tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21537824048274832152024-03-21T14:43:09.616-07:00Hands Off BeaumontHands Off Beaumonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07315911070793392905noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153782404827483215.post-24215176489748810302009-12-31T16:16:00.000-08:002014-04-10T16:49:22.648-07:00Home<div class="separator">
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<span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><b>W</b>elcome</span><b> </b></i></span>to the website of the Beaumont Residents Group.<br />
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Beaumont is a small town nestled in the foothills of Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. Located in a fertile valley on the banks the Clutha River, Beaumont is the gateway to Central Otago, and is 106 km from the city of Dunedin. <br />
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We have lived with the threat of hydro dams since the 1940s. Time and again there have been proposals that would submerge our community, our homes, our history and our identity. Despite the toll on our lives and on our families, and the lack of investment in our town, we have endured, and we are still here ...<br />
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This website is for Beaumont, and all our supporters. It shows our activities and our people, past and present. It records our worthy heritage, and it shows a community keen to promote the 'Jewel' of the Clutha District ...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyulrNmbJ8TJ60zfZOuOxEPXAMaKhtwOu8p0AR7IHBlWw4NMc8RvbW1QokbsFoNY70s7D6_uicxM8_GOe5m9a27g1N-OHhaGHartxLrasYAskV0PX0-2Wu6_Bh2ZIT7NJ6RvPBQoyh2Xbi/s1600-h/beaumontbridgeview499x373.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyulrNmbJ8TJ60zfZOuOxEPXAMaKhtwOu8p0AR7IHBlWw4NMc8RvbW1QokbsFoNY70s7D6_uicxM8_GOe5m9a27g1N-OHhaGHartxLrasYAskV0PX0-2Wu6_Bh2ZIT7NJ6RvPBQoyh2Xbi/s400/beaumontbridgeview499x373.jpg" sr="true" /></a></div>
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Clutha River from Beaumont Bridge</div>
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Hands Off Beaumonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07315911070793392905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153782404827483215.post-52917308949055911422009-12-30T16:17:00.003-08:002012-02-27T14:10:15.783-08:00Local News<div class="separator"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">New bridge for Beaumont, start in 2014</span></div>By Matthew Haggart, 28 February 2012<br />
Otago Daily Times<br />
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The 124-year-old Beaumont bridge is one of several dilapidated river crossings on Otago's interior state highway network scheduled for replacement as part of a proposed regional transport funding programme.<br />
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However, the ageing State Highway 8 bridge across the Clutha River will have to last at least another two years before a proposed date for construction to start, a report says.<br />
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A new bridge at Beaumont, a replacement crossing at Queenstown's SH6 southern gateway at Kawerau Falls, and strengthening of the Clydevale bridge, near Balclutha, have all been identified as priority projects for Otago's transport network.<br />
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Members of the Otago Regional Council's transport committee will meet next month to decide on a draft programme of prioritised infrastructure projects.<br />
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Otago's ageing road bridges have been noted as an issue of concern in need of being addressed at a meeting of transport committee members in Dunedin, yesterday.<br />
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A transport report from ORC senior policy analyst Suzanne Watt was tabled at the meeting to committee members, who represent the region's six local council authorities and other public service organisations.<br />
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Construction of a new bridge at Beaumont is planned to start in 2014, after strengthening work at the Clydevale crossing in 2012-13, the ORC report says.<br />
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Investigation and design stages for the Beaumont bridge is included in the 2012-15 programme.<br />
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The report sets out a proposed Otago Regional Land Transport Programme, which outlines the funding priorities for about $423 million worth of projects during the next three years.<br />
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Replacement of the Kawerau Falls bridge at Frankton is not included in the priority list of works proposed in the 2012-15 programme, but is "tentatively planned" for 2016, the ORC report says.<br />
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The New Zealand Transport Agency spends about $590,000 every year to extend the life of the Beaumont bridge - an amount which was considered "cost effective", NZTA transport planning manager Ian Duncan said last October.<br />
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<div class="separator"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Clutha hydro plans stalled</span></div>By Lynda Van Kempen, 23 February 2012<br />
Otago Daily Times<br />
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Contact Energy has signalled delays in its plans for further hydro development on the Clutha River, saying the project is on the "back burner" and other developments have greater priority.<br />
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In 2009, Contact announced it was revisiting plans for dams on the upper and lower Clutha, at Tuapeka Mouth, Queensberry, Luggate and Beaumont, costing between $300 million and $1.5 billion. The schemes had been proposed by Contact's predecessor, the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand, more than 20 years ago.<br />
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Contact chief executive Dennis Barnes was reported this week as saying the Clutha hydro project was on the "back burner". He was unavailable for comment yesterday, but Contact spokeswoman Janet Carson said geothermal energy remained the priority development area for Contact. <br />
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However, it continued to investigate wind, hydro and gas-fired developments. Contact was still assessing the four Clutha hydro development options and they "remained open".<br />
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Our conversations, data assessments and research undertaken to date are showing that pursuing further hydro development is more likely to be further down the track, probably into the next decade, and we are considering the implications of that."<br />
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She declined to elaborate.<br />
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The Clutha hydro project was on the "back burner", as opposed to "priority developments" under construction such as the Te Mihi power station, near the Wairakei geothermal power station, northwest of Taupo, Ms Carson said.<br />
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There had been no "change of priority" by the company towards hydro development. She declined to comment on how much Contact had spent so far developing the Clutha project.<br />
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The Clutha River Forum, an alliance of river and conservation groups opposed to "think-big" hydro development on the Clutha, was set up in 2009. It launched a "Option 5 - no more dams" campaign.<br />
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Asked for comment about delays to the hydro project, forum co-ordinator Lewis Verduyn, of Wanaka, said the world was changing rapidly "and these former business-as-usual projects are simply not realistic".<br />
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"We've always considered further 'think-big' dams on the Clutha to be inappropriate, outdated and uneconomic. Now, Contact is facing a landslide of economic and environmental issues that were largely unforeseen just a few years ago.<br />
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"With electricity demand falling, the high cost of servicing capital and record low flows in the Clutha River, it's difficult to imagine how these plans could ever be viable in the future," he said.<br />
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Contact's stance on the project comes in the wake of the decision last month by Meridian Energy to shelve its plans for a $2 billion wind farm on the Lammermoor Range. Meridian chief executive Mark Binns said shelving the Project Hayes wind farm was "a prudent commercial decision", as the company had other higher-priority projects.<br />
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Asked at that time if the decision had any impact on the Clutha hydro plans, Contact hydro projects manager Neil Gillespie said the hydro plans were at a different stage from those of Meridian's Project Hayes.<br />
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It had a consented project, while Contact had yet to narrow down the options and was "quite some time away" from thinking about resource consents.<br />
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<div class="separator"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">NZTA Denies 123-Year-Old Bridge Unsafe</span></div>By Matthew Haggart, 25 October 2011<br />
Otago Daily Times<br />
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The Beaumont Bridge across the Clutha River. Photo by Craig Baxter. An allegation the ageing one-lane SH8 bridge across the Clutha River at Beaumont is unsafe has been rejected by the New Zealand Transport Agency. <br />
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Waitaki deputy mayor Jim Hopkins questioned whether the bridge met minimum safety standards and was in danger of collapse, at a recent meeting of the Otago Regional Council's transport committee. <br />
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The NZTA has been spending money on the bridge as it seeks to extend the life of the 123-year-old structure. About $1.5 million was spent on maintenance during the period 2005-10. <br />
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A decision on replacing the bridge may be on the back-burner because of the possibility a hydro dam could be built in the area, flooding Beaumont. <br />
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Something needed to be done, Mr Hopkins told NZTA staff at the meeting. <br />
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"Are we are running a bridge which is so unsafe we have to make trucks stop first, because if they drove on to it at normal speed, it could fall down?" <br />
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A maintenance programme of about $215,000 was in place for the bridge last year and $180,000 was spent installing traffic lights at the bridge approaches in June 2010. <br />
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"How does the Government of a country justify such a situation given its commitment to safer roads and journeys?" Mr Hopkins asked. <br />
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He asked whether the bridge would collapse if trucks drove on to the structure at full speed, which he understood was the reason the lights were installed. <br />
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"Are they satisfied with some traffic lights to stop trucks because the bridge [could fail] if they drive on at full speed?" <br />
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NZTA southern director Jim Harland said the bridge was not in danger of falling down. The measures taken by NZTA were about "increasing the life of the structure and reducing risk". <br />
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"The real solution is to replace the bridge," he said. <br />
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NZTA transport planning manager Ian Duncan said the ongoing maintenance costs involved with the bridge would eventually become less financially viable compared with building a new structure. <br />
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"It is good money going bad after five years. After that then we will be spending exponentially more money than what it costs to maintain," he told Mr Hopkins. <br />
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Mr Duncan said the measures, which have included the installation of traffic lights to control the speed and entry of vehicles on to the bridge, addressed road safety issues and not structural concerns. <br />
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A new bridge had been earmarked for construction some time after 2015, he said. However, the NZTA was yet to commission any design plans for a new bridge. <br />
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Replacing the bridge might also be affected by a possible Clutha River hydro-electricity scheme, which was still being considered by Contact Energy, Mr Duncan said. <br />
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"Contact ... are still undecided." Mr Woodhead asked whether Contact might have to provide some compensation should the Beaumont Valley be flooded for hydro-electricity purposes after a bridge was built. <br />
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"They will need to come to the party . . . " Mr Duncan said. <br />
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<div class="separator"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Future of Historic Bridge in Doubt</span></div>By Mark Price, 4 December 2009<br />
Otago Daily Times<br />
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The New Zealand Transport Agency has begun investigating a replacement for the Beaumont Bridge over the Clutha River. <br />
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The 122-year-old single-lane landmark, on State Highway 8 between Lawrence and Raes Junction, costs at least $100,000 per year to maintain. <br />
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It will be closed at night next week for repair work. The agency's Otago-Southland regional director, Bruce Richards, told the Otago Daily Times yesterday the bridge "still had some life in it" but replacement needed to be considered. <br />
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"It's getting to the stage where you keep repairing it; you're forever repairing it; you've got to say enough's enough. And we're getting close to that." <br />
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Up to 1500 vehicles per day used the bridge, including between 100 and 400 heavy vehicles. <br />
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A structural report on the bridge was expected to be completed by Easter and Mr Richards said replacement could occur within 10 years, but decisions about future hydro-electrictricity dams on the Clutha would affect planning. <br />
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If a proposed dam downstream at Tuapeka Mouth were built, it would flood Beaumont and the bridge. <br />
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A dam upstream of Beaumont could provide another option for crossing the Clutha and make a bridge at Beaumont "potentially redundant". <br />
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"We've got to make sure we make an appropriate investment. As to whether we can wait or not, that's unknown yet." <br />
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Mr Richards said replacement of the bridge was not in the recently adopted regional land-transport programme and he would be taking the project to the regional transport committee as a "variation" to the plan. <br />
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Beaumont resident Margaret Healy did not favour dams being built in the district and would prefer to see the bridge replaced at its present site. <br />
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She considered the old bridge "an amazing structure" because of its age and the environment in which it was built. <br />
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She said many of the maintenance issues were created by trucks crossing the bridge at excessive speed. <br />
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Highways manager Niclas Johansson said the bridge would be closed to traffic between 8pm and 6am from Monday, December 7, to Thursday, December 10. <br />
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Detours will be available through Clydevale. <br />
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Beaumont Bridge Facts:<br />
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- First steel bridge in New Zealand.<br />
- Foundations laid by the member of the House of Representatives for Dunstan, Vincent Pyke, on September 20 and 21, 1883.<br />
- First crossing, by a Craig and Co coach, on Monday, March 9, 1887.<br />
- Tolls set at five pence per score of sheep, pigs and calves.<br />
- One shilling per horse and one shilling and eight pence per score of oxen.<br />
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Information provided by: Margaret Healy <br />
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</div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Unveiling of Headstone for Chinese Miner</span><br />
By Yvonne O’Hara, 26 October 2009<br />
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Five candles were lit as part of a brief ceremony in Beaumont on Saturday to unveil a headstone commemorating Ah Tie, a Chinese miner who chose to remain in Beaumont rather than follow the gold-rush that tempted many of his compatriots away from Lawrence.<br />
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The candles were lit for Ah Tie’s soul, the Wood family for whom he worked for 50 years, the Beaumont community, the RWNZ group and for the guests from Dunedin and Shanghai who attended the ceremony. <br />
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The Beaumont Rural Women of New Zealand (RWNZ) branch raised money for the headstone to commemorate Ah Tie and organised the ceremony at the Beaumont Cemetery last Saturday.<br />
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They received $1000 from the Chinese Poll Tax Trust towards the cost of the headstone, which was sourced from the Clutha River.<br />
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About 50 people, including representatives of the Beaumont and Chinese communities, watched the unveiling by Chinese Poll Tax Trust chairman James Ng, of Dunedin. <br />
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‘‘We thought it was a wonderful project,’’ Dr Ng said. <br />
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Tuapeka-Lawrence Community Company Ltd chairman Eddie Fitzgerald read a poem he had written about Ah Tie.<br />
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RWNZ Beaumont secretary Margaret Healey had spent many hours researching Ah Tie’s life and read out a brief biography of the man who arrived in the area in 1871 and died in 1921.<br />
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He arrived in the district to work as a gold miner but remained after the other Chinese gold miners left the area. He spent most of the rest of his life working for the Wood family who owned Dunkeld farm, which is now a dairy farm. <br />
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Jean Young (nee Wood), of Lawrence, represented her family and lit one of the candles. When Ah Tie died in June 1921, the Wood family insisted he be buried within the cemetery boundaries, unlike the other Chinese and some Maori, who were buried outside the perimeter. The grave was previously unmarked.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3chUmupGJFEt5b1YTgYfPEDqjLMuD76ViZj9TSLMBtnzR1ur-mjF9-ifDxfwRKlY2rrXEPPv80HFp6t2HZm0m6gdtVDqVGSb9ufcA4AsH2TSjfthu_WgM3iH7771t3xL68qfP0Vdwr6os/s1600-h/ah_tie_beaumont357x561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3chUmupGJFEt5b1YTgYfPEDqjLMuD76ViZj9TSLMBtnzR1ur-mjF9-ifDxfwRKlY2rrXEPPv80HFp6t2HZm0m6gdtVDqVGSb9ufcA4AsH2TSjfthu_WgM3iH7771t3xL68qfP0Vdwr6os/s400/ah_tie_beaumont357x561.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ah Tie</div>Hands Off Beaumonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07315911070793392905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153782404827483215.post-32919479401537674012009-12-29T16:17:00.000-08:002009-11-14T15:11:38.766-08:00Our Community<div class="separator"><br />
</div>Our people are friendly and caring. We are members of school boards, sporting clubs, Lions, Rural Women. A tremendous amount of voluntary work is undertaken both within our community and around our district.<br />
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The former Beaumont School is used as a Search and Rescue/Civil Defence base for the area. We have a Volunteer Rural Firefighting Group which musters in the event of house and forest fires, natural disasters, and vehicle accidents.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Beaumont 'Smoke Chaser'<br />
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</div>We have a team of ladies who regulary support the Cancer Relay for Life, raising money for Cancer research in our province. They walk around the clock for 24hrs, and work diligently for the cause.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Beaumont Belles<br />
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</div>Beaumont has a pool and tennis courts for the warmer months, and a community hall for indoor sports and meetings. Our hall is used for social events such as feeding and accommodating the Cavalcade riders as they journey along pioneer and gold-rush trails.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cavalcade riders crossing the Beaumont Bridge<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Gathered at the Beaumont Hall<br />
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</div>Hands Off Beaumonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07315911070793392905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153782404827483215.post-60153754808840118042009-12-28T16:18:00.000-08:002009-11-27T15:54:35.495-08:00Attractions<div class="separator"><br />
</div>The Beaumont region is a paradise for outdoor recreation. Popular activities include fishing, hunting, kayaking, jet boating, and walking / biking on river and mountain trails. Annual events include a Clutha River Fishing Competition at Easter, a Beaumont Hunting Competition every August, and a motorcycle rally. A myriad of enthusiasts come to Beaumont to participate.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">TRAILS</span><br />
The Millennium Trail follows the historic route along the north bank of the Clutha River from Beaumont to Miller's Flat. The trail makes use of the original road formation and the old railway track, providing easy access to the river for rest stops with wonderful scenic views of the Clutha River and the Beaumont Gorge. This is an easy 23 km (Beaumont to Miller's Flat) gravel road with some undulations. There are a number of picnic areas at marked locations. This track is ideal for a family ride with lots of time to explore and enjoy.<br />
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There are also many shorter trails around Beaumont and in the native bush corridor of the Rongahere Gorge. New trails are being developed that will eventually create a contiguous route along the Clutha River from Lake Wanaka to the sea, linking with the Otago Central Rail Trail, and the Te Araroa NZ Walkway. The Beaumont Residents Group has a representative on the Clutha Mata-Au River Parkway Group, which is the umbrella organisation for local trail groups along the entire river.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Riding a local trail<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8o9afynJGwyctazufuwv89j8-w1vIvkSe4qRAOlrKOAAQThbquSmIDtZiOymPrZSO3xmh87xBFTfvBCap1f4mKHH9h9rKGS2EJ5bJfkIJ4Uog7HwPnwuQZCcvLl96HVk_Vi8Pgs0FPl1V/s1600-h/beaumont_gorge_riverbank800x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8o9afynJGwyctazufuwv89j8-w1vIvkSe4qRAOlrKOAAQThbquSmIDtZiOymPrZSO3xmh87xBFTfvBCap1f4mKHH9h9rKGS2EJ5bJfkIJ4Uog7HwPnwuQZCcvLl96HVk_Vi8Pgs0FPl1V/s320/beaumont_gorge_riverbank800x600.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Along the Millennium Trail, Beaumont Gorge<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">FISHING</span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Clutha River is an excellent fishery providing ready access to countless fly-fishing and spinning reaches. Abundant stocks of wild brown and rainbow trout and land-locked salmon, thrive along the length of the Clutha. The Lower Clutha has good populations of sea run and resident brown trout, and also has salmon spawning runs from January to April.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLjJmCYXj4QFac0A5G5PietldgZzop8lAsILZKqlyFHblRLjBefhyy8ixx8AWXN_AsIqobHG96zwjeP1MaebA5z8Q0oCf2VJWjQVUnbH96iVRA5V7LCBCqkuU5YPFRsl9fx4XaOl9vZ6QK/s1600-h/beaumont_brown_wayne_tall_pictured463x360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLjJmCYXj4QFac0A5G5PietldgZzop8lAsILZKqlyFHblRLjBefhyy8ixx8AWXN_AsIqobHG96zwjeP1MaebA5z8Q0oCf2VJWjQVUnbH96iVRA5V7LCBCqkuU5YPFRsl9fx4XaOl9vZ6QK/s320/beaumont_brown_wayne_tall_pictured463x360.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Beaumont Brown Trout<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAnwcaBaBFdzCkM_V83_vmycxrttxoVsxIfmUSan31jDlOTzMiYmC6Ys_91qUJyvCZhkSlacFecuueR-teCNN0XIR5qPOhhd_ctCU_q7MmwctktI19ulUfSZnp1qAcL1OfJBT7Mvc9URUc/s1600-h/fishing_rongahere_lower800x560.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAnwcaBaBFdzCkM_V83_vmycxrttxoVsxIfmUSan31jDlOTzMiYmC6Ys_91qUJyvCZhkSlacFecuueR-teCNN0XIR5qPOhhd_ctCU_q7MmwctktI19ulUfSZnp1qAcL1OfJBT7Mvc9URUc/s320/fishing_rongahere_lower800x560.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Spinning in the Lower Rongahere Gorge<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">KAYAKING / RAFTING / CANOEING</span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Lower Clutha River, below Roxburgh, is a high volume river with excellent recreational access. The Beaumont Gorge has long Grade 2-3 rapids ideal for kayaking, rafting and Canadian canoes. Groups of kayakers come here annually to train in the rapids and rock gardens of the Beaumont Gorge, staying at the camp-ground near the river.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1CckOntWjn6bnScOJIIOW-ObVa1nV3gR5dAXZOSQmIzOhyq8zJ0WLZjekJ8zqoJMNkLc8f7ZJziS5x2yzxGrTq-hzeP0BQZv0rVBXGAuOGbPRgk_jYPSvFbpiaTaW6UjVfDRj3B-aoXx/s1600-h/kayaking_group768x576.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1CckOntWjn6bnScOJIIOW-ObVa1nV3gR5dAXZOSQmIzOhyq8zJ0WLZjekJ8zqoJMNkLc8f7ZJziS5x2yzxGrTq-hzeP0BQZv0rVBXGAuOGbPRgk_jYPSvFbpiaTaW6UjVfDRj3B-aoXx/s320/kayaking_group768x576.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Kayaking group, Beaumont Gorge rapids<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6-fLXMdpPY0Gx_BwUG0VsJK9s9KndVQfdXI9POonDJ4pmg3BCp8GL40XP5GIRNszETtSc_4z6WGi08SJoOU-k4RMd57fEIz5VlzsSL6gnYVh_uMbpDb5xx0slUsEuQuBu_hjtcwDZJp-S/s1600-h/canoes_beaumontgorge_mist599x399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6-fLXMdpPY0Gx_BwUG0VsJK9s9KndVQfdXI9POonDJ4pmg3BCp8GL40XP5GIRNszETtSc_4z6WGi08SJoOU-k4RMd57fEIz5VlzsSL6gnYVh_uMbpDb5xx0slUsEuQuBu_hjtcwDZJp-S/s320/canoes_beaumontgorge_mist599x399.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Canadian canoes in the Beaumont Gorge<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">JET BOATING</span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Year-round, jet boat enthusiasts navigate the river, on fishing trips, on family picnic excursions, or just for a good day out on the river. Beaumont has its own jet boat operator, Beaumont Jet Tours, taking clients up through the Beaumont Rapids to the Lonely Graves, or down the native bush-lined Rongahere Gorge.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3c6Cs7kpbhOP5AlHF3Hkd93usUGOFasZOwapk0Dfd7-zcPwq23SlKELxk4juxh80vxxWzFD5BIxYP9D7elutFzLnDW_ikl5iRW8Xh_w8uy8Kfhqth7G7hV31-Mg8GL2gVohCF6ul0tfWD/s1600-h/beaumont_jet_onriver450x274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3c6Cs7kpbhOP5AlHF3Hkd93usUGOFasZOwapk0Dfd7-zcPwq23SlKELxk4juxh80vxxWzFD5BIxYP9D7elutFzLnDW_ikl5iRW8Xh_w8uy8Kfhqth7G7hV31-Mg8GL2gVohCF6ul0tfWD/s320/beaumont_jet_onriver450x274.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Beaumont Jet<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">HUNTING</span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Beaumont is at the northern end of the Blue Mountain recreational hunting reserve which has long been a Mecca for hunters from around the world. As the species hunted, red deer, fallow deer, wild boar, hare and rabbits, are not native to New Zealand they may be hunted all-year-round, both in daylight and at night with spotlights. Hunting is necessary to limit damage to the environment, protecting native flora and fauna which evolved without the threat of mammals.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSw32n14Jzgc5iOua1RpEiN5qnhwQAsjD3o9bxdrsKGcn2xjK9zEWbxHSUH-YIPaa9guqXn7VE-y2n0g5FsaUBLr9vwjNsWYPRKZLz1HQHB1VsmrQdsYBw5jVlN6-yIlTccNhBT7LWrpp/s1600-h/hunting_deep_trophy445x576.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSw32n14Jzgc5iOua1RpEiN5qnhwQAsjD3o9bxdrsKGcn2xjK9zEWbxHSUH-YIPaa9guqXn7VE-y2n0g5FsaUBLr9vwjNsWYPRKZLz1HQHB1VsmrQdsYBw5jVlN6-yIlTccNhBT7LWrpp/s320/hunting_deep_trophy445x576.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Hunting Trophy<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">HISTORIC SITES</span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">The Beaumont area, like the Clutha River generally, abounds with historic sites. One of the most famous is the Lonely Graves. In a peaceful location, 8 kms downriver from Miller's Flat in the Beaumont Gorge, the Lonely Graves are a poignant reminder of the harsh reality of the gold-rush. During the winter of 1865, according to folklore, William Rigney, a gold-miner, found the body of a handsome young man washed up beside the river at the Horseshoe Bend Diggings with a shivering dog beside the body. He buried the man nearby and on a wooden headboard he burned "Somebody's Darling Lies Buried Here". A marble headstone was erected in 1903 by the residents of the district with the assistance of a public subscription. The original headboard was encased in glass against the headstone.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi70ii5ZC6y9d4P8akfowrQRjAaCJ188GKMgy972S7GFHzt631B7DbjJt2dj2VSJbSAUyXA_9G7XJrfIWY1K-htcmxCm_MDJ6m-ufRW0hk5vDHCf3tx2_2mAA7rN5WP6MN0NlIW5EYOKEFS/s1600-h/lonely_graves800x534.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi70ii5ZC6y9d4P8akfowrQRjAaCJ188GKMgy972S7GFHzt631B7DbjJt2dj2VSJbSAUyXA_9G7XJrfIWY1K-htcmxCm_MDJ6m-ufRW0hk5vDHCf3tx2_2mAA7rN5WP6MN0NlIW5EYOKEFS/s320/lonely_graves800x534.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lonely Graves, Horseshoe Bend, Beaumont Gorge<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rigney died in 1912 and was buried there with a similar headstone that reads 'Here Lies the Body of William Rigney, The Man Who Buried "Somebody's Darling".' Historians now believe that Rigney's association with "Somebody's Darling" began some time after the young man was buried, when Rigney constructed a manuka fence to protect the grave, and made the headboard. He subsequently cared for the grave faithfully until he himself died. Some researchers believe that "Somebody's Darling" was Charles Alms, a Nevis Valley butcher or farm-hand, but no proof exists. Legend records that Rigney also cared for the dog, until it died years later, when he buried it beside its former master.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbro-rjpocpLOyMvnAs_3hppA7yL5COJwOPBo7d6Oz4dMWWTzrKdBooW0Do8cU8EBdko3JOudHyjJKqGqC11TlIVYbx9lMC571ZH2gbonqWaVNBu_Gk0gt58pouYGqa7MKLRF9MCUfcRsF/s1600-h/horseshoe_bend_bridge500x380.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbro-rjpocpLOyMvnAs_3hppA7yL5COJwOPBo7d6Oz4dMWWTzrKdBooW0Do8cU8EBdko3JOudHyjJKqGqC11TlIVYbx9lMC571ZH2gbonqWaVNBu_Gk0gt58pouYGqa7MKLRF9MCUfcRsF/s320/horseshoe_bend_bridge500x380.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Horseshoe Bend Foot-Bridge, Beaumont Gorge<br />
</div>Hands Off Beaumonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07315911070793392905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153782404827483215.post-61204643293652719582009-12-27T16:18:00.000-08:002010-01-06T22:17:47.441-08:00Our History<div class="separator"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Maori</span><br />
<div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">From around 1200-1600 Maori hunted Moa, leading to their presence in the area. The most important artefacts have been found at Miller's Flat and Beaumont. There was a nohoaka of Te Kohai just upstream from Beaumont at the mouth of the Belleburn, near where the river slows above a large gravel bar. This was known as one of the safest places to cross the river on a mokihi (raft). <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Artefacts including a Pututara, tools, sharpening stones and Huia feathers have been found in caves and sites around Beaumont.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Maori used the river trail through the Beaumont Gorge for mahika kai (traditional hunting, fishing and food gathering), for warfare, and for access to distant greenstone rivers. This trail is one of the oldest in Otago.<br />
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</div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">European Settlers</span><br />
Settlers arrived in the late 1850's as people migrated inland. Beaumont was originally named Dunkeld by the surveyor John Turnbull Thomson, a Gaelic name from Perthshire, Scotland, meaning Fort of the Caledonians. But although Dunkeld was on the first survey maps, the nearby Beaumont Burn was more familiar to residents of the area who continued to go to “the Beaumont” or the “Beaumont Ferry.” Inevitably, they called the area Beaumont - a French name meaning beautiful mountain. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloN4NtWPcBR47G3wYXsvPWnd4GKfdGl7iNPWnh8D3X1Fry85cwbQshZqW5jV4XXnK3udk5QPTl1LuW2HYJ9YhZbzHaStq5-MqX1-_vCgiBgkbONyh5c0oAJZeGv7c13574ICNCz_uAL_s/s1600-h/EarlyBeaumont.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloN4NtWPcBR47G3wYXsvPWnd4GKfdGl7iNPWnh8D3X1Fry85cwbQshZqW5jV4XXnK3udk5QPTl1LuW2HYJ9YhZbzHaStq5-MqX1-_vCgiBgkbONyh5c0oAJZeGv7c13574ICNCz_uAL_s/s400/EarlyBeaumont.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Early Beaumont<br />
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</div>The location afforded a natural river crossing at the junction of regional trails, so Beaumont soon became an important staging post for trade and travel, and the head of navigation for steamboats, which plied the Lower Clutha River from 1863 to 1939. The wreck of the steamboat Matau, which operated between 1882 and 1901, is still in the river near the Clydevale Station below the Tuapeka Punt.<br />
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Farms began as small holdings which were combined to form large stations. Robert Wood built up Dunkeld Station to 21,000 acres. The Bellamy Station run extended from approximately Evans Flat through to Beaumont and was originally owned by Walter Davy and Edmond Bowler from Dunedin. Beaumont Station, formerly known as Gardeners, was taken up in December, 1858, by Archibald Anderson.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8hHAcXuXeQoBE1s-EGBRbFBNNSM5zMildWCwUz4PoioWZutez-6GyT7Ror4KT-OhrLZAGgEbIiQtjDCwTemkqRfcdQdSXuQGuPwv5LWmeZCMPf5I0c9jrzAV7xcLqItvVKraK11ITHjl6/s1600-h/PotatoesSortingBeaumontHall1920s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8hHAcXuXeQoBE1s-EGBRbFBNNSM5zMildWCwUz4PoioWZutez-6GyT7Ror4KT-OhrLZAGgEbIiQtjDCwTemkqRfcdQdSXuQGuPwv5LWmeZCMPf5I0c9jrzAV7xcLqItvVKraK11ITHjl6/s400/PotatoesSortingBeaumontHall1920s.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sorting Potatoes at Beaumont Hall, 1920's<br />
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</div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Gold Fever</span><br />
The Clutha Mata-Au is reputed to be the second richest gold-bearing river system in the world, second only to the Yukon in North America.<br />
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Gold was discovered in May 1860 at Gabriel's Gully. The gold-rush brought miners and Chinese immigrants to Beaumont. When alluvial gold became scarce, massive gold-dredges were employed to scour the riverbeds and banks.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Gold-miner, Beaumont<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Gold-dredging was pioneered in New Zealand at Beaumont as early as 1863. The boom years were in the 1890's with several dredges working on the river near Beaumont. There were around 150 gold-dredges on the entire Clutha River.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHz8wc4g1TmgeqSlEbbLLKCxlOs0oJo-BSmF3IgHMVD28wcAWAuvK2VnTWQNNAgcsgxKl6hSXhOEAS2KkDFqO6wWjeS1oNP_lY9V4vfubdLay8YQbyu0g3dAoLEVD_vGyUTFyCb-D9lPSl/s1600-h/GoldenGravelDredge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHz8wc4g1TmgeqSlEbbLLKCxlOs0oJo-BSmF3IgHMVD28wcAWAuvK2VnTWQNNAgcsgxKl6hSXhOEAS2KkDFqO6wWjeS1oNP_lY9V4vfubdLay8YQbyu0g3dAoLEVD_vGyUTFyCb-D9lPSl/s400/GoldenGravelDredge.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Golden Gravel Dredge<br />
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</div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Punts and Bridges</span><br />
The first Beaumont punts operated from 1860, free of charge. A wooden toll bridge was opened in 1874. A high toll was charged for crossing the bridge, so the ferry continued to operate successfully in opposition. The great flood of 1878, however, promptly wrecked most punts and bridges on the entire Clutha River. Debris from the Roxburgh and Miller’s Flat bridges destroyed the Beaumont bridge, all of which later destroyed the Balclutha bridge. The ferry was re-instated and remained the only means of crossing at Beaumont for nearly a decade.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjyhomc145NNhhSo5F7rWSE4Rbe1lwmbTgvsJS5Rc0yuMXOQ22gFim1iIa3Aymv-IQNLnWsFSp03TFzPXPUWOLnn5fRRxClH6Wz3ZIeLS27-qM8zLG_11-J18fktda-3FJw5hfKG-PmHeG/s1600-h/BeaumontPunt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjyhomc145NNhhSo5F7rWSE4Rbe1lwmbTgvsJS5Rc0yuMXOQ22gFim1iIa3Aymv-IQNLnWsFSp03TFzPXPUWOLnn5fRRxClH6Wz3ZIeLS27-qM8zLG_11-J18fktda-3FJw5hfKG-PmHeG/s400/BeaumontPunt.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Beaumont Punt<br />
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</div>The second bridge was opened on March 3rd, 1887. It was the first '4 iron' bridge to be completed in New Zealand. It has three 35m and two 17.8m wrought iron trusses supported on concrete piers. It was constructed by John Anderson of Christchurch, with the first and longest single spans of their kind in the Southern Hemisphere. This iconic bridge remains in daily use and connects both halves of Beaumont.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhECeflOpUfrvWkVEBWaviE8LDLO3DYddPDYpRCmhyphenhyphenp-cZWnjq6Cq2zqMlHmHFmYlGOwWttdU7-eprTqyFlVdVorFWpVb3afE-TW2_DAYpAZuYBWXidbVlmdN3LejW3H1K7uClvB54nXnc-/s1600-h/BeaumontBridgeNew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhECeflOpUfrvWkVEBWaviE8LDLO3DYddPDYpRCmhyphenhyphenp-cZWnjq6Cq2zqMlHmHFmYlGOwWttdU7-eprTqyFlVdVorFWpVb3afE-TW2_DAYpAZuYBWXidbVlmdN3LejW3H1K7uClvB54nXnc-/s400/BeaumontBridgeNew.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Beaumont Bridge, 1887<br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The Community</span><br />
In 1870 there were three hotels - the Crookston, the Beaumont Ferry and the Duke of Edinburgh. The impressive two-storey Bridge Hotel was built in the mid-1870's by J F Kitching. It was replaced by the present hotel in 1938, built by the proprietor Ted Pearson.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiqKZiVMmxwfZ6MZvPg4qE9p_0clQKxAbg-002MzfNaIChyFXVzScdZUEWjAVz1njm_1BnfkbIg67OHx-bNg13mWiXfVQnem8PNLUYkiKvkly2V_UUtMC8SrevVjIGus1zGMexsvu2dTIh/s1600-h/BeaumontBridgeHotel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiqKZiVMmxwfZ6MZvPg4qE9p_0clQKxAbg-002MzfNaIChyFXVzScdZUEWjAVz1njm_1BnfkbIg67OHx-bNg13mWiXfVQnem8PNLUYkiKvkly2V_UUtMC8SrevVjIGus1zGMexsvu2dTIh/s400/BeaumontBridgeHotel.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Bridge Hotel<br />
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In 1887 Beaumont also had a store, butchery, bakery, smithy, school, church and a Post Office. The cemetery's first recorded internment was in 1885, but there were many more before this date.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTOcd468rdAffqvFGHAcc3cd8D_a-wlilyJR14qjX04bXuH27eBUT-BeNvHUL9cnEsQF8MtzvHN7nErx7LZdHee11Atdj4aN1HO6-zbkl5QoQYFlWKhD49xeAst-Ml07bTJa6vVLpPZezJ/s1600-h/BeaumontStore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTOcd468rdAffqvFGHAcc3cd8D_a-wlilyJR14qjX04bXuH27eBUT-BeNvHUL9cnEsQF8MtzvHN7nErx7LZdHee11Atdj4aN1HO6-zbkl5QoQYFlWKhD49xeAst-Ml07bTJa6vVLpPZezJ/s400/BeaumontStore.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Beaumont Shop, with School in background<br />
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School was first held in the church in the early 1870's, until the school was built in 1872. During the railway boom years there were four teachers and over eighty pupils. The school closed in 1989.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOT8FxA465_zJpFTYf3VmPcZGcLFxfeSVyAaxnpiH7sakm5kksf9wDkg9EOCM8OoL6e_zjvpojo6McMNYS1pUHbmZLZ7Bm-THUB0GhZGc0MJggxv9OBoLfZhSXQgBlJxIJ9CfWAUx1pcOI/s1600-h/BeaumontSchool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOT8FxA465_zJpFTYf3VmPcZGcLFxfeSVyAaxnpiH7sakm5kksf9wDkg9EOCM8OoL6e_zjvpojo6McMNYS1pUHbmZLZ7Bm-THUB0GhZGc0MJggxv9OBoLfZhSXQgBlJxIJ9CfWAUx1pcOI/s400/BeaumontSchool.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Beaumont School<br />
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</div>The Beaumont Racecourse was built in 1870, and race meetings became a seasonal attraction. The celebrated 'Beaumont Races' remained on the Otago Race meeting calendar until the 1980's.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYF_JHACYAPun7aN9V2fzLx94_BmZBxrkYfJ0qyyPaBqDDwIrJrs4HHXJQAOy22foMxejmxOfnHa_2ScDOo_CcNS39AYRLpZRgdo4Co6t3rFFnvJr9K1JGHY6AOVvW9rzVuGnlgF_6p_X-/s1600-h/BeaumontRaces1915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYF_JHACYAPun7aN9V2fzLx94_BmZBxrkYfJ0qyyPaBqDDwIrJrs4HHXJQAOy22foMxejmxOfnHa_2ScDOo_CcNS39AYRLpZRgdo4Co6t3rFFnvJr9K1JGHY6AOVvW9rzVuGnlgF_6p_X-/s400/BeaumontRaces1915.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">At the Beaumont Races, 1915<br />
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</div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Chinese</span><br />
</span>The Chinese came to Beaumont seeking gold. Many found work in orchards, market gardening and laying poison for rabbits. There was a large settlement of up to 200 residing at Chinaman Flat.<br />
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Some Chinese were buried in Beaumont rather than being customarily shipped back to their homeland. The last surviving Chinese in Beaumont was named Ah Tie. He is buried in the Beaumont Cemetery.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiusJiFgdEukiiJSfykaacWL13BPCxptroHM_xt18r5wNjLFu-HkreMyOhSyfNyI8zn5Df91KtZg5yR6JJ0O2xGvPnQozy1HYfJ0CcJebskfsY7kHVuS_KrQ6lh7dFE7W7RHsEmrU6LVBln/s1600-h/AhTieBeaumont.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiusJiFgdEukiiJSfykaacWL13BPCxptroHM_xt18r5wNjLFu-HkreMyOhSyfNyI8zn5Df91KtZg5yR6JJ0O2xGvPnQozy1HYfJ0CcJebskfsY7kHVuS_KrQ6lh7dFE7W7RHsEmrU6LVBln/s400/AhTieBeaumont.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ah Tie<br />
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</div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Railway<br />
</span>1910 -1923 was the era of greatest population at Beaumont because railway workers were living here while the line was taken from Big Hill (Beaumont) to Miller's Flat. The railway was opened in 1915 and closed in 1968.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkhJ8kG_URqENVr1lNapZh8eYuos2FwsZb9IclsWlB2d6Z08V30ANgTFiVEKBfwaUTfFGzeWqkZznmxuVZs9t7DUtyYJkCwuIvcmMmfVblBujduYJD4E5xzq7wUpYlqig7RS1Ap-TuUbSj/s1600-h/BeaumontRailwayStation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkhJ8kG_URqENVr1lNapZh8eYuos2FwsZb9IclsWlB2d6Z08V30ANgTFiVEKBfwaUTfFGzeWqkZznmxuVZs9t7DUtyYJkCwuIvcmMmfVblBujduYJD4E5xzq7wUpYlqig7RS1Ap-TuUbSj/s400/BeaumontRailwayStation.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Beaumont Railway Station<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Having reached the end of their economic life, two "P" Class locomotives were dumped in the Clutha near the Beaumont Bridge in 1922. They were recovered in May, 1992, and taken to Dunedin. These engines are the only ones saved from their class and era. It is thought they may be the oldest surviving eight-coupled British built locomotives anywhere in the word. They are being restored by Project Steam Inc.<br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9L5l2_Rrueclu1tLdxDyrCK1cf2G3WW4lTGq1oyx680O7PDxXiHnY7zssNpDW5uHrjB3kzUegEOCdM2O36vbX5Y1ISTUG4fWnqPQuy_xn6SK0fCyM4M-q-yG6wHPOCazis3FNU8JDVJ3j/s1600-h/RailwayBeaumont.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9L5l2_Rrueclu1tLdxDyrCK1cf2G3WW4lTGq1oyx680O7PDxXiHnY7zssNpDW5uHrjB3kzUegEOCdM2O36vbX5Y1ISTUG4fWnqPQuy_xn6SK0fCyM4M-q-yG6wHPOCazis3FNU8JDVJ3j/s400/RailwayBeaumont.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Railway at Beaumont<br />
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</div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Forestry</span><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Forestry began in 1927 with the compulsory acquisition of land from Robert Woods' Dunkeld Station by the Government. The first headquarters was at Tramway. These lands formed the largest managed forest in Otago and Southland, and continues to this day.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHQQWo6f3d9cuhG731dTtG7FNKY_NtGpY3dcv2px9avOxP4IgiV9D21X6SbEF_nHkrDJjXHCw0otkamJmJl2ekIt1OeFAfCxYKsTSwkusn_nw6U3ai4UWwXJqB81rgu16oRGdborGGkHbM/s1600-h/ForestryCampTramway1920s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHQQWo6f3d9cuhG731dTtG7FNKY_NtGpY3dcv2px9avOxP4IgiV9D21X6SbEF_nHkrDJjXHCw0otkamJmJl2ekIt1OeFAfCxYKsTSwkusn_nw6U3ai4UWwXJqB81rgu16oRGdborGGkHbM/s400/ForestryCampTramway1920s.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Forestry Camp, Tramway, 1920's<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Orchards</span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Beaumont soil, being excellent for vegetables, was planted out in apples, pears, plums and berryfruit. 500 fruit trees at 10d each were imported each year from Australia to build up 40 acres at Riverside Orchard. The fruit was in demand all over the South Island, and owner David Martin - a former farmhand on Robert Woods' Station, was a keen exhibitor and won over 700 pounds in prize money.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">E. Pearson started an orchard in 1922-3, and there were also several acres of raspberry cane orchards.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8X2rRu07od1Gkv80qb5OW33UrmsODWnYE4ZyjdL9VGTSgGudqqRrgM7bTRDQHNzji9VcRTpIFw9s98AbfOvsEqYICQL9-_5LOsp52B5QyzNpTxtQb1BSMSklMzcnf09aJJ7kzD2VxG6Zn/s1600-h/BickerstaffsRaspberryOrchard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8X2rRu07od1Gkv80qb5OW33UrmsODWnYE4ZyjdL9VGTSgGudqqRrgM7bTRDQHNzji9VcRTpIFw9s98AbfOvsEqYICQL9-_5LOsp52B5QyzNpTxtQb1BSMSklMzcnf09aJJ7kzD2VxG6Zn/s400/BickerstaffsRaspberryOrchard.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Bickerstaff's Raspberry Orchard<br />
</div>Hands Off Beaumonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07315911070793392905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153782404827483215.post-15520333994494498722009-12-26T16:19:00.001-08:002009-11-15T22:23:21.687-08:00Photo Gallery<object height="480" width="580"> <param name="flashvars" value="offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F44653718%40N04%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F44653718%40N04%2F&user_id=44653718@N04&jump_to="></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F44653718%40N04%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F44653718%40N04%2F&user_id=44653718@N04&jump_to=" width="580" height="480"></embed></object>Hands Off Beaumonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07315911070793392905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153782404827483215.post-82062532597694472612009-12-25T16:20:00.000-08:002009-11-14T22:15:42.424-08:00Contact Us<div class="separator"><br />
</div>Please email us if you would like to know more about Beaumont, or if you would like to help us protect our beautiful valley.<br />
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<a href="mailto:handsoffbeaumont@gmail.com">Beaumont Residents Group</a>Hands Off Beaumonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07315911070793392905noreply@blogger.com