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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Rough Ridge

page 618

Rough Ridge.

Rough Ridge is a small township on the Otago Central railway, 101 miles north-west from Dunedin, lying at the foot of the range of hills of the same name. The district is a long, narrow plain, a continuation of the Ida Valley, and consists of good arable land, from which large crops are successfully raised. It supplies good shooting and fishing for sportsmen. The township has a post and telegraph office, a store, and a hotel near the railway station; the public school is one mile distant, and there are coal pits and a flour mill in the settlement. A dam has been formed, and the local curling club fosters the great Scottish national game. There is a daily coach service from Rough Ridge to St. Bathans.

Rough Ridge Public School , which was established in 1895, is a one storey wooden building with seating accommodation for eighty scholars, and rooms for two teachers. A good portion of the inner walls of the building is covered with linoleum to prevent draughts. There are twelve acres attached to the school premises, which include a comfortable five-roomed cottage for the master. There are over seventy names on the roll, and there is an average attendance of between fifty and sixty. Mr. John Moodie is headmaster.

The Idaburn Coalpit (John White, proprietor), comprises a mining lease of three acres, besides fifty acres of freehold land. This mine was opened in 1870 and has been continuously worked since that time. Mr. White, who has owned the property since 1897, was for six years previously manager of the pit. The seam of lignite which is being worked is 18 feet in thickness, and about 1200 tons of coal are yearly brought to grass. Drays load at the pit, to the bottom of which there is access by road.

Mr. John White , the Proprietor, was born at Bermondsey, near London, on the 24th of June, 1853. He is by trade a potter, and arrived at Port Chalmers by the ship “Cardrona” in 1877. For some years before taking over the management of the Idaburn coalpit, Mr. White was employed on railway work