Māhoe to Makuri

December 26 – 29, 2009

A three day tramp

From the old Chesswas homestead at Māhoe to the Chesswas homestead at Makuri
Commemorating 125 years since John Chesswas & Emily Bignell arrived in New Zealand
History
Immigration

John Chesswas & Emily Bignell arrived in New Zealand at Port Chalmers, Otago, on
Christmas Eve, 1884. A qualified carpenter, John joined the Bignell building firm working on
the Oamaru Railway Station. He and Emily Bignell married at St Lukes, Oamaru, in 1887.
The following year they moved with the firm to Greymouth to build bridges, and in 1893 they
moved again with the firm to Wanganui, where they built the Wanganui Hospital.

Mahoe

In 1898 John Chesswas arrived in the Waitotara River Valley

with his three eldest boys, Edgar (10), Walter (8) & Arthur
(6), having purchased 500 acres at Māhoe. They pitched a
tent while John built a small shanty. Not without incident –
Arthur accidentally burnt the tent down after playing with
matches. John’s wife Emily and the other children – Frank,
Bert and Harry (Nell was born in 1900) – joined them A hut belonging to Arthur Chesswas
three months after when they finished the corrugated c1920
iron & curtain-partitioned hut. This “temporary
accommodation” was inevitably to serve them for 10 years
before a new, eight-roomed home was completed in 1909,
the house that stands at Māhoe today.

Chesswas Mill

John was responsible for a lot of the building in the district.

In 1899 he purchased a mill and erected it on his property at
Blackstone kerosene engine
Māhoe. Chesswas Mil

When a suspension bridge over the river to Makakaho

valley was completed in 1901, the Chesswas mill was
moved to the Makakaho Falls on David Peat’s land.
Here the water supply was much more reliable for
driving the big pelton wheel, and the Chesswas mill
quickly became the most prolific in the district.

Makakaho Falls
Pelton wheel driving Chesswas Mill visible

The Chesswas mill was a hive of activity, and the Chesswas

boys each developed their own specialist roles. Frank and
Arthur did the breaking down, while Walter was the head
benchman at the circular saw. During the week the boys lived at
the mill which included kitchen and bedroom facilities.

Vertical breaking- down saw,

Chesswas Mill
History continued
The Second Generation

When the Chesswas boys went to the Great War of 1914 – 1918, Walter stayed behind
having lost his trigger finger in a milling accident. John Chesswas died of a heart attack on
Boxing Day 1916, aged 55. Walter, aged 26,
took over Māhoe.

After the war Edgar moved into town, while

Frank and Arthur acquired their own farms in
the Upper Waitotara Valley. Bert remained in
England with the armed forces and his new
wife Eva, and Harry went diamond mining in
South Africa. Nell married David Peat’s son
Jack, and they farmed on the Peat’s property
in Makakaho.
Walter, Arthur, Bert, Frank, Harry, Ed
John, Emily, Nell

The Third Generation

When Walter’s health deteriorated following a stroke, around 1936, he and his wife Mona
moved with their children to Westmere, and employed managers to work on Māhoe. Their
eldest son Walter, known as Sandy, left school and took on the job at just 15 years of age in
1938. Sandy added a number of farms in the valley to his
collection, and at Māhoe raised a growing family with his wife
Barbara. In 1957 Sandy and Barbara Chesswas purchased a
farm in Okoia and moved there with John (11), Barry (9), Joy (4)
and Stan (1). After nearly 60 years in the family, Māhoe was
sold.

The Makuri
Sandy & Barbara Chesswas
& family
Sandy and Barbara Chesswas and their family stayed at Okoia
for 6 years, before discovering 2000 acres for sale in Tututawa, on the other side of the
Matemateaonga ranges. They sold up and took on this massive farm, and over the next two
decades set to work clearing scrub and tiling swamps. When Sandy and Barbara retired in
1987, the farm was split between their sons John and Barry; Barry taking on Tututawa and
John taking on what became known as “The Makuri”. While the Tututawa block has been
sold, The Makuri remains in family hands.

The Makuri, 2000, with the Matemateaonga Ranges in the distance (far right)
Mahoe to Makuri
A Three Day Tramp: December 26 – 29, 2009

Mahoe
Day 0
December 26

125 years on from the arrival of John & Emily in New Zealand, 111 years since the
arrival of the Chesswas family at Māhoe, and 93 years to the day since John’s passing
on Boxing Day 1916, we will gather at Māhoe.

At 11am we will meet at the Ngamatapouri Hall we will then have the opportunity to walk
or ride on a tour of Māhoe to take in the sights of the land that John and his family
developed from dense native bush over a century ago.

We will have lunch at the Ngamatapouri Hall, then visit the Peat farm in Makakaho and
the site of the old Chesswas Mill at Makakaho Falls. We will also visit a number of farms
and sites associated with the Chesswas family over the years, before returning to
Ngamatapouri Hall for dinner and to overnight.

Taumatatahi
Day 1
December 27

December 27 marks the first day of our three-day tramp from Māhoe to Makuri. In the
morning we will walk along Taumatatahi Road to Ngamatapouri. There we will visit St
Hilda in the Woods, a church built in 1904 from timber milled at the Chesswas mill, with
interior fittings crafted by Chesswas hands. Opposite the church is a site which was
once the farm of Frank & Lily Chesswas, and the site where their house once stood and
where the local store also stood before Frank burnt it down.

We will then continue along Taumatatahi Road to Taumatatahi where we will stop at the
Larsen farm and their Remote Adventures tourism venture. From there we will proceed
along the Waitara River valley floor through native bush to Kāpara, one of the first Upper
Waitotara farms, original settled by John’s peer and milliner William Van Asch.

The last leg of day 1 will take us again through pristine native forest to the junction of
Waitotara River and Oamaru Stream, and the junction of the Moeroa and Waitotara
tracks. Just on from this junction is Trains Hut where we will stay the first night.
Moeawatea
Day 2
December 28

From Trains hut we climb out of the Waitotara River valley to the Moeawatea ridge.
From the top of this ridge we will take in views of Mt Egmont and of South Taranaki, with
the Moeawatea valley in the foreground where renowned writer Rewi Alley lived in the
1920s before venturing to China.

We will then descend into the Moeawatea valley where we reach the end of Rawhitiroa
Road in the form of a farm track, and ascend the other side of the valley along the track
to Moeroa, a settlement at the end of the public road.

From Moeroa we will follow Rawhitiroa Road to Omoana at a saddle on the Kaharoa
Range, where we will overnight.

Waitere
Day 3
December 29

On Day 3 we will tramp along the old Waitere Road, which once gave access to a
number of settlements along the top of the Kaharoa Range, and which follows the route
of an old Māori trail, the Kaharoa Track.

Now a dusty farm track, we will climb this route to the Waitere trig, at the intersection of
the Kaharoa and Matemateaonga ranges. Here we will stop for lunch and take in the
majestic views of Mt Egmont and the Stratford countryside.

From this point we will descend along the Kaharoa/Matemateaonga ridge to Tututawa,
and then follow Mangaotuku Road to The Makuri. Along this route we will note the
various farms and sites of significance to the family, including the Tututawa School and
Hall, the old farm and homestead of Sandy and Barbara Chesswas, and other buildings
which once housed Chesswas families.