Tuesday 8 April 2014

The Mount Bruce Community

The way rural communities like Mt Bruce, "look after their own" is well illustrated in this recollection of Howard Nicol who grew-up in the area.

Howard, now living in Australia, recalls an incident at the Hall around 1945 when he was 12 years old. Apparently a young, earnest, policeman from Masterton turned up at one of the regular Saturday "socials". As was the custom of the time there was no drinking in the hall so a tent out the back provided the important "watering-hole" for the men. Howard says all the men in the area appeared to have nicknames which they seemed to use all the time and he often did not know what there real names were.
The most forthright of these was 'Mot' Walsh and it was he who quickly and decisively dealt with the policeman's question, "So what's going on here then?"
"Have you had any complaints?" asks the self-appointed spokesman.
"No", came the timid reply
"Well you won't be getting any neither. You've no business 'round here. What happens here is our affair and we look after our own around here."
So with that stern "telling off" the young policeman duly departed and no repeat visits were ever made.


Howard Nicol 2014

The exact words may be in doubt but it is clear the community was used to looking after itself and doing things their own way. These social events were a way of bonding the community and catching-up on the comings and goings in the district. The community halls in the wider area took monthly turns at hosting the Saturday night socials - so there'd be a "Do" to go to most weekends.


Thursday 3 April 2014

Mt Bruce Tennis Club

The hall hosted a very strong tennis club for many years as can be seen by the number of supporters during this game around 1946. The clay courts were of a very high standard.
With a thriving club at Opaki just down the road and sealed courts at Miki Miki School just up the road playing at the hall gradually came to an end.