Hope Pastoral Scene

Sheep graze peacefully in the late winter sunshine under snow topped peaks on the Richmond hills at Hope.

Give Way Markings

White Lines Appreciated

"Do take a look at the road markings at the Give Way sign on North Road," writes "Motorist". "They should last a long time as they are well away from the track of traffic and scarcely anyone uses them. Would it not have been better to have angled the front line from the Weka Street kerb across North Road and further into the centre. At the moment traffic using the 'cow bail' has a very poor view to the left because of the angle of the front marking. "

Ed's note: Above is pic of one car and trailer not using the "bail". The natural tendency for all traffic making the turn is to use this route.

"I use the Stoke-Richmond highway regularly as a motorist and occasionally as a cyclist and I like the white lines at the sides. They are an aid to night driving in foggy conditions which are not uncommon in this area in winter. After experience I would like to see them retained," writes K. Martin, Richmond.

Vanguard Street Drain

"The city council has all sorts of wonderful plans for spending money on tourist hotels and such like but poor old Nelson ratepayers aren't getting much consideration," writes "Rearguard". "Come down and take a picture of our Vanguard Street drain. Makes a lovely picture. Might I suggest the council spends a few of its surplus thousands on the essential works in Nelson, like piping this drain, before it starts buying dredges and worrying about the tourists. "

Expensive Oysters

"We're being got at in Nelson," writes "Oyster Fan". "Fresh Bluff oysters sell in Christchurch for 2s. 3d a dozen. Here, they're 3s. And those delectable Nelson oysters (when you can get them), are 3s. 6d a dozen. Somebody's getting a decent profit somewhere. "

Town Hall Site

Ed's note: There's your pic, "Rearguard", and while we might agree that it's high time this ditch was piped, we wouldn't agree with you entirely on some of your other remarks.

Ed's note: We referred this letter to a retailer, but apart from a denial that oysters retail in Christchurch at 2s. 3d, we could elicit no further facts from him. However, on investigation we discovered that oysters reach Christchurch in the shell and are opened by individual retailers. In Nelson they come by can by air (freight costs about 3d a dozen) and reach the wholesaler at a cost of about 2s so that he's only getting a one-third mark-up. Nelson oysters wholesale at 1s. 8d a dozen but they are monsters and extremely hard to open to at 3s. 6d they're not bad value for the weight.

This one is our contribution to "Forum and Aginum". The town hall, civic centre or conference centre – call it what you will - is still the centre of controversy, mainly because of the apparent lack of action by those concerned. Passing the old rubbish tip on the Wakapuaka highway recently and looking back towards Nelson, we got the idea that this tremendous area of land could well become the site for the town hall. Can we recommend to the committee, therefore, that for the moment, forget about Miller's acre and such like sites in the heart of Nelson, and consider this area. And could we please have a little action of this long-term project?

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The Nelson Photo News

No 69 : July 23, 1966

Hope Pastoral Scene