Menu
Bush tramway bridge, crossing the Hutt River at Te Marua.
History
HistoryDavid Castle provided the following notes, through the Recollections feature, on 23rd July 2017.
This is probably the light rail bridge over the Hutt River built by May Morn Estates (NZ) Ltd. The tramway/light railway ran from a large mill at the end of what is now MacLaren St in Mangaroa. May Morn Estates (NZ) Ltd was a London company of gullible investors (see comments below). The intention was to mill the Akatarawa Forest, convert the land to pastoral use and build a township. It was even suggested that the light railway could connect to the North Island Main Trunk Railway at Otaki.
The bridge was destroyed by floods in 1939.
The company prospectus makes interesting reading - I doubt that any of the claimed benefits were achieved. The investors probably lost all of their money (approx $15M in 2017 money).
The mill operated for only about a year. News of the outbreak of war was received at the mill on 1st August 1914. On the 4th of August censorship meant that operating funds could not be sent from London by coded cable and so all hands were dismissed. On the 5th of August a cable was sent to London stating that the mill had closed down.
The war may have been a blessing in disguise. The costs of transporting logs to the mill were too high and the mill could not be supplied with sufficient logs to keep it in full operation.
From the 1920s there was regular public concern at the possible denuding of the forest and the silting of the Hutt River. There were calls for the May Morn Estate (as the land was called) to be brought into public ownership. As late as 1950 Arthur Seed (who had been General Manager of the mill) was still trying to sell the land at an acceptable price. Seed's valuation was based on logging but public officials believed that the land was only suitable for preservation purposes.
In 1940 the Minister of Scenery Protection and Commissioner of State Forests made scathing comments about a certain Tudor Atkinson, a lawyer who had been involved in setting up the May Morn scheme. The Minister used the expression "scoundrelly, thieving concerns" and said that the government would not help out people who "dig their own graves".
A study of May Morn Estates (NZ) Ltd teaches us two things: (a) We came very close to losing the Akatarawa Forest and (b) some investors are gullible.
There is one photo of this bridge by May Poulson, a local resident, in the Recollect archives; but her other two are of a different bridge, with at least six piers below the main truss, and no allowance for flooding.
This is probably the light rail bridge over the Hutt River built by May Morn Estates (NZ) Ltd. The tramway/light railway ran from a large mill at the end of what is now MacLaren St in Mangaroa. May Morn Estates (NZ) Ltd was a London company of gullible investors (see comments below). The intention was to mill the Akatarawa Forest, convert the land to pastoral use and build a township. It was even suggested that the light railway could connect to the North Island Main Trunk Railway at Otaki.
The bridge was destroyed by floods in 1939.
The company prospectus makes interesting reading - I doubt that any of the claimed benefits were achieved. The investors probably lost all of their money (approx $15M in 2017 money).
The mill operated for only about a year. News of the outbreak of war was received at the mill on 1st August 1914. On the 4th of August censorship meant that operating funds could not be sent from London by coded cable and so all hands were dismissed. On the 5th of August a cable was sent to London stating that the mill had closed down.
The war may have been a blessing in disguise. The costs of transporting logs to the mill were too high and the mill could not be supplied with sufficient logs to keep it in full operation.
From the 1920s there was regular public concern at the possible denuding of the forest and the silting of the Hutt River. There were calls for the May Morn Estate (as the land was called) to be brought into public ownership. As late as 1950 Arthur Seed (who had been General Manager of the mill) was still trying to sell the land at an acceptable price. Seed's valuation was based on logging but public officials believed that the land was only suitable for preservation purposes.
In 1940 the Minister of Scenery Protection and Commissioner of State Forests made scathing comments about a certain Tudor Atkinson, a lawyer who had been involved in setting up the May Morn scheme. The Minister used the expression "scoundrelly, thieving concerns" and said that the government would not help out people who "dig their own graves".
A study of May Morn Estates (NZ) Ltd teaches us two things: (a) We came very close to losing the Akatarawa Forest and (b) some investors are gullible.
There is one photo of this bridge by May Poulson, a local resident, in the Recollect archives; but her other two are of a different bridge, with at least six piers below the main truss, and no allowance for flooding.
Photos
Location
Coordinates[1] Location
loading google map....
Bush tramway bridge, crossing the Hutt River at Te Marua.. Upper Hutt Libraries, accessed 19/04/2026, https://uhcl.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/28643