Local Focus: War drovers gone but not forgotten

War memorial drovers’ huts up for heritage status. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

Three roadside drovers’ huts have been nominated for heritage building status with the Hastings District Council, which would ensure their preservation.

Drovers’ huts are one of the few reminders we have of droving, once the standard way to deliver stock around the country before trucking took over.

The three huts were built in the 1940s as a memorial to three drovers who lost their lives in WW2.

Wilfred James (Togo) Kirkley is remembered in Maraekākaho. He was killed as a prisoner of war in Greece aged 27. No official grave is known.

Percy Botherway is remembered in Pukehamoamoa. He was killed aged 36 and buried in Italy.

James Edward (Jack) Oliver, aged 27, was buried in Egypt and is remembered in Poukawa.

In 1995 Hastings District Council placed memorial plaques on the huts and held a service to remember the three soldiers.

The land around the huts was designated roadside reserve so the huts would remain in public ownership.

Until about 10 years ago, Oliver’s hut was used as a social gathering place in Middle Rd for local men.

ames Edward (Jack) Oliver, died in WWll aged 27. He is remembered through this drovers’ hut on Poukawa’s Middle Rd. Photo / Patrick O’Sullivan

Heritage consultant Elizabeth Pishief said a use for the small roadside buildings needed to be found, or they would fall into disrepair.

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“These ones are particularly interesting because they have been built as war memorials for men who have been in their communities,” she said.

“They are made out of concrete and they all are the same style.

“Those men’s stories are interesting and should be interpreted on the sides of the buildings, so that people know what their stories are.

“I think memorials are very important because those wars, that were so far away, devastated families for several generations.

“And I think that is why we are very keen on peace as a nation now.”

Another reminder of droving still with us are the drovers themselves. As a 17-year-old Andrew Hawthorne joined one of the North Island’s last big droves, moving 400 steers on horseback from Maraekākaho to Hunterville in 1987.

He said the journey took two months, with free feed for cattle as they grazed the roadside, known as the long acre, at their own pace.

“I suspect they would have put on weight,” he said.

“Back then there was quite a bit of roadside grazing. You just didn’t push the cows, you let them go at their pace. So they were in good condition and fit after a nice long walk.

“The huts were very important because you’d been out in the elements all day. There was a new hut and a new paddock – council paddocks – every night.”

The drovers’ huts nomination is part of a wider programme at HDC, to identify places worthy of preservation.

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