focus on history

Latitude magazine, 330 words, Autumn 2010 words and images: kim newth Pride of place at Irene and Bill Ward's suburban Rangiora home is a rural scene of vintage tractors, lovingly captured in cross-stitch. It took Irene three years to complete this treasured gift for her husband who has an impressive collection of vintage tractors and ploughs stashed away in the back yard. Bill, who is the president of the North Canterbury Ploughing Match Association, loves his wife's work and thought a similar piece would make a fabulous fundraising raffle prize for the New Zealand Ploughing Association at NZ Plough 2010. Thankfully, he didn't have to part with his own: a former neighbour - Grace Thomas, of Richmond - had earlier borrowed the Stoney Creek pattern (entitled Break Time) from Irene to make the very same scene. Grace agreed to part with her cross-stitch artwork in order to support the raffle project
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Heritage Matters, Summer 2009/10, 1200 words Christmas in the Edwardian era, prior to World War 1, must have been very different to today. In this fast-moving age, we perhaps look back with some envy to a time when people naturally gathered by the piano to sing Christmas carols, always lit the Christmas pudding and were satisfied with simple gifts wrapped in brown paper secured with string. Rangiora based freelance journalist Kim Newth takes us back to 1901
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essence magazine , June 2009. Words: Kim Newth Private and peaceful, a picturesque old brick home and its rambling garden in central Rangiora provides a glimpse back to the early years of the town. Turvey House – at 208 King Street – was designed and built in 1875 by Samuel Ayers, a stonemason and bricklayer, and this is where he settled with his new bride Sarah Ann. This is the same Samuel Ayers who, in 1908, subdivided a block of land north of High Street from King Street through to Ayers Street, including Seddon Street. Some of the other brick houses he and his son Cecil built at that time remain. Turvey House recalls the English village the Ayers family emigrated from, in order to start a new life in New Zealand
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essence magazine, August 2009, 1279 words. Kim Newth takes a step back in time to recall a murder case that rocked Amberley and its surrounding district in the year 1897. Murders like this still happen now, but it’s interesting to reflect on how much times have changed in other respects. Back then, those found guilty of murder in Canterbury were hung at the former Lyttelton Gaol, (demolished in the 1920s). This is the story of ‘The Amberley Murder’ and the man who was hung for the crime in July 1897
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