Waimea Weekly
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Locally Owned and Operated
24 Champion Road, Richmond wrfs.co.nz
Wednesday 12 June 2024
Horsing around Rough Island
Page 6
PAGES 14-15
Peter’s prized poultry
Page 4
Ash buckets take the heat GORDON PREECE With a fire at a Nelson house last week linked to disposal of “several days old” ash, local firefighters are dishing out the goods to keep
homes safe this winter. Household wood burners are getting more attention to trounce the cold, however, every year Nelson Tasman crews discover house fires were ignited by incorrectly
disposed ash, and the trend heats up in the winter months. The most recent case was the Nelson South garage fire on Friday, 7 June, which FENZ Top of the South community risk manag-
er, Steve Trigg, says started after “several days old”, undampened ash was disposed in a garden at the Tukuka St property. To reduce the risk, Resene has gifted 1000 metal, non-flamma-
ble, and sealable ash buckets to Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough brigades in April, to distribute to their local communities.
SEE PAGE 2
Wakefield library spruced up ANNE HARDIE Roger Batt remembers being separated from his classmate for laughing too much back in the 1950s when Wakefield’s old public library also housed a classroom for the local school. The building has had a lot of uses over the years and now it has undergone a major renovation to set it up for generations to come. It looks a little different to the days Roger was a pupil in one little room and he remembers the unpainted rimu boards on the walls and the Plunket rooms at the front. He even remembers the Plunket nurse arriving in the morning to light the fire in the front room. Best of all, he remembers laughing and can point to the spot where he had to sit, separated from his friend. “I was separated from my mate because we kept making each other laugh!” The weatherboard building on Edward St was built in 1912 to replace the original Waimea South Mechanics Institute and Circulating Library on Pitfure Rd after a land swap to build the library closer to the growing village.
SEE PAGE 3
LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED
Roger Batt (front) was a school pupil in the old library back in the 1950s, while behind, Charlotte Thynne (left) and her son Alfie, 3, use the toy library today, Anna Naygrow-Riedel is secretary and Yo Tye knows its history. Photo: Anne Hardie.
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