Local identities bound for Taupo

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 529, 29 March 1994, Page 13

Local identities bound for Taupo

Long-time Waimarino identities Gretchen and Jim Littlewood, were more than a little amazed by the hoardes of friends and well-wishers that attended their recent farewell at the Raetihi Cosmopolitan Club. "Either Gretchen has a lot of friends or there was some other fiinction on that night," joked Jim, who with Gretchen leaves the area this week, bound for retirement in Taupo. Leaving their rambling homestead in the Ruatiti Valley that has been home for well over 40 years was not an easy decision to make for the couple, but an inevitable one, according to Gretchen, who was incapacitated by a freak accident several years ago. Since losing her right leg to a rare form of gangrene, maintenance of the homestead' s sizeable gardens has become a difficult business for Gretchen. Reduced to walking with the aid of a stick, her favourite hobbies of horse-riding, tennis and golf have also become unattainable. Jim's days as a stockman, with sheep and cattle and 2200 acres, are also behind him. The couple recently sold the last of their stock that for the past years have grazed the Littlewood' s remaining 70 acres. Long history Jim was born in the Waimarino in 1919 and raised in a homestead that once stood on the site of the current home of Neil and Jenny Wiggins on the Parapara Highway. The youngest boy from a family of five children, he helped in his father's sawmilling business opposite the family home. Jim's older sister was left to bring up the family when his mother died in 1929. He settled in the Ruatiti Valley in 1934 and leased 1500 acres of farm land for a period of five years before purchasing it for 10 shillings an acre. He later bought a neighbouring farm, bringing his acreage to over 2000. Jim worked as a musterer for several local farmers for a number of years. He met Gretchen at a local dance and the couple married in 1950, settling at 'Brentwood' - their Ruatiti Valley farm. Gretchen, born in 1 927 at the Oliver' s homestead in Raetihi (then the general hospital), was educated at Raetihi Primary School and later in Auckland. She returned to the district during the war to help on the family farm. The couple' s three children, Angela, Prudence and

Debbi are all married and live within visiting distance of the family home. The relative isolation of the valley has never been a factor for the couple who have always been actively involved within the wider community . Gretchen enjoys a close association with members of the Ruapehu ITC (Toastmistress Club) and Raetihi's Garden Club. She was also involved with the womens' division of Federated Farmers and regularly played the hymns at the local Anglican Church. The depth of feeling of fellow members of the Raetihi Cosmopolitan Club for Jim (a member since 1948) was apparent at the recent farewell function, with members presenting him with a 1995 membership card. The couple were also touched by the presentation of an engraved silver tray and goblets. Community hub Jim recalled the earlier years when the Ruatiti V alley was the social hub of the area. The local woolshed was a lively centre for dances through the war years and beyond. The dances would start in the early evening at a sedate pace and continue into the next day. Regularly, party-goers would come by the bus load from Raetihi to attend these functions. The 1940 flood left the lower valley residents completely cut off from civilisation. More than a week of continuous rain caused the Manganuiateao River to burst its banks, taking with it the road and only access bridge. Residents were forced to traverse the swollen river via a wire cable, under which hung a cage. This was the only means of crossing for a considerable _ period of time, while volunteers undertook to rebuild the Manganuiateo Bridge. Residents of the valley survived without electricity up until 1954, when a main power link from Taumarunui was established. Jim had his own lighting plant for 17-odd years and in the early days of their

marriage the couple relied on kerosene lamps and a kerosene' fridge.

The Littlewoods' homestead that was built around 1910, bears testimony to those pre-power days: one of the original pit-sawn timber ceilings carries ventillation holes where a lamp once hung.