Authentic N.Z. colonial style

Press, 11 April 1979, Page 26

Authentic N.Z. colonial style

Marie and Merwyn Gilmore have owned the Prebbleton Tavern for more than six years now and the building has seen many changes in that time.

The latest and possibly the most important improvement is the early New Zealand colonial style Tack and Hamess Restaurant and Family Bar which is open both at lunch time and the evenings for businessmen, whole families and other visitors to the Prebbleton area.

A wide range of food (see menu) is served at reasonable prices. “It’s self service at the food counter and, therefore, we don’t need a waiter, with a resultant saving of 'l5 to 20 per cent in the price of meals,” Marie says. “We’re trying to cater for the middle income familv, some of whom

might even come here once a week to eat. “No one will abuse the comfortable atmosphere in here. The. children get dressed up and behave themselves and usually don’t stay tpb long after the meal. We also get many businessmen from the local industries.

“Both the dining and bar areas have a strong colonial atmosphere. There are historical photographs and objects on the walls. “We’ve found that they have become a focal point of interest and people quite enjoy looking at them.

“Basically, our desire has been to create a community spirit in the area and restore the tavern to its original form. “We’re making the place into a sort of museum with a lot of authentic items from the area, including photographs of the original Prebbles. “All the lights are genuine antiques from the

last century and all the wood turning, including at the bar, was done by hand. So far, it has taken us four years to collect the necessary information, the lights and other objects. “The Prebble family has helped with a lot of the information, while some of it is from the Canterbury, Museum and the library.. One of the historical write-ups on the wall was done for us by the Carmelite nuns in Lincoln Road. “We were helped a great deal with the design by Rod Wells, an advertising graphic artist. He is well up oh colonialism and incredibly clever. We could never thank him enough. “Otherwise, we’ve done most of it, including the pictures and the frames. The antique shops in Christchurch also helped a lot. They even ’phoned us with particular information about some items.

. “Finding the antique lights was the hardest thing. Now', we have a complete blacksmith’s set. including gig spanners and tongs, which we’ve hung on the wall. “Then there is the antique clock behind the bar and the British-made Turkish gun with inlaid mother-of-pearl. The clock was found by one of the locals in a garage. “The whole tavern is ideal for a night out,” Merwyn adds. “You can have your evening meal in the sunken dining area, screened off with Victorian glass and comfortable buttoned seating. Then you can go upstairs to the discotheque or to the bottle shop and buy your liquor at much cheaper prices. Sometimes we even sell it in pallet lots. “All the liquor prices

are under wholesale and the bottle shop is like a supermarket where you can go around and pick out what you want. “Our discotheque is also very popular, with many young people coming from Christchurch for the evening.

“When we first took over six years ago we started modernising the place and put a band in and, in fact, had the first discotheque in the Christchurch area. “We have also developed a pleasant beer garden where people can have their meals. There is a nice pond with fish and we have put in a winding brick path.

“The major talking point, however, is the Manneken Pis statue at the pond. Tt is based on a similar statue in. Brussels, Belgium.”