Reluctant to leave

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 1, Issue 27, 6 December 1983, Page 9

Reluctant to leave

The old Raetihi police cell block, on site since about the turn of the century, was reluctant to be shifted when members of the Waimarino Museum Society arrived to uplift and relocate it in Seddon Street beside the old Railway Station. When Hira Parata of Waimarino Draglines arrived on Saturday morning 26 November to put it on a trailer for the short journey ^Wo the museum site, it proved too solid and heavy for the wet ground and got stuck with the trailer wheels deep in soft mud. The efforts of helpers Jack Sommerville, Colin

Fredericksen and Fred Bright were all to no avail. They decided to seek the services of Ken Summerhays of Webbs Motors and their tow-truck from which a line was taken to the Waimarino Draglines cab and attached. With its rear wheels anchored on the roadside kerb it was thought that sufficient purchase could be obtained to pull both Hira Parata 's truck and the trailer carrying the cell block clear of the soggy ground. But when the winch was operated the wire hawser pulled the tow truck over the kerb and off the road! It wasn't until the rear

wheels of the tow truck had been braced against a special metal choc that the entire ensemble started to move forward and was pulled clear. All work — labour and time — involved in uplifting and relocating the cell block to become part of the Waimarino Museum was donated free by those involved.