This photo essay by historian, Ron Cooke, has been extracted from his book Logging the Punga which he co-authored with Audrey Walker and the late Ken Anderson. The 390-page book covers a detailed history of the Manunui branch of the enterprising King Country sawmilling operation of Ellis & Burnand. Serving as a follow-up to Trevor Coker’s feature on ‘How Steam Haulers Opened up the Bush’ (NZ Logger, May 2018), the focus here is on some of their steam haulers not previously mentioned by Trevor Coker. 

All photos have been sourced from the Taumarunui & Districts Historical Society.

Photo 1

As the clouds of steam show in this 1911 view below, 

a lot of development had occurred in the seven years since JW Ellis, Harry Burnand and Henry Valder, along with Frank Moore of the Pungapunga Timber Company, had begun planning the building of their sawmills. Geo Gardner & Sons was now operating Moore’s mill, the first mill the lokey would arrive at when returning across the Punga bridge with a load of logs from the bush. Next was Ellis & Burnand’s sawmill with the new box factory partly constructed beside it. A fire had claimed the first factory some months before. The steam rising between the Mill and Box Factory pinpoints the “Woodpecker” lokey is on the job. Further back, the Ellis Veneer factory is nearing completion and Manunui School can be detected behind it. A locomotive on the Main Trunk Line is contributing to the dramatic scene and across the line farmers had been busy.

Photo 2

Some family members had joined the No 1 Foote hauler crew on the Kapakapanui Tram on 23 November 1910. Horses, held by a Manunui rugby player by the look of his black and white striped jersey, had arrived with logs at the skids. The hauler was pulling logs from the same direction from which the horses had come and the comparative tidiness of the skid site suggests the hauler had only recently been set up here. The adzed logs beside the line, left over from bracing the hauler against the pull, made a convenient seat for the bowler-hatted visitor. Photographer, A W Bathgate, had regularly visited Manunui and at this time was in partnership with a Manunui-based photographer with the surname Morton. These may be some of the last photographs taken by the partnership, as a note in Harry Burnand’s diary two months later says the partnership was dissolved with Morton moving away.

Photo 3

Also taken on 23 November 1910 when the photographer had an extended tour, travelling up on the “Woodpecker” lokey (pictured) to points of interest. Each hauler was supported by a crew of 10 or 11 men and, at the Manunui School 75th Jubilee in 1982, Tom Rowlands, second from left, and George Bennett, fifth, were identified by Tom’s son. He also identified the location of this No.2 Foote hauler as being in the Whangapuroto Valley on the Hohotaka Block. One of the young men could well be Dave McCracken who worked in the...