been very easy to get the cream cans to the roadside for collection for this old farmer. Or, as in stories I’ve heard from those old days, easy for the farmer’s kids who would have had that job.

According to West Coast History New Zealand the dairy was caste in concrete by farmer James Piner in 1946.

“The cowshed was built by my grandfather James Piner in 1946. There used to be paddocks on the sea side. All washed away now. Had lots of fun plying in the hay in there as a child.” – Sheryl Iraia

“It was built around 1946 by grand dad Piner held 4 cows 2milking 2 waiting a door opened to let the cow out the back of the shed then down the road back to the paddock not a lot of traffic them days” – Graham Piner

There’s much evidence in the cliff face of loose material that had slipped from the hills above. Thousands of years of such slips would have accumulated to reclaim the land over the top of the sandy bed. Manuka and scrub must have bound it together for many human generations until someone like Piner came along thinking to make the land productive. Clearing the land of the deep rooted native bush and replacing it with pasture was probably what turned the tables back in favor of the Tasman Sea in its age old battle with the land. Within a lifetime the soil was removed again and the beach was back. If old Piner had retained some bush at the edge perhaps his field would still be there today? This is all according to my geological opinions anyway.

According to the old newspapers, Piner was once convicted for driving without having a licence to do so. Good for him. He was probably driving a long time before The State decided he would be required to pay them for a bit of paper saying he could do it. I’ve read in other books that it was a rare thing for West Cost Traffic Officers to give out tickets for drivers or cars because it was a tight-knit community and plenty of people and their cars were not up to code as defined by city folk.

Piner also turned up in a court case where he shot shot someone’s cat in defense of his own pet magpie. Before he was a farmer he was a miner.

The derelict Kararoa dairy shed is a good landmark and an easy one to stop and having a respectful poke around in. Until, that is, it finally falls onto the beach. The way the erosion is going it will probably be condemned soon as some Victimhood Culture busy-body gets to working themselves up in a fright that the shed will topple over taking a Karen and her kids with it.

Also a good reminder of the early-mid C20th New Zealand family mixed farm. Our milk came from lots of little contributions from many families back then before the days of Big Milk mass production.

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Image ref. AHNZ Archive (2021)

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