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The Blockhouse Bay Improvement Association Club

Blockhouse Bay had very few services or amenities in theearly to mid 1920’s. For example, there was a large area of land known as Block 76 that had no roads or postal service. Local people thought that services might develop more rapidly if the area became part of Auckland City, and so Philip Turner, an Avondale Borough Councillor, was approached to try to bring this about.

However, in spite of his campaigning, very little district development took place under the City Council. The residents were becoming increasingly concerned, particularly about the rapid erosion that was occurring on the Blockhouse bay beach foreshore. So, on 23 April 1930 Philip Turner convened the first meeting of the Blockhouse Bay Improvement Association Club (the Association). Its first objectives were to protect the foreshore and improve the beach reserve.

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The Blockhouse Bay sea wall

Before the early 1930s Blockhouse Bay, being typical of the Manukau Harbour, was a muddy tidal exit for two streams. On 23 April 1930 Mr. P. Turner convened the first meeting of the Blockhouse Bay Improvement Association, with a committee of eleven interested local residents. Its first aims were to protect the foreshore and improve the reserves. The Auckland City Council was approached about building a seawall to protect the reserve area from erosion from the sea which was taking place, and improve the reserve. The Association was prepared to contribute £200.00 ($400.00) — at the time a large amount of money — towards the cost of the project.

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The Blockhouse Bay Yacht and Motorboat Club

The Bill Glen Collection

The Blockhouse Bay Yacht and Motorboat Club was founded on February 2nd 1944, lasting nearly 50 years before succumbing to mounting financial pressure in 1993.

Many members were taken in by the French Bay Yacht Club in neighbouring Titirangi. The closure of the BHB club prompted longtime member Bill Glen to record and preserve the history of the club. Thus, the ‘Bill Glen Collection’ was born.

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The Dunny at Armanasco House

Photo of the dunny at Armanasco House When Stephano built in 1890, no pioneer house was complete without its little outhouse out the back. At that time they would have had a long drop, but later the night cart man called around the Bay in the night hours to empty the can.

Keith has built a kauri board and battern thunderbox/dunny/privy/long drop, call it what you will, complete with the standard interior furnishings of kerosene lamp hanging on a nail, a coat hook, the bottle of Jeyes Fluid and, of course, the Weekly News neatly cut into squares and hanging on the wall. There is a carefully smoothed bench seat with a comfortable hole in the middle, with a wooden lid strategically placed over a can. This outhouse has been placed in the back yard of Armanasco House.

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The First Shop

The very first shop in the district opened, not in the “Mainstreet”, but at the foot of Endeavour Street in 1912. In those days the street was completely undeveloped and was just a track winding down through the scrub to the beach. The creek at the bottom, where the pumping station used to stand, was then crossed by a log in place of a bridge. The log was later replaced with a black plank bridge.

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The Green Bay Mission Hall

[Note, first published in the society newsletter December 2017]

Green Bay Interdenominational Mission

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO

It does not occur very often that we can celebrate a centenary here in the Bay. Green Bay Mission building in 2018

This year on 1st December 2017 marks the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Green Bay Interdenominational Mission one hundred years ago, with the church being officially opened at the end of 1918.

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The Kosy Theatre — a night out at the pictures

The Blockhouse Bay Picture Theatre was built in 1925 on the site of the present Foodtown carpark. Ola Guttermorson acted as projectionist for the silent movies, while sisters Annie collected tickets at the door and Helga belted out the accompanying music on the theatre’s piano. The films were displayed on the white painted back wall of the theatre, and might be the latest epic or Charlie Chaplin’s latest farce.

Ola was not a very good projectionist and there were many awkward stops and starts. Patrons, especially the younger ones, became used to the unscheduled breaks and the local lads used to take out their frustration by throwing lolly papers at the poor pianist.

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