The Bridge to Nowhere, Tauranga in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty for sale

Music instruments

Sub-titled"The ill-fated Mangapurua Settlement", this classic study of pioneering in the remote and rugged country on the Wanganui River records the trials and tribulations of returned servicemen from WWI who were allocated land to develop for farming. Courage, determination .attitude and willingness to work were not lacking in those who took up these lands. However, much was against them and among the obstacles they faced were that the main link to civilisation was a river boat service subject to its own difficulties. Once off the river-boat the trek to the allocated farm blocks was initially by rough tracks --- horses for transport or walking, carrying as much in the way of necessities and materials as possible. Initially about 40 ex-soldiers began the development process, being joined by families as soon as adequate housing (or shelter) was constructed. The first to set up in the Mangapurua Settlement (named after the valley in which it was located) arrived in 1917. The valley scheme was among the largest of its type adopted after WWI, but creating a viable and profitable agricultural life-style was confronted by so many disadvantages that gradually the hard-won pastures, homes built agaisnt adversity and suoply problems and State financial parsimony, defeated even the most determined and conscientious settlers and by 1942 the last two left the valley, when the Goverment closed the almost impassable and dangerous road --- ironically, this came just as a fine concrete bridge across the Mangapurua George was completed. It is now one of the few substantial reminders of a scheme that promised so much but produced mostly disappointment, ruin and heatbreak for the settlers who were paid nothing for the land they were forced to abandon and had to face building a new life with little in the way of resources .Arthur Bates'history of a project doomed to fail, takes its name from that bridge"too late"and has proved to be very popular book, since first published in 1981, reaching its eighth edition with this printing in 2003, a year after the author died. Published by Wanganui Newspapers, 173 pages, illustrated throughout with 49 b/w photographs, district map, locality map and survey map (inside front cover) showing original block allocations, double page historical map for the Wanganui river and the valley settlement scheme at back, few document/plan reproductions. Card covers (colour photo to front) are VG+, former owner name top corner title page, text block otherwise NF, Size: 24cm By 17cm
Author
Arthur P Bates
Title
The Bridge to Nowhere
Publisher name
Wanganui Newspapers, Wanganui, NZ
Shipping time
2 - 4 days
Publication year
2003
Edition
First edition
Binding type
Hard cover
Listing condition
Used
Item condition
Very good
Vendor name
BOPBooks
Vendor rating
Key words
New Zealand, History, Wanganui River, World War One, Soldier Settlement, Pioneering,
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