Greymouth
We only went to Greymouth to meet Charmaine, one of our Riverside Drive friends who was staying in Greymouth for a while. But we are glad we saw the town too. It has a rugged charm – and some good OP shops from which you can grab a bargain.
Hats off to the fishermen who enter Greymouth by sea. The bar is terrifying in high winds.
WWII Gun Post
Work on the breakwater.
Blackball
The 1908 Blackball miners’ strike was pivotal in New Zealand’s labour history. It began when seven Blackball miners were dismissed for taking longer than their allocated fifteen minutes (‘crib time’) for lunch. This was just one of many issues within the coal mining industry, so this was a tipping point. The strike has been described as “the strike that finally ended New Zealand’s reputation as the ‘country without strikes.”
The strike challenged the status quo and paved the way for the rise of industrial unionism and the Labour Party. Even now it remains an integral part of the country’s social and political history.
The Blackball Museum of Working Class History is a gem of a place. It’s full of information and mining artefacts from that era and tells a great story.
Blackball Museum of Working Class History
Exhibition sheds
The sheds in this photo are replicas of homes for miners and their families.
The Hilton
A bit further up the road is The Blackball Hilton. Following a legal dispute with the other Hilton hotel company, they tacked on a label to the left of the sign, which says. “Formerly”.
Bling
Brunner
On the morning of March 26, 1896, at 9:30 am, a massive explosion ripped through the Brunner mine’s tunnels, claiming the lives of all 65 miners – men and boys. The blast was most likely caused by the ignition of firedamp, which is particularly common in coal with high bitumen content.
The aftermath of the explosion was just as lethal. Afterdamp gases, primarily carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, filled the mine’s tunnels, posing a significant threat to the rescue teams. Many rescuers, driven by a sense of duty and kinship, braved the toxic environment in hopes of finding survivors. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain, as the poisonous gases claimed more lives.
A disaster relief fund for the miners’ families was launched the day after the explosion, and money was donated from all over New Zealand. Altogether, more than £32,000 – over £4M in today’s money – was raised.
The site’s interpretive panels and a restored railway coal wagon give a glimpse into the region’s mining heritage. But the Brunner Mine site is a sad reminder of the risks miners face in their line of work.
Memorial Statue
Old mine shaft
Coking shed.
Brunner coke was in high demand. Its high bitumen content made it perform better in blast furnaces, but that bitumen content was also a contributing factor to the disaster.
Brunner suspension bridge
The bridge, built in 1876, connected the two mining sites—Brunner and Tyneside—to share materials.
A view of the mining site from a distance
Next – we are off to a Shantytown.
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