A trip with Outwest Tours to the once thriving community of Denniston perched on the Plateau 600m above Westport, is one of the highlights of our journey so far.
Mikey Ryan of OUTWEST TOURS was a terrific guide and very knowledgeable about this region and the Coal Industry that supported the many mines and their villages on the Denniston Plateau.
Denniston town did not have a mine, but was the collection point for the coal from the surrounding mines. The coal was then transported down the incredibly steep rail incline to the valley below to then be transported on trains to the waiting ships in the Westport Harbour.
However, Mikey Ryan of Outwest Tours, has explored the whole region and took us down barely accessible tracks to point out the odd brick chimney still standing and only just visible above implementable bush. He has studied old maps of these villages and plotted where buildings and workings used to stand.
What strikes me the most, is the Engineering ingenuity to create the machinery and the rail tracks through bush and over streams from these Mines surrounding the Denniston town and Incline. Close to each mine was a village for the miners and their families. Evidence of these settlements is hard to see as they are overgrown with bush now.
To move the coal from the mines there was an endless wire rope system on rail tracks. The empty bins come on one side and the coal full carriage on the other track. We got to walk part of this track from one of the mines.
The Photograph of Robyn and I at the mouth of a mine and lit by our hand held lights, is not open to the public yet for viewing, so we were very privileged to have been given the opportunity to witness this new heritage discovery.
The novel “The Denniston Rose”by Jenny Patrick gives one an understanding of the life in Denniston.
The mines supplying “Black Gold’ to the Denniston collection point were called, Banbury mine, Ironbridge mine, Coalbrookdale mine, Whareatea mine and Sullivan mine.
The Stockton mine in this area is still working and extracts the “best coal in the world”. All this clean burning, efficient coal is in high demand and is exported to mainly India and some to the USA and other countries. We do not use this world best coal in New Zealand-why?
3 Comments
Di
Great read and pics
Much appreciated
I’ve been there but i didn’t see the incline and other stuff that’s in your pics ☹I’ll have to go back 👍😁
Gerry
In the seventies I visited this area an one of the mines was still on fire reaching back many years. Do you know where that is and is it still burning? Regards. Gerry
James Bonham
Interesting, sounds like you and Robyn were really privileged to be in the mine shaft.