Ferrymead Heritage Park

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Christchurch Stephenson Tram No 1 at the Ferrymead Tramway

Ferrymead Heritage Park is a historical museum in Christchurch, New Zealand, housing a number of groups with historical themes, the most frequent of which is transport. Formerly known as Ferrymead Historic Park, it was founded in the mid 1960s by a number of groups, local government bodies and other interested parties. It is in the Heathcote Valley, at the site of New Zealand's first public railway.

1 History
2 Member Societies
3 Geographical Information
4 See also

[edit] History

[edit] Museum of Science & Industry

This was the original name of the park. A number of groups came together in the early 1960s with a common interest in forming a museum of scientific and industrial history. Included in these was the Canterbury Branch of the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society, which had formed in the late 1950s to cater for local rail enthusiast interests. A pilot project for was set in Garvins Road, Hornby: their original proposed site was at Prebbleton, south-west of Christchurch. When that site became unavailable, interest was kindled at Ferrymead.

[edit] Ferrymead Trust

Inside Ferrymead Heritage Park's General Store.

The Ferrymead Trust was incorporated in the late 1960s to represent the common interests of the societies at Ferrymead. For many years its day-to-day activities were controlled by committees made up of members of some or all of its constituent groups. The Trust relied heavily on local and national government funding and many of its early building and construction work was carried out by unemployed relief workers in central government employment subsidy schemes. By the mid 1980s the bureacratic structure of the Trust was seen as unwieldy and reforms were implemented to bring a more businesslike approach to its operations, devolving of day-to-day operations to appointed managers and representing society interests through a membership council.

The Trust continued to operate, but in the mid 1990s it had sustained heavy losses in the operation of the park, largely due to the having a seven-day-per-week year-round operation with paid staff. As it appeared likely that the mortgage holder would foreclose on the park's assets, Christchurch City Council (CCC) assumed liability for the park's debt in return for hands-on management and the sale of various assets, including surplus land.

[edit] Ferrymead Park Ltd

Although the CCC identified as a major stumbling block the operation of the park by numerous independent societies, this structure continues, along with the reinstatement of a more active role for the societies in the strategic direction of the park. This change was brought about to allow operating costs to be reduced. One major change was to relocate the entrance in the main village, aided by the construction of Ferrymead Drive alongside the tramway route. This provides better access for visitors, without riding on a tram or train - the cost of these rides is still included in some entrance fees. The park is now operated autonomously by Ferrymead Park Ltd, a charitable company, and still receives some CCC funding. Ownership and control of the various resources of the individual societies continues to be vested in these groups.

[edit] Member Societies

Looking of the tram to a Ferrymead Heritage Center sign.

The following societies are currently active at Ferrymead Heritage Park:

Canterbury Centre for Historic Photography & Film Inc.
Canterbury Railway Society Inc. (Ferrymead Railway)
Diesel Traction Group Inc.
Ferrymead Aeronautical Society Inc.
Ferrymead Clydesdales Society Inc.
Ferrymead Museum of Road Transport Inc.
Ferrymead Post and Telegraph Historical Society Inc.
Ferrymead Printing Society Inc.
Ferrymead Two-Foot Railway Inc.
Fire Services Historical Society Inc.
Friends of Ferrymead Fraternity Inc.
Garden City Model Railroad Club Inc.
Heathcote Studios Theatrical Society Inc.
Heritage Youth Inc.
Lions Club of Ferrymead Inc.
Radio Preservation Society of New Zealand (Ferrymead) Inc. (Radio Ferrymead)
Society of Rural History Inc.
Tramway Historical Society Inc. (Ferrymead Tramway)

Several other societies have come and gone, notably the Ferrymead Military Museum Society. Heathcote Studios Theatrical Society is the most recent member.

[edit] Geographical Information

The park is in the Heathcote Valley. Being close to the sea and low-lying, it was historically subjected to frequent flooding. A major event was the "Wahine Storm" of 1968, in which a large part of the site, then in embryonic development, was under water. This is no longer a major issue due to the filling of large parts of the site. Since the active involvement of the CCC began in the mid 1990s, flood and stormwater management have been implemented in the park and surrounding lands. The major project of the Heathcote Valley Park aims to integrate these along with the development of wildlife habitat areas and native plantings.

In the days of being managed by the Heathcote County Council, prior to local government amalgamation of 1989, part of the site was used as a rubbish dump. The raised location known as "Woods Hill" was formed artificially by the large-scale compacting of refuse dumped there over a number of years. This area is rather unstable land and buildings constructed there without appropriate foundations have been damaged by subsidence. The Tamaki Brothers of Rotorua have received substantial CCC assistance to construct a tourist Māori village on the site, which is expected to open in December 2006.