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From Mr F. J. Greatbatch, Cook Street, come these photos of activities at the Co-op. Sawmills (between Matawai and Motu) in their heyday in the early twenties. Mr Greatbatch (left) and two other men start on the felling of a Matai giant.

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A view of the mills in full production.

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Horse-drawn trucks about to take fallen trunks down to the mill from the bush.

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The tramway, hacked out of the creekside, was used to bring felled trees out of the bush down to the mill.

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An excellent idea of the workings of the old wharves on Read's Quay can be had from this other picture from Mr Greatbatch. Milled timber was railed down from the Co-op. Sawmill at Matawai and loaded from here for Sydney. So while thousands of logs are sent to Japan these days, there is nothing new about exporting timber from Gisborne! All these activities carried on until the mill was destroyed by fire in 1922.

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And if you were lucky enough then you also got the wood on the horses if you went down from Gisborne to Hawkes Bay for the Napier Park Autumn Meeting of March 10–11,1922. This Gisborne contingent (in this picture supplied by Mr Arthur Elliott, Gladstone Road) contains some well-known Gisborne names in the world of racing, and some of them are still around to cast an eye over the gees at Makaraka and place a bet or two. From left, standing: J. Morris, D. J. Barry, E. Pardoe, F. Hall, J. Walker, B. Lowe, W. Wilson, R. Grace, P. Colbert, H. Denton, J. Boyd, A. F. Saunders, C. Wright. Middle row: C. Norgrove, J. Jones, C. Owen, A. E. Elliott, E. Gibbs, W. Turnbull, H. Goscomb, R. Olive. In front: A. D. Adams, A. Henderson, D. Porter, C. Fanning.