Redcliff, an agricultural and pastoral district in the north Waihao riding of the Waimate county, and in the electoral district of Waitaki, is twelve miles and a half along the north bank of the Waitaki river from Glenavy. It is twenty-four miles from Hakataramea, and sixteen from Waimate. The post office at Redcliff is known officially as Ikawa, and was established in 1900; telephonic communication with Oamaru was established in the following year. There is a public school two miles from the post office, towards Glenavy, and, on the same route, three miles farther on, there is a creamery. Redcliff has a well-appointed hotel and a blacksmith's shop. The land is mostly flat, and extends from the river bank to the hills; and the district is intersected by three main roads, which are connected by numerous cross roads. A number of water-races pass through the various farms. The population of the village at the census of 1901 was set down at eighty-six; including the various homesteads, it can hardly be less than 200 for the district.

The Ikawa Post Office And Telephone Bureau at Redcliff date respectively from 1900 and 1901. Mails are received and despatched twice a week.

Mr. Alexander Hugh McNeill, who has acted as postmaster since the opening of the office, was born in Dunedin, in 1870. He was married, in December, 1899, to a daughter of the late Mr. Alexander Morton, of Oamaru, and has two daughters.

The Redcliff Public School stands on part of a section of land on the main road to Glenavy. The building originally stood on the middle road at Redcliff, but was recently removed to the present site, three miles away. It is of wood and iron, and has accommodation for sixty pupils. There are forty-five names on the roll, and the average attendance for 1902 was forty. A residence of six rooms for the teacher, and a shelter-shed for the children, stand on the property.

Mr. Henry Edward Goodeve, Master of Redcliff School, was born in 1854, at Clifton, near Bristol, England. He arrived at Port Chalmers, in 1871, and qualified as a teacher in Christchurch. Mr. Goodeve held several appointments in North Canterbury, and has been stationed at Redcliff since 1897. He was married, in 1875, to a daughter of the late Mr. Samuel Gundry, of Christchurch, and has seven daughters.

Redcliff Creamery is owned by the North Otago Dairy Company Limited, and was opened in November, 1901. It occupies a central site of two acres at the junction of several roads, and is built of wood and iron. The machinery comprises a six-horse power Tangye engine, with a six-horse power boiler, and Alpha-Laval separator, capable of treating 440 gallons of milk per hour. There are twenty-eight suppliers, and about 600 gallons are put through daily. The oream is despatched to Oamaru by rail.

Mr. Soloman Smart, Manager of the Redcliff Creamery, was born in Gloucestershire, England. He came to Lyttelton in 1883 by the ship “Taranaki,” and settled in the Waitaki district. For a number of years he was in business as a storekeeper at Glenavy, and has had charge of the creamery since its formation. Mr. Smart was married, in 1873, to a daughter of Mr. J. Leverton, of Cornwall, England, and has a surviving family of one son and three daughters.

Redcliff Hotel (Richard Wills, proprietor), Redcliff. This hotel, which dates back to the early seventies, is of wood and iron, and contains fourteen rooms, including eight bedrooms, and two sitting rooms, and a dining room which will seat twenty guests. The stable at the back of the hotel contains five stalls and a loose-box.

Mr. Richard Wills, Proprietor of the Redcliff Hotel, was born in Waimate, in 1870. He is a blacksmith and farrier by trade, and in addition to conducting the hotel, he as the proprietor of the local smith's shop. He has been connected with the Waimate Rifles and band, and has also served in the Ashburton Guards. Mr. Wills is attached to Court Foresters' Pride, Waimate, in which he has passed the various chairs. He was married, in 1897, to a daughter of Mr. Robert Ross, of Redcliff, and has three daughters and one son.