love the gorge.g/father worked on the railway lines opposite and always said apparently "if they start mucking around with that road they ll regret it". looks like he was right
This video I took last year through the Manawatu Gorge will now be historic footage Pilot job from Ashhurst - Hastings coolstore with a load of panels https://1drv.ms/v/s!AiHvlRjiV6UqyRzEZ0J4vbyFtVQp
upnorth,
Oct 13, 9:47pm
From the centre rear seat of an SB3 Beddy is more dramatic, driven at a steady speed in 3rd gear the walls and guard rails alternate as the driver does an aerobic workout with the armstrong steering.
thejazzpianoma,
Oct 13, 10:22pm
I haven't read the article yet (looking forward to it). However here is an anecdote for you.
My Grandfather was a mail delivery driver through the Manawatu Gorge circa WW2. He did delivery's in a fabric body Austin 7. The reason for this was every morning he would start at one end and the cream can truck would start at the other. At some point they would meet in the middle at which point Grandad (Poppa) would drive the Austin in to the ditch. The cream truck would then squeeze past and the two drivers would lift the Austin 7 back on to the road. I am not sure if this was done at a particular point in the Gorge or if there were several suitable places.
This is also how my Grandparents met, with my Grandmother as a young lady needing a ride in to town daily for a course she was doing.
Later they had a large family and with no people movers the older brothers would drive one of two Morris 8's that would transport the whole family. Often such large trips were to their batch at foxton beach (which Poppa built) where my Father and his brother would play on the Hydrobad and the older brothers raced Morris 8's at local meetings.
nala2,
Oct 14, 9:34am
About 2 years ago when the gorge had a big slip somebody on TM said their father had worked on the road for 30 years and told them to please not use the road ever and please take an alternative as it was too dangerous. He said the use of explosives to form the road had put deep cracks into the rock which filled with rain. Someone else came and said they also had a relative who worked on the road and said a similar thing.
woody1946,
Dec 24, 4:19pm
I was born in Ashhurst 71 years ago and had a friend whose father had one of the roadworkers cottages at the gorge entrance where the gorge walk carpark is now. As kids we were warned to never walk or bike in the gorge, however I have travelled through there hundreds of times by vehicle without incident, but seen heaps of rocks on the road
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.