Trial

I have decided to trial changing this blog to a Wordpress site. This trial will take place for a month and then I will decide whether to stay with Blogger or change to Wordpress permanently. My other Blogger sites will continue to run as normal until further notice.

Here is the new link: http://summersailor.wordpress.com/. Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think about the change on the new site.

Billboards and Opening Addresses

As usual in election year thousands of political billboards have shot up all over the country. It is interesting to see how different parties promote themselves. Some billboards have the party leader's full name, some with the key policies of the party and some with a reason why they should be elected.

Some stand out. The Green party with their Vote for Me signs are particularly good. They make you think about what your vote could affect. The Act Party signs also stand out. Their key Law and Order policy of "Three Strikes and Your In", with the bright background, springs into your vision as you stop at the traffic lights. The Kiwi Party boards also stand apart with the picture of all the party candidates showing a strong sense of unity within the team. This is something that is absent from other billboards. The majority of billboards only show the name and/or face of the leader or the candidate but the Kiwi Party picture shows the whole team. If they work together as a team they could have a chance of making it into Parliament.


Another interesting subject is the opening Party Addresses on TV One last Friday and Saturday nights. I think that the smaller parties should be given more time than the major parties as everyone knows about National and Labour and they get enough time on the news to talk up their policies anyway. This would give the smaller parties more of a opportunity to promote their policies seeing as they are not allowed to spend as much on election advertising.


It will also be interesting to see how the TV One Election Debate between Helen Clark and John Key goes tonight. Helen Clark is hopefully going to have a hard time defending some of the decisions her government has made over the past few years. They are even being forced to back down on plans to limit how much water we can have coming out of our shower heads. This Government is starting to go too far into limiting what we can and can't do. They have pushed through the Anti-Smacking Law ( which will hopefully be overturned next year by referendum), the Electoral Finance Bill and other silly laws that hinder them.

GOOOOOOOOOOOO National!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Election '08

This years election is certainly shaping up to be a cracker. With Winston Peters donation saga playing out rather prominently, the economy sliding, Michael Cullen announcing for the first time as finance minister that the Government books are in the red and leaving National with no money for the big tax cuts it has been promising.

But so far it looks like it is Nationals election to lose. Labour lacks so much of its own policy that it resorts to releasing the oppositions. It is trying to dig up information to shame John Key and the public just aren't liking it at all. Helen Clark says the election will come down to who the voting public of New Zealand trusts. Trust, Helen Clark knew that Owen Glenn had donated to Winston Peters for months and yet chose not to tell the public of New Zealand. Helen Clark is a lady desperate to keep her grasp on power and it will be interesting to see if she succeeds.

If Labour decide to campaign on the issue of who will be more qualified to lead New Zealand through a recession it will be a serious mistake. John Key is a successful merchant banker who has experience in that area. However the only qualification Helen Clark has is being a politician who has lead this country through the broad sunlight uplands of big surpluses.

I would appreciate if you would vote on my poll as to who you would trust with the leadership of your country.

Friends

Tonight we had some good friends over for the last time before they go traveling off round the world for a year. We have spent some wonderful times together over the past few years. From hot and spicy noodles to swimming in the rain at Lake Rotoiti. Here are some pictures of some of these times:

The Warriors Match

Last Friday night D took us to the Warriors NRL finals match vs the Sydney Roosters at Mt Smart. The match was an extremely exciting spectacle with the Warriors winning 30 - 13. They were losing at half time: 13 -6 but came back strongly in the second

Earlier in the night the Junior Warriors had beaten the Junior Penrith Panthers very convincingly.

The Warriors now head to Sydney to play the Manly Sea Eagles in Week Three of the Finals Series.

I Sea the Dinner

Well actually an after dinner snack with some still left over in the fridge! Our very kind neighbours gave us this wonderful crayfish a couple of nights ago. When he was given to us he was still alive. Isn't it amazing what God created to supply man with food.

On a political note I reckon that Winston Peters has done himself, his party and Aunty Helen no favors by creating this whole donations debacle. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few months. It looks like he is going to drag the government and his party down with him come election time (whenever that may be).

Long time, No post !!!

It is amazing how long it is since I last posted, time has flown by. I have added a few pics below showing some of what I have been up to.

My Birthday Party: Going to D's School Gym and playing a few different sports with a few friends for an afternoon before getting pizzas on the way home before watching a movie.
My actual birthday: Four days before the Olympic Opening Ceremony.
New life on the farm: Including the small visitors shown here.

Farming !!!!!!!!!!

A couple of weekends ago I got to look after the farm and be the interim Farm Manager while the Farmer was away. With some help from D, A3, E10 and S7 I milked four cows twice a day and fed some calves, pigs, rabbits and the farmer's cat. I really enjoyed it!!! D took these pics:

trailing away........

I just started a new blog last night after going for a tramp in the rain. It is a place where I will be reviewing, rating and commenting about tracks we have tramped, gear and other things to do with the great outdoors.

I Hereby declare Tracks and Trails for a Kiwi Tramper officially open for public viewing.

A tiny, tiny bit of Organisation is advancing. To your stations men!!!!

Yes, well, not quite as dramatic as that, but it's happening!!! The other day while at The Warehouse M bought me a filing folder. This means that I can now put all the pieces of paper (well, most of them anyway) that sit in and float around my room, into one place where I can always find them when I need to.

The Pumpkin Patch - Nature in the Garden - Part Two

A couple of months ago there were some self-seeded little plants in our main family garden, two of which I was allowed to transplant into a patch that I dug under our playhut. We think they are either Pumpkin or Cucumber plants. Meanwhile another one of those self-seeded plants has grown in the main garden and there is a little pumpkin on it which hopefully soon will be a wonderful dinner for our family.

Nature in the Garden - Part One

This morning when us three biggies came home from the farm M asked A2 to show us the "juicy caterpillar" as A2 called it while taking us. Once we got there, sure enough, there was a very "juicy caterpillar" on one of the two Swan Plants in E10's garden!!!

The Holidays !!!!!!!!!!

We came home a couple of days ago from our Christmas Break and Holidays (sigh). We had a wonderful time in the beautiful summer weather while in Tauranga for Christmas before heading to Lake Rotoiti in the beautiful Rotorua Lakes District, on Boxing Day. We enjoyed helping cook and eat a Hangi for Christmas dinner, playing cricket in two venues, with two different cousins, swimming in a river, lakes and at Ohope, in the sea, sailing, tramping up a ridge we didn't know you could get up, riding on 'biscuits' behind various kind people's motor boats, camping outside the bach, trying to kill a possum that was making a large racket at night above our tents, picking and eating plums and doing heaps of other fun things together. Here are some pics:

Our History

Our nation's history is something that should be precious to all of us. Our history was created by our ancestors who came from Polynesia and Europe and while one part of our history is more ancient than the other, and the younger part thinks itself more important than the first, we really should remember all of it. New Zealand was 'discovered' by Captain Cook a couple of centuries ago but really it was discovered by the Polynesian people centuries beforehand and so Cook takes the glory for what he was not the first to do.

Anyway, this is getting away from the purpose of this post. We need to protect our history, both Maori and European. Too many historic buildings are being removed or demolished, too many subdivisions are being plonked on top of historic middens, dumps and other places such as the old Clark Pottery site. Together we need to work together to preserve our heritage and our culture.

For an example the people of Arrowtown have done a good job of this in the way they have protected the history of their town from the development of nearby Queenstown and many of the buildings are protected by the Historic Places Trust. You are able to walk through the Chinese settlement and hire gold pans and shovels to pan for gold in the stream that runs along the edge of town. I believe we should protect the rest of Auckland's heritage in the way that Arrowtown has done.

"School"

School in our family is done in the home. It doesn't just involve sitting down at the kitchen table from 9 to 3 and doing English, Maths, Social Studies, Science and Music. In fact, at the table we only really do English (aka writing) and Maths in books (s+ometimes this doesn't happen though). Usually this happens before lunch.

We all learn some type of instrument except A2, M (who already knows the Piano) and D (who can play the Cello). S7 and E10 learn the Piano and I learn the Guitar. We learn most of our other subjects doing either: things with other families such as the A's on Thursdays and the T's on alternate Wednesdays or things such as going to the park, reading together, reading by ourselves, reading the paper, helping on the farm and going to Homeschool Group.

I have been very lucky in being able to go over to the farm this year and help the farmer with milking and feeding the animals. It has enabled me to be able to find out how a farm like that is run and I have enjoyed immensely. Being homeschooled gives us the flexibility to do things like this which would be harder to work around school schedules.

BAAAAAAAAAAAAA Sheep for Sale BAAAAAAAAAAAAA

On TradeMe there are some sheep for sale on this auction: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Business-farming-industry/Farming/Livestock/Sheep/auction-129147555.htm. I own two of these lambs and just want to advertise the fact that they are for sale. Please bid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is a photo of two lambs(not my sheep).

Dangerous as Anything

( Sorry, not sure how to rotate the photos)



The weekend before last the S7, D and I went with The McG and the A boys to Lake Rotoiti for a Dangerous Boys weekend. We left at about 6:00am on Friday morning and took with us K10 and L7 of Inventions Adventures fame with us. When we got there we went out in the rain on the Go-Kart and wrecked a tyre while drifting on loose gravel (on the road, girls would absolutely not approve!!!). Later, after the McG's arrived, we set up some tents to sleep in that night. Earlier we had gone adventuring up to where the Glow-Worms are and went exploring the surrounding area. We went and played a game of rugger at the park during which D tweaked his adductor muscle and therefore could not play in the big match the next day!!! That night we got a fire going really well and used most of the neighbours rubbish pile to do so! After that we went up to the Glow-Worms and got into bed really rather late!! The next morning while we were just finishing breakfast the rest of the A's arrived and later that morning we got to go to a freshwater stream that you can drink out of and went under the road on kayaks. When Mr A wanted a photo of us all on one kayak, the kayak got pushed by the fast flow of water against the concrete wall and my leg was between them!!! When we finally got going just before the end of the tunnel the kayak tipped and we all got bangs and bruises. Later on we had a big game of rugby before going to Lake Okataina for a bush walk. That night we had an even bigger fire than the night before and played games and toasted marshmallows before going to bed after we had found out that the Aussies had beaten us in the netball. The next day we went swimming and boating and cleaned up before leaving for home. On the way home we stopped at Pokeno where we had a ice cream and a burger each. We all had kiddy (big two scoopers) cones except D who had a baby cone (one big scoop).

Toothpaste Attempt!!!!

Last night I tried making some toothpaste which tasted AWFUL!!!!!!!!! I got the idea out of a book called: The Toothpaste Millionare. I might try making a different batch sometime with a slightly different recipe.

My Essay

A little while ago I entered an essay in the J.T Diamond Essay Competition. I have not received the result yet. I have not been able to paste the family tree on to this post.


The Clark Family and their involvement in the pottery industry in West Auckland

Why is it called Limeburners Bay?

What makes Clark House special and the strange bricks that it is made out of?

Who built the little white church in Scott Road all those years ago and whose land was it built on?

How did the pottery tradition at Limeburners Bay begin and lead to Crown Lynn and Ceramco?

This is connected with the Clark Family history starting with: R.O Clark (1816-1896)

When Rice Owen Clark of Buckinghamshire arrived in Port Nicholson in 1840 he had already become a more than capable twenty-four year old having had a rather expensive education behind him plus some good commercial experience. He had thought that he should be doing better than earning just half a crown a day building roads. He moved with his wife Louisa and their small one year old daughter to Auckland after trying his hand at farming unsuccessfully in Wellington. Rice wanted to be a Farmer so he bought 139 acres of land off the Crown on the 3 July 1854 at Hobsonville. He transported his possessions over there and became the first white settler in the area. After he had made attempts to crop the land he decided the heavy clay needed to be drained. He made field tiles to drain his land. He was able to put them to good use and turned around 30 acres into a producing market garden and he took his produce across to the city in his cutter. His neighbours noticed what he had done and with the idea of getting some business he sent to England for a hand operated pipe making machine. The business was born!!! Being a deeply religious man he donated the land and most of the finances for the church that still stands on Scott Road.

He had four Children as the family tree shows. Two of sons got involved in the pottery trade. The children of his daughter Louisa also became involved in the trade.



Rice Owen Clark II developed his father’s pipe making business into something quite big. At one stage the pottery sprawled over two kilometres of land along the waterfront in Limeburners Bay. During his time at the head of the business he bought out another pottery of the area J&W Ockleston & Co which his brother Henry was a partner in. He put a Restraint of Trade on his younger brother for twenty years so he could not challenge his business. He was the inventor of the Ceramic building block which is seen in some of the older houses in Hobsonville including the house that he had built, Clark House (now in use by the Air Force).

Our Family Tree shows that he had three children Thomas Edwin, R.O Clark III and Gwendoline.

Thomas Edwin was certainly a major player in the industry during his time in charge of the company. At the start he got the company through the years when it wasn’t going so well after his brother had left to live in Canada. Another major thing he did while at the helm of the company was to close the Limeburners Bay pottery and moved most pieces of machinery and equipment to a new site in New Lynn. He bought Albert Crum’s business: New Zealand Brick, Tile and Pottery. He got the Clay industry people to form a consortium in which they would sell all their goods at they same price per item so that they all got a share of the cake and cream.

The family tree now shows that he had three children called Malcolm, Molly and Thomas Edwin (Sir Tom Clark).

Tom was pulled out of his schooling during the depression because of the expense. He was put into the family business which had started all those years ago when R.O Clark first made some Field tiles. The company was now known as Amalgamated Brick and Pipe. His brother, Malcolm, was also working in the company. It was during this time that the business started to make things such soup bowls and coffee mugs for the American forces that were in New Zealand during the course of WWII. Malcolm was put in charge of the heavy clay department, while Tom was put in with the fine earth side of things before their father died in 1964 when they were appointed joint managing directors, with each looking after their own respective divisions. When the war was over the company found a new name which was: Crown Lynn. Crown Lynn became an iconic West Auckland business situated in New Lynn and by 1959 the company had produced its one-hundred millionth article. In the 70’s tom consolidated Crown Lynn, Amalgamated Brick and Pipe and their parent company Consolidated Brick and Pipe Investments Ltd into Ceramco Limited. They did have their problems though because in the early days they developed a reputation for having the handles on the cups break off very easily. Tom was given a knighthood in 1986.

Those are the main pottery people in the Clark Family. There were some other relations that were also involved in the industry:

· Louisa (daughter of R.O Clark I)
· Gardner Brothers
· Briar Gardner
· Henry Clark (son of R.O Clark)
· Raymond Clark (son of Henry)
· Allan Clark (Raymond’s son)

Louisa Gardner was the daughter of the first R.O Clark and was the mother of four children who were involved in the pottery business. Her connection to the pottery industry was through this. She married a farmer called John Gardner who owned a farm at Glorit.

Louisa’s oldest three sons were R.O Gardner (Tonks), John and Charles of Gardner Bros. & Parker Ltd. They set up a business in New Lynn after running some brickworks up north. This challenged Mr J.J Craig’s dominace in the brickmaking scene but then Albert Crum’s business started to challenge not only those dominant in the brick industry but also the Clark dominance of the pipe-making industry. Their company joined the consortium that T.E Clark set up. Charles was also the first mayor of New Lynn.

Their sister’s name was Maria Louise Gardner but she was called Briar because her baby brother called her that as he could not say Maria properly (at least at that stage). She became an ornamental potter sometimes having a Queen St window display in Smith and Caugheys.

Henry Clark was one of the first R.O Clarks sons and was a part of the industry for a couple of segments in his life. He was a partner in J & W Ocklestons & Co, a pottery from out in the Hobsonville area which his brother R.O II bought out during his time in charge. His brother put a restraint of trade on Henry for twenty years. Once the twenty years were up in 1930, he, along with his sons, set up and ran Clark’s Potteries Ltd in opposition to Amalgamated Brick & Pipe.

Raymond Clark was one of the two inventive sons of Henry Clark. He worked with his brother to design their own machinery for use in making pipes and the fittings for pipes in the pottery plant they worked with their father in running. Raymond died tragically when he drowned in 1959 at Lake Rotoiti.

W.A Clark (Ted) was Raymond’s brother who helped him in designing the machinery for the family business. Ted’s major achievement was to invent a machine that made the amount of gully traps that were able to be made in a day increase by a fair amount.

Raymond Clark’s son Allan carried on the family business before eventually selling out to cousin Tom at Ceramco.

That is just an overview of the Clark family’s involvement in the pottery industry of West Auckland. There is also another message which should be told. It is that recently developers have damaged historic sites in Limeburners Bay area beyond Resource Consent and that four-wheel drivers have been damaging the former site of Clark’s original pottery. It would be a superb move if the council bought the site of the pottery off the developer who currently owns it and turned it into a Hobsonville Early Settlers Park commemorating the first families who settled in the area. I would be most willing to supervise this project for the council.

The Author would like to Thank: Nana and Poppa, Mum and Dad and my brother and sisters.

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